Posted By lzerarc on 26 Aug 2013 10:48 PM
I am still waiting for Lbear to post up pictures of the Intus windows in his house.......

I don't own or have any stake in Intus windows. I stated I believe they offer the best bang for buck in terms of performance and quality and would use them on my future build.

That is exactly my point. I, and others, just can not understand why such the strong push for them when you do not have any experience with them? How do you know they are quality? How do you know they will hold up?

Posted By lzerarc on 27 Aug 2013 08:44 AM
That is exactly my point. I, and others, just can not understand why such the strong push for them when you do not have any experience with them? How do you know they are quality? How do you know they will hold up?

Intus is well respected and used by a lot of green energy builds. If you visit the Green Building Advisor website you will see that Intus is used in A LOT of new home builds and they are highly respected and praised in the green building community. Everyone I talked to that had installed Intus Windows, they had nothing but praise for them in their quality and performance.

Go to any green building convention or conference and the people who used Intus in their builds will have nothing but positive comments about their quality and performance. In Europe they are ever more well known and have been around longer in Europe and they have a top notch reputation in Europe.

in ALOT of new home builds? Dont confused "used" with "disccused" on GBA, especially compared to fiberglass Canadian alternatives. I have been a member there for quite some time. Interestingly enough, Intus was first really discussed fall of 2011 on that site and by myself as an option in my build to which I dismissed as an option. They have been around for 18 years. Most other window company warranties are longer than they have been around. I have nothing against Intus, they were good to get quotes from. Ultimately they were not what I wanted on my build due to ugly uPVC and expensive color upgrades, and are certinaly not the end all be all which is often times presented. I just typically find peoples opinions more creditable if it comes from first hand experience. Looking for a cheaper PH rated window, then yes, they APPEAR they are probably the best bang that I have seen.

I have been to green building conferences, national AIA, etc. Its hard to find people that have even heard of them yet have used them.

I went to the Green Build Expo in San Francisco last year specifically to look at Intus windows because of this forum and other forums.  I was highly disappointed in their display and their attitude.  There were two people working the booth, and when I went to the booth, which was devoid of attendees, they didn't even look up to see if anyone was there, but surfed on their phones.  I had to make a noise for them to notice me.  They brought very few windows to the show, and they weren't very enthusiastic about discussing their product.  They definitely didn't want to be at the show.

Zola, on the other hand, had the owner working the booth, and which I found by happenstance, i.e. walking around the entire expo.  He talked to me for 10 minutes answering any and all questions, and he had more brochures and windows to show me what they had to offer.  They also invited me to see their install in San Bruno, which is the one showcased on their website, the orange windows on a modern house.  The massive slider was very nice, and the other windows were also very nice.  The Zola representative said that they were looking to improve on their screen offerings, and are also considering adding thermally broken aluminum to their offerings.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a definitive timeline when and if new products would be added, and I had to order my windows due to the long lead time for European windows, because I didn't want my GC to be waiting for the windows.

With regard to Intus and Passive House, I think if you go to their website, they don't mention any windows being Passive House certified any longer. They mention that you don't need to be PH certified to be used in a PH, but their window profile seems to be smaller than PH certified windows, so I am not sure how hard it would be to meet PH certification with their windows.

Have you received a quote from Zola? You better take a deep breath because the sticker shock might make you faint. Almost double that of an Intus Window.

Also, good luck trying to find out who makes Zola's windows. When Martin Holladay from Green Building Advisor asked Zola during an interview who makes his windows, Martin was told to sign a non-disclosure agreement so as to not reveal the factory in Poland that makes the windows for Zola.

Intus tells you up front who makes their windows and where. There are no secrets and stupid game playing. Intus tells you where they get their glazing (Guardian), their frame profiles (Schuco/Germany), the hardware (German), the spacers (Swiss), and where they are made (Lithuania).

As far as warranties go. A lifetime or 20 year warranty is useless and you can wipe your bird cage with it because the manufacturer has loopholes designed into the lawyer written and strewn fine print that comes with it.

The irony of all of this is that the people here who attack Intus are window salesmen and are vested in other window companies. Bringing up anecdotal evidence of some sales reps with poor attitudes at an Intus booth during an expo is beyond ridiculous and just goes to show the extent that a few people on this forum will go to attack their competition.

Each person will make their own choice who they want to go with. Some anecdotal story of Intus reps at a sales expo does not prove that they make a poor window. I am sure Zola was very nice and accommodating as the price tag for those windows would call for the concierge service. Good luck trying to get replacement parts for a mysterious window made at a mysterious plant somewhere in Poland.

Even Martin Holladay who is well respected in the Green Building community was appalled by the reaction of Zola when he asked where and who makes his windows.

Response by Martin Holladay, GBA Advisor  regarding Zola Windows:

"Zola Windows was founded by Florian Speier, a Swiss architect. His company imports windows from a factory in Poland. When I asked Speier to identify the name of the Polish window manufacturer and the location of its factory, our conversation took a sharp turn into a dark cul-de-sac that seemed to be right out of a John le Carré novel. Speier answered, “We don’t disclose that, unless you want to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”

OK, Florian. The windows are made in Poland by a window company known as “Producenta okien który nie może być nazwany” (the window manufacturer that cannot be named)"

"I think that most purchasers of European windows want to know something about the manufacturer -- just as any purchaser of a U.S. window wants to know a little bit about the company that makes the windows. How long have they been in business? What's their reputation for satisfying customer complaints? How likely is it that the company will still be around in 10 years if you ever need parts?

These are the types of questions that window purchasers ask. If you are buying a window from Marvin (for example), many of these questions can be answered. Purchasers of other brands of European windows -- for examples, windows made by Holz & Form, Bieber, Energate, Gradwohl, Heinzmann, Internorm, Makrowin, Intus, Optiwin, or Unilux -- can research the companies that make them, if they want.

However, when it comes to "the Polish manufacturer of windows that cannot be named," U.S. buyers remain in the dark."

Again, I am not saying Zola windows are a bad window, far from it, they are an excellent performing window. The problem and discussion here is that you are paying a really high premium for a window that you have no clue about who makes it and where. As brought up by Martin Holladay, what happens if you need parts a few years from now? Who do you call if Zola is gone? You can't even call the factory because that's somewhere in Polands' Area 51. The nameless, faceless, mysterious factory.

Zola is the only one who plays this "game" with not revealing who makes his windows. Other manufacturers are open about who makes their windows but with Zola it's top secret and you are SOL if you need parts or service later on.

Lbear,

Please, please, please quit calling me names.  I am not a window rep.  Please retract your garbage about me.  If you don't stop, I will follow every single post of yours with spittal just like you continue to do so.  Everytime, we ask you to verify something, you say nothing.   You never prove anything, you just sling crap all day.  You ask people not to make attacks, and all you do is attack people.  You are a hypocritical asshole.

If you would read your own crap, you mentioned a whole country as to where the windows from Intus are made, just like Zola.  How is saying made in Lithuania any more descriptive than made in Poland.  How much kool-aid do you think we are drinking.  Just shut your trap.  You said you wouldn't respond to any or my posts, but you continue to do so, and always in a belligerent and dismissive attitude.

I gave my experience.  I didn't say anything about the windows.  That information is my experience at Green Build Expo.  Have you ever attended Green Build Expo?  Do you just shovel shit from your mouth before thinking.  My experiences are real.  Your gristle is nothing but heresay on the internet. 

Before you said I was a rep for a chinese window company, and now I presume you think I work for Zola.

Tell me where I can go and see Intus windows installed in the california bay area.  If they have so many installations, please give me just one address, so I can go and see the windows in person.  Please, just one single address.  Why don't you answer, because I know you won't, and anyway, you can't, because they have no intallations in northern california.  I have asked them specifically, so that I can see their windows in person, not just on a website.   Heaven forbid that I would actually want to see a working window in person before spending tens of thousands of dollars.

I have seen a Zola installation in San Bruno.  As I said, it is the one on their website. 

Why do you keep going on and on about Intus?  I gave you my quotes between Zola and Intus long time ago.  They were within a few percentage points of each other.   With your harping, it seems as though you are being given a very special price from Intus because you are promoting them constantly.

Every single time someone mentions details about Intus that you don't like, you jump up and down like a paid representative.  You behave exactly how you criticize other people.  You don't critique any details, such as they aren't passive house certified any longer.

Get a life you loser, and go crawl under a rock in your arizona desert.   If you continue to say a single solitary incorrect thing about me, I will reply to each and every single one of your posts with the same crap.

I like how you are so stupid that when someone mentions how EIFS provides warmth to a house, and you say that the contractor is an idiot, and when someone points out that "I" stands for insulation, do you apologize and admit your mistake, no you just go on with your drivel as always like your total incompetence was never revealed in its full glory.

Posted By Lbear on 22 Jun 2013 05:17 PM
I would start with reading the older threads in the "window/door" area. I would also read the Green Building Advisor article on windows. Click here and here

With that being said, I recommend triple pane windows from either Intus, Zola or Accurate Dorwin. It all depends on your budget and goals. Intus will be your best bang for buck in terms of great quality windows for a lower price.

You hypocrisy doesn't even have to leave this thread.  In the beginning of the thread, you recommend Zola, and because I mention my good experience with them, you now bash them and talk about kinds of crap.  You should probably go and talk to a therapist and combine your multiple personalities.  You can't even maintain consistency on a single thread.  Seriously, you need real help.

eugenepan, Lbear and others:
enough already! No one logs on to this website to hear bickering; we can all find that elsewhere. Please stop!

Posted By Bob I on 28 Aug 2013 04:23 PM
eugenepan, Lbear and others:
enough already! No one logs on to this website to hear bickering; we can all find that elsewhere. Please stop!

I am sorry to the forum, but I don't understand Lbear.  Every time, I write something, he has to attack me directly calling me names and accusing me of false representation, and I am not the type of person to sit idly by.  There is no repercussions to him as he continues to insult people on a regular basis.  What do you propose that I do?  I probably should just go away which would be the easiest solution, but I feel that I should be able to voice my opinion on this forum without being blasted after every post.

On my very first post, he accuses me of representing a chinese window manufacturer, and nothing is said or done to retract those statements.  He has never apologized for making false accusations.  He continues to do it today.  In his latest post, he continues the same claim, and he won't stop.  He has continued to denigrate me on every single post.  In the real world, I would make him put up or shut up, but in this forum, I have lowered myself to bickering.  If the forum is willing to kill his account, then I am more than willing to have my account killed.

Bob, please give me a solution besides not responding.  In the latest post, I gave my real experiences with two window manufacturers, and then I am accused again of representing a window manufacturer.  Can anyone say that I have promoted a single window manufacturer in any of my posts?

I hate that it has resorted to this, but I feel like a small child who has no options, but to act spitefully.  Again, if the forum moderators can suspend or remove lbear's account, then they can do the same for me. 

I can't even post anything without being insulted, so in the end, I will continue to lash out.

He has said that he won't reply to any of my posts, but he can't even follow his own promises.  Again, I should be able to post without being insulted.

No one should be bullied on the internet or in person.  If you are mad because I am retaliating, but if you want to stop this thing, go to the source, and tell Lbear to stop attacking people.  All of my attacks have been based on his postings of him accusing me of things that aren't true.  I have made no false claims about him.  he has only made false claims about me.

If other people would step up to the plate and inform Lbear that he is making false statements about people, maybe he will stop.  However, no one says anything.  It is like normal bullying, when the person who is getting attacked gets mad and then they are accused of assault.  Where were all of the people when all of the bullying was happening.  How come no one tells the bully to stop when it is clear that he is treating other forum members poorly?

If you want the forum to be a good place, then people should also stand up for the new members who are abused from the very first post.

Again, I am not one to just quietly go away.  i don't want to continue to bicker on this forum.  It has actually provided me with some very good information for my house.  however, if I am treated poorly on the forum and no one feels compelled to say anything, then i must stand up for myself.

why don't you look at the postings?  don't just throw out a blanket statement for everyone to stop bickering.  look at the root cause.  if you want to solve the problem, don't complain about the symptoms, fix the problem by fixing the root cause.  the root cause is lbear.

Posted By therev on 22 Jun 2013 06:32 AM
I'm in the process of having a ICF house built to the roof. Single story ranch on top of an ICF basement and I'm trying to estimate the house because I will be the general contractor. I'm building in Indiana and want a extremely energy effiecient window. Could anyone make a suggestion and what type of window or company to go with? I'm extremely confused in the window issues and would appreciate any input.

I think that the Up and down vertically-movable UPVC window with grill design may be good for you.

I think that the Up and down vertically-movable UPVC window with grill design may be good for you.

Ummmm....double hungs are exactly what you don't want to see in a ICF home in Indiana. The infiltration rates are significantly worse than for awning or casement windows. With advice like that, who are you and what are you doing here?