18 Comments Add your own

• 1. John  |  November 10th, 2008 at 7:52 pm

  I had Certainteed windows installed throughout my home 15 years ago. About a year ago I noticed air rushing in betwwen the sashes and the tilt in windows, even gets worse when the furnace comes on. I do not know what to do to correct the problem, but I must say that I am very unhappy with the windows. I choose the best windows with low E glass and hoped to never have an issue.

• 2. Don Goober  |  June 15th, 2009 at 11:33 am

  I have the double hung window. There appears to be too much space between the sliding window and the frame. Additionally it appears the metal guide has broken off the window and does not slide with it.

  The window is only three years old.

• 3. John S  |  September 20th, 2009 at 2:19 pm

  The builder installed the single hung windows. The house is now 14 years old and the windows need to be replaced 7 of the windows have lost their seal.

• 4. keith henson  |  October 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 am

  I HAD CERTAINTEED WINDOWS INSTALLED IN MY NEW HOME IN 2005 AND HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS SINCE. AIR PENATRATES THE WINDOWS AND IF I PUT PLASTIC OVER THE WINDOW IN THE WINTER THE TEMPERATURE IN MY HOME GOES UP 15 DEGREES. HIGHLY UNSATISFIDE WITH CERTAINTEED.MANUFECTOR SAYS ITS MY PROBLEM.

• 5. James P  |  February 1st, 2010 at 3:58 am

  I am a builder in Ohio & have built dozens of homes in the past 7 years. Three years ago I built my own home one I planned on being in for along time. I have used several differant windows for new home construction & did extensive research before purchasing mine from Certainteed. I have never been more disappointed in my life with the performance of these windows!!!The air intrusion is incredible you would think that they were open!!! Certainteed sent a rep out & he had stated that it was not defective it was built per specifications & unfortunately was not covered by warranty. He went on to state that Certainteed has sold off the manufacturing portion of their window business & design/construction was out of their hands!!! I would not use or recommend Certainteed windows or any other product that they simply throw their name on to anyone. Very Disatisfied!

• 6. Barry J  |  May 8th, 2010 at 6:44 am

  Had Certainteed windows installed and the glass went bad with afilm over the window. There was a bad batch but would not replace the windows until the film appeared. Now they say labor warranty is expired and I hac=ve to replace the window glass myself or at my expense.

  Even two of the replacements have since gone bad.

• 7. John J  |  June 24th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

  Contractor recommmended Certainteed for a large addition I had built in 2007. I ended up with 13 windows on the west side of the addition. You can actually see the curtains move when it is windy! Had another contractor look at the windows, and after checking everything out, said it was the design of the window. It just sucks air in. I am so very disappointed in Certainteed, and now am in the process of having these replaced as I can “afford it.”

• 8. Joan Bello  |  July 7th, 2010 at 4:44 pm

  I just had 20 Certainteed windows installed in my home two days ago. It was a huge investment for me as I am a single person living on one pay check. Heating by oil in the Northeast is out of control so I decided to take out a loan and replace all the windows in the house.

  I wish I had read all these reviews beforehand because I certainly would have done more homework on the subject. The contractor I went with said he has been installing these windows for 25 years and he stands behind them 100%.

  What is freaking me out is that the top window slides down on its own leaving it wide open for summer bugs to get in. To prevent this from happening I have had to lock the windows….not what you want to do in the summertime and especially when you have just spent a good chunk of change for a good window.

  I hope this decision to go with Certainteed does not become the nightmare of my life!

• 9. RM  |  August 12th, 2010 at 6:56 am

  I have had the same “film” problems for years and have had Certainteed replace many windows, but now Certainteed has more or less stopped replacing them and I have to pay out of pocket despite the so-called “lifetime warranty.” I’d highly recommend avoiding their windows or anything it sells, since the company doesn’t stand behind its (defective) product.

• 10. Sheila  |  September 19th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

  We are doing an addition and the contractor used Certainteed windows. He installed 12 single-hung windows just a few weeks ago. The addition is still being built, not even dried in yet. 3 windows have already had the vinyl trim on the inside break away when I closed them. As of this morning, a 4th window will not budge up or down. I can flip the pane open as if to clean it, and it latches back in, but it won’t move up or down. I am really worried about these windows now. I keep asking the contractor to get a Certainteed rep here so I can visit with him/her but so far they are a no-show. At this point, I wouldn’t recommend Certainteed to anyone; I already have a 33% failure rate. In reliability terms, that is too high.

• 11. John T Markarian  |  September 25th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

  I am a building envelope consultant and have been called in to inspect a small subdivision. One of the the recurring problem areas has been the Certainteed windows.. specifically the single hung windows. They are extremely difficult to operate, although some have failed completely and won’t stay open at all. The mechanisms are clearly defective.

  There are about 40 or 50 townhouses aiming for a lawsuit.

• 12. margey almy  |  October 11th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

  I’m glad to read these. I had Certainteed installed on 6 of my windows 3 years ago. I have not had any problem with them, but I’ll be on the lookout. I just had the same company come to give a bid on the remaining windows. He said that Certaineed got bought out and another company ended up with the windows part of it. He no longer sells the Certainteed, but says that his (family-owned) company will honor the warranty on them… I hope.

• 13. Betty  |  December 3rd, 2010 at 6:20 pm

  When we built our house 10 years ago, we wanted to put Anderson windows in the house and the builder talked us out of them and said CertainTeed were just as good and cheaper. Crap, we have had most of them replaced (at a fee) and the new ones continue to film up as the seals break. Our neighbors have had the same problem. I am looking to join a class action lawsuit.

• 14. paul  |  December 11th, 2010 at 7:55 pm

  My CertainTeed Vinyl replacement windows are very drafty. On a windy day the curtains actually move. Cold air infiltration is horrible, especially if there is any wind. Air leaks badly were the upper and lower window meet. You can actually see daylight coming through. I would never recommend CertainTeed based on my experience.

• 15. josef  |  December 27th, 2010 at 11:35 am

  Replaced 12 windows in my house with
  vinyl CertainTeed. What a disaster.
  Four panes replaced (fogging up) and
  in a storm, the curtains move and a candle held close will flicker. Criminal.

• 16. Allie  |  January 17th, 2011 at 6:06 pm

  We had these installed in our house 6 years ago. The picture window seal broke within the first month. That window was replaced. Then a few years later the seal broke in the picture window and bedroom windows. They did come out and measure and sent me two new windows, but want to charge us $180 to put the windows in the frame. Needless to say, the windows are still in our garage. And now another seal has broken in another window. I won’t bother to call them back.

• 17. Matt E.  |  January 26th, 2011 at 10:43 am

  We have been in our new house for almost 4 years now (bought it in 2007) and we have had nothing but problems with these windows from the very start. We can feel the cold air come through, our bathroom is 3 degrees colder than our other rooms (this is a fact cause me actually use a thermometer)…we even have frost build up on the INSIDE of the windows! We had the builder come back and reflash the windows, pull of the molding and add foam insulation and it still did not make a difference. We had a representative from the manufacturer come out and he tried to tell us the problem was because we had 5 people in our family with 2 animals, and the humidity that was coming out from our bodies is the reason we have moisture on the windows. These windows suck and we will be filing a class action lawsuit because I know of two other families in our neighborhood with the same windows and the same problems.

• 18. Jeff  |  May 8th, 2011 at 1:45 am

  I have Certainteed double-hung replacement windows throughout my house, but have forgotten how to raise or remove the screens. We never received an instruction booklet when our contractor installed them, and though he showed us many years ago, I can’t remember what to do. Can you help me?

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