Anyone had dealings with Great Land Windows in Fairbanks?

[Float Pilot]

I ordered 5 windows in early May and paid $3000 as a down payment.
They claim they are still not done and give me a different story every time I call. 8 months is quite a while.
I am starting to wonder if they are on the edge of going belly-up...

 

[Akgramps]

They have not been great at CS.

 

[upstreamV]

Around 11 years ago I ordered windows from Greatland. My lead time was long and the windows were delivered behind schedule. When they did arrive they proved to be very good windows. They went out of their way to coordinate some in house delivery which helped reduce my haul cost.

 

[iofthetaiga]

I believe they moved to a new location a year or so ago, and I suspect covid labor issues probably haven't done them any favors. I think I saw that they had a help wanted ad running recently. Have not purchased from them myself (yet), but know a few who have and upstreamV's experience sounds about typical. They're slow, the don't have a great customer service rep, but their product is good. Hopefully they're not on the ropes, because I don't know of anyone else making fiberglass tilt/turn windows here, or anywhere close to here.

 

[gunbugs]

Bought some windows from them about 15 years ago. At that time, they were as promised as far as delivery. Nice windows, still work like new.

 

[Akgramps]

There are other options for T/T windows in Fairbanks. GL windows are not NFRC tested, or AMMA certified, they piggyback similar extrusion testing in order to claim air infiltration and R values, that doesn't mean they dont perform, it just means they haven't bothered or wanted to bear the expense to get verification, i.e., testing costs money.

In Fairbanks it pays to get the best window possible, T/T windows do work very well, however they do have some disadvantages that people should be aware of.

There is really no good reason to build windows in Fairbanks Alaska.

 

[iofthetaiga]

There are other options for T/T windows in Fairbanks.

With fiberglass frame construction?

 

[Akgramps]

With fiberglass frame construction?

Yes, Alpen has a dealer here, Alpen offers Rehau Geneo? (something like that). Its a weldable fiberglass composite.

There are some vinyl options for T/T as well.

 

[iofthetaiga]

Yes, Alpen has a dealer here, Alpen offers Rehau Geneo?

Yeah, but if i'm in the market for custom windows in Alaska, i'm not really interested in having them manufactured in Colorado and shipped up here. I'd rather spend my money locally, if at all possible.

 

[Akgramps]

I would agree and understand, I shop at Sampsons as much as possible. Good windows are expensive and should be made in factory, not a hobby shop... JMO

 

[jklingel]

Very good to me several years ago (whole house of windows and a patio door). Got good advice on adjusting door and even a visit to finalize it. Good people. Busy, but reliable.

 

[Float Pilot]

If mine ever get done I have to get them shipped all the way down to Homer.
My wife insisted on them because they are triple-pane. There was a place in Los Anchorage that made double panes with vinyl frames for a thousand bucks less.

 

[iofthetaiga]

Tripple pane lights are fairly standard anymore, available in various coatings to suit your needs, and pretty much everybody offers them stuck in the ubiquitous aluminum/vinyl frames. But fiberglass tilt and turn frames with good lockwork are harder to come by. For a couple decades Alaska Window out of Ester was the state of the art for arctic tilt and turns, and he used Heat Mirror 88 lights which used a coated mylar sheet as the center pane. I think Heat Mirror 88 lights are still available, but I'm not sure they're the state of the art any more, and using a mylar center pane has become pretty common; i think thermally it functions the same or better than glass and results in a 30% lighter weight light, but triple glass is easier to manufacture, thus less expensive and quite common. There is better, less complicated lockwork available now than was used on the Alaska Windows, too...

 

[Akgramps]

The big thing with T&T is the fact they open to the interior, not for everybody and every house and someone should be aware of what they are getting into before they go that route.

Something to note is the glazing (thermal panes) can be the same in a T&T as in a casement or awning. The T&T wins because the sash is to the warm side and hence does not get pummeled by the cold the same as a casement.

And.... the hardware on the T&T is far more substantial and locks on all 4 sides of the window, this makes for a really, really good seal, just dont put anything on the window sill......!

And.... all this hardware is really cool until it needs adjustment. The tighter it fits the less forgiving it is in regards to movement and installation.

 

[NRick]

I ordered 5 windows in early May and paid $3000 as a down payment.
They claim they are still not done and give me a different story every time I call. 8 months is quite a while.
I am starting to wonder if they are on the edge of going belly-up...

For what it's worth, I went into Lowes and looked at Pella windows. 3 to 10 months lead time depending what I ordered.

 

[Alaska Bush Hunter]

Purchase 13k worth of windows for my home about 10 years ago at their old location. They done a excellent job great windows !