Our 2006 tract home was provided with Milgard vinyl windows and sliders. Overall, they have been very good: no leaks or condensation, outside noise is very muted, the windows operate easily and the glass is clear with little solar radiation coming in. In fact we often don't operate our A/C at all because the house just doesn't get that hot, thanks in part to the Milgard windows. Because we are the original owners of this house, the original full warranty applies to our windows as long as we own the house.
So what's the reason for the 2-star rating? A Single Big Problem by the factory that is NOT seal leakage within the dual-pane assembly.
A simple manufacturing defect that should never happen, but careless factory assembly has resulted in a predetermined outcome that eventually affects a certain percentage of Milgard windows. Here's why we have had to deal with the clunky warranty process.
We have experienced the exhibit of iridescent colors on the outside surface of two windows at different times. This discoloration is visible from either side but is clearly located on the outside surface that is exposed to the elements. The first instance happened on a south-facing window in 2020. Only one of the horizontal sliding window pair was affected. The online warranty process was very slow--I allowed some leeway for the effects of Covid-19--but I finally got a local dealer involved to speed up the process. (This dealer acknowledged that they were aware of this kind of defect where an e-coating was located on the outside surface of Milgard windows.) Once the replacement window was manufactured, the first-floor installation took maybe 20 minutes total.
I started paying attention to the thousands of Milgard windows in our development of hundreds of homes as I walked around the neighborhood. Here and there were examples of what appeared to be the same defect that affected our window: the iridescent colors that are clearly visible on some of the street-facing windows.
Then a second window in our home in an east-facing location developed the same iridescent discoloration. Same clunky warranty process but the newly-manufactured replacement window finally arrived, this time with two guys who were going to install it. Before they removed the defective window, I attempted to discuss with them the fact that the iridescent discoloration was on the outside surface of the window where it was not supposed to be. At that point I don't think I have ever witnessed the speed with which one of the installers reacted to my statement; he whipped out a razor blade and proceeded to "show" me how the iridescent layer couldn't be scraped off the window, "proving" that the dual-pane assembly had lost it's seal, resulting in the discoloration.
I've done some research on dual-pane windows with e-coating(s). Without getting into a lot of detail, this coating(s) is extremely thin--a nanometer or so--and should NEVER be located on the outside surface. This bond with the glass is extremely strong so that scraping it off isn't possible without damaging the glass. What appears to be going on is that the dual-pane sandwich assembly has, in the case of our window failures, been manufactured incorrectly or it has been installed by the factory inside-out within the frame, putting an e-coating on the outside where it is directly affected by the elements.
To be clear, whether or not there is "seal leakage" on my defective windows, the iridescent discoloration is the result, NOT of seal leakage, but of the presence of an e-coating on the outside surface of the window where is was damaged by the sun and the elements.
One of my neighbors now has three Milgard windows in her home that have this same defect: the e-coating has failed on the sun-and-weather-exposed outside surface of the window. Two homes built in 2006 with Milgard windows, now with a history of five total windows defective from the factory. Since this defect has existed from the beginning but took time and sun and weather exposure to be revealed, there could be more defects just waiting to be seen. This is all very unfortunate because otherwise, our Milgard windows have been very good. read more