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I acted as the GC on my home 11 yrs ago. The Building supply guy talked me into Caradco windows, he said they were as good as Anderson or Pella. I regret talking his advise and have had several problems with water intrusion and rotting of wood under the alum. clading and fogging between panes. Most of these happened with in the 10yr 100% warranty and only required time to change hardware and reinstall on my part. But now I am at the prorated portion of 20yr the warranty and will need the pay 50% of the cost.

My question is this, has anyone else had problems once out of warranty and do they hold to the pro-ration? Also, IMO if I need to start shelling out cash on a window I know I will have problems with down the road, I may as well replace it with a decent one. Any suggestions on a good replacement? I would most likely need to pull the old window and put a "new construction" window in.

Thanks,

Kev

I just finished chippping all the ice off the Carado windows in our 8 year old northern Ohio house. Since we moved into the new hoouse, we have had porblems with condensation and ice buildup on the inside of the panes. The Caradco rep originally told me this was normal as the house was drying out from all the construction moisture. Two years later, he told me that the house was still too moist. However, when one walked across the carpet, you would recieve a static poke from the dryness. I installed a humidifier on my fornace to resolve the static issue and keep it set at teh low end of the comfort scale. Right now about 32% RH. In the winter, I usually have to cover the north facing windows with the shrink type plastic or chip ice every day.

I recaulked and replaced weather stripping this year with no positive result. Caradco will tell you this is normal. They do not stand behind their product. I am 48 and on my 6th house. It's only been an issue with Caradco windows. Never again!

Is there a question here?
My guess is that the windows were not properly insulated along the edges before the walls and trim when up. Your getting cold air around the edges which lower the dew point enough so even the lower humidity levels within the house are causing the condensation to freeze.
I would pull of the interior trim on the worse offending window and check to see if they insulated around the edge with enough stuff if at all.
Also be carefull when adding moisture to a house. The newer construction in most houses do not require to much added humidity as the natural moisture that builds up from cooking and washing and people being in there is normally enough to keep it at proper levels.
Also do not forget the colder the exteior is the lower the interior moisture levels must be. Otherwise you can cause moisture to develpe within the wall cavity

Reading the previous posts, it looks like a questions and an answer. Q-is anyone else having problems....A-Yes and Caradco is not standing behind their product!

I've done my homework and the cold air is coming from around between the sliding pane edge and the window sides, and also where the top and bottom panes rest on window sealing edge. I've lived in the climates where the winter outside temp is zero and below my entire life. Living in my 5th new construction house. Caradco windows are the only windows that spend the entire window with ice on the inside panes. No question...just fact!

did you resolve your window prob? I just discovered mul windows w./rotting also, and am in a panic. did manu help you at all?

I noticed that you put a post on the contractor talk website regarding Jeld Wen windows. I have them in my home and they are awful. I am a home owner, my home in only 2 1/2yrs old and the builder of course is out of business. I live in Michigan. I contacted Jeld Wen regarding the air leaks. They had a rep come out and measure my windows and 11 of the 15 windows are out of square. Their tolerance is 1/8" out of sq for the the windows to work correctly. I guess mine are over 1/8", some are 1/4". They are saying that they need to be reset, that is not a manufacture problem. I am wondering if you have advice on dealing with this company. They have a warranty but they blame it on the installation. I even had one window that was within 1/8" tolerence to their specs and it has the same air leak problem as the rest of them. I need help and have little money to put out on re-installing these windows or paying an extreme gas bill.


a.shatter@sbcglobal.net

Hello everyone, just in reference of jeldwen windows, they are junk save your money, when there is warranty work to be done, they find every excuse in the book to not have to replace or do any sort of warranty work possible, I had a new home built and two years later was having a couple problems with some of the windows, like they say to so many not installed correctly, acept I had three different window contractors come and say they are installed correctly, they are full of sh*t period and then I had a crack glass pain from the plant, thay had every excuse in the book not to have to honor there warranty again, in the end for that window they just sent me a pain of glass no viynal casing nothing, have you ever tried to replace a pain a glass using the old sash, what a fu*king joke, they say they just pop in and out, wrong again it was a mess, to make this short save your money and never ever purchase there products they are junk! and I was dumb enough to use them twice, so yes I'm two times stupid.

To answer your question:
Curadco and Jeldwen are both junk. Had 2 different houses, each with one of those and had to replace the windows in both houses.

Spend the money and get Pella or Anderson. They will be around in 10 years to back up the warranty.

Both make replacement windows.

I have a house that is just 13 years old and my contractor also recommended Caradco Windows. My house was appraised for $850,000 about 3 years ago so it is not a shack. The windows are literally rotting right on the frames. I cannot open them, the aluminum cover on the exteriors are falling off leaving rotting wood. I have thousands of dollars worth of windows and now I have to replace them all. Jeld Wen and Caradco are junk and I am posting it on every website I can find and also contacting the Better Business Bureau.

Just a heads up. The windows are not at fault. The installer did not follow the instructions on proper flashing and sealing and the homeowner did not do proper maintenance on the house. If you read the installation instructions you would find that the window manufacture requires Sill and header flashings to be installed. I would bet that these were not installed.

Not that I am defending the window because they are known to have their issues, but as someone who inspects hundreds of homes I find people who purchase a new home thinks they can do nothing to maintain it. I have seen many home rot on the outside because they fail to check every few years the caulking, paint and provide simple inspections on the exterior.

What about your contractor? He or she is the one who suggested them. Don't you think they bear some responsibility in this matter?

Quite frankly new homes require a lot more maintaining then one that is many years old. And people who purchase these homes figure that they have to do nothing to them because they are new.

Good luck on your quest to discredit the window company.

I HAD CARADCO WINDOWS ON A HOME BUILT IN 1987. SEVERAL OF THE WINDOWS ROTTED OUT IN LESS THAN 10 YEARS. I THEN BUILT A CUSTOM HOME AND WAS CONVINCED BY THE CARADCO REP THAT THE PROBLEMS HAD BEEN CORRECTED. I NOW HAVE SEVERAL WINDOWS AND SLIDING DOORS AGAIN ROTTING OUT JUST LIKE BEFORE. THERE WAS A LARGE CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST CARADCO AT THE SAME TIME THE WINDOWS WERE BEING INSTALLED IN THE CUSTOM HOME. THE ORIGINAL CARADCO CO. WENT OUT OF BUSINESS AND WAS TAKEN OVER BY JELD-WEN, WHO BASICALLY WERE NOT FORCED AND DO NOT REPLACE THE CARADCO WINDOWS. THEY WERE FOR A WHILE OFFERING 40% OFF PURCHASE PRICE OF PARTS AND WINDOWS, BUT NOTHING TOWARDS INSTALLATION. THESE WINDOWS ARE HORRIBLE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS PROBABLY NOTHING TO DO ABOUT IT BUT REPLACE THEM (WITH ANOTHER BRAND!!!) THIS IS NOT ABOUT INSTALLATION AND ANYONE WHO TRIES TO CONVINCE YOU OTHERWISE IS SUSPICIOUS (TO ME, AT LEAST!)
THE JELD-WEN WINDOWS LOOK PRETTY GOOD, BUT I THINK THEY WOULD HAVE TO PAY ME TO HAVE THEM INSTALLED. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE THE OLDER CARADCO WINDOWS.

ATTENTION OWNERS OF HOMES WITH CARADCO WINDOWS (MFTG BY JELD-WEN). PLEASE CONTACT OREGON ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE! I too am having the same issue with extensive wood rot and deterioration on Caradco wood casement windows on a home manufactured in 1999 - only a 12 year old home. We also have wood double hung windows manufactured by Caradco, and installed at the same time as the casement windows, that exhibit no signs of damage - very interesting....
I have contacted Jeld-Wen - and after numerous contacts,unreturned calls, escalating through management etc., they made the offer (it seems others received as well) of a 40% discount on new window units (which amounts to about $6,000). I'm staring down the face of a $30,000 bill to remove and replace these windows - so obviously this offer is not acceptable. And also - why would anyone want to put these same defective windows back in a home?? Makes no sense so I want a cash settlement to choose the windows I want. I have contacted the BBB and also opened a case with the Oregon Attorney General in mid October 2011. The officer assigned to the case said they don't have enought complaints filed against Jeld-Wen at this point to assign an attorney to research it further.
IF YOU OWN A PROPERTY WITH THESE WINDOWS PLEASE CONTACT THE OREGON ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE AND FILE A CLAIM AGAINST JELD-WEN ASAP! THEN THEY CAN SEE THE PATTERN SHOWING NUMEROUS PEOPLE ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVING THE EXACT ISSUE WITH THESE EXACT WINDOWS. It's all over the internet - we just need to come together. WE CAN THEN HOPEFULLY GET AN ATTORNEY ASSIGNED TO THIS!

I have a very nice home built in 94, with the same problem with big double crank out Caradco windows. I live in Kansas City Mo. area.

To clarify on my previous post - Jeld-Wen, Inc. (the Caradco brand manufacturer) is headquartered in Oregon. So, no matter which state your property is located in - a case should be created through the Oregon Atty General's office because that's where Jeld-Wen is headquartered. My property is in Louisville, KY. Just Google the Oregon Atty General and their website comes up - there's a claim form online that you fill out. They will assign an enforcement officer to the case and contact Jeld-Wen. They must respond back. Good to send photos too. EVERYONE WITH THIS WINDOW PROBLEM, NO MATTER WHICH STATE THE PROPERTY IS IN, PLEASE CONTACT OREGON ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE AND FILE A CLAIM!

Just remember those who go the class action way will end up only getting about $20 per window. The lawyers will end up with the rest after its all sorted out. This happens all the time with class action law suits of this kind.
Good luck with this.

I know I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I too like many others am dealing with rotted windows and fogging glass. We have been in our house for 15 years and the problems started five years into it. Now I'm looking at $60k in replacing all windows. I plan on filing with the Oregan Attorney General office as well. Any updates from anyone on the problems with Caradco windows?

Thanks for your post. Glad to hear you are planning to contact Oregon Atty General!! We need to full court press this. I'm still working on it - have an atty now. The Atty General likes to see that customers have tried to contact the company (i.e. Jeld-Wen) first to try to reach an agreement. If you haven't already it may be a good idea to do that. Please contact Oregon General and be persistent! - it's an easy form to fill out online.

I too am a member of the rotted Caradco window club. I searched the Oregon Attorney General office site and want to make sure I am filling out the correct form. Would someone be so kind to post the link to the form? Thanks!

Welcome to the club :-(! I couldn't find a way to attach the form but go to - www.doj.state.or.us (or Google Oregon Department of Justice ). In their website click on "Forms" in the black area. Then a screen will come up that says Consumer Protection. On this screen click on the blue link "Consumer Complaint form".

It can be submitted online but I recommend filling out form, printing out and attaching photos of your rotting windows if possible. Any other documentation you could attach is great too. The more the better. Send the form along with photos etc Fed-Ex/Certified mail - so someone at Oregon DOJ signs for it. We need to keep pushing!

kt