Mountain View Corporation LLC

unknown

Mountain View Installed Milgard replacement vinyl windows and new cases/sills in 10 openings, including 1 bay window. The price included replacing and painting outside trim but did not include painting inside cases/sills. Everything was excellent and I highly recommend them to anyone installing new windows.
I got 6 bids and learned that the biggest thing that differentiates window installers is how they are installed. There appears to be 3 methods:
1) Nail the window frame through existing drywall in opening before installing window sashes
2) Remove drywall and nail window frame directly into wood frame for a slightly bigger window and tighter fit
3) Remove and replace trim on outside of house and use a "new construction" style window with a plastic nailing flange that sticks out parallel to the plane of the window to nail the window frame directly to the house frame.
Mountain View was the only company to use method 3. It's supposedly better because the nailing flange covers the gap between the window and the house, allowing the tightest seal. One of the other guys I got a bid from (who did #2) agreed that #3 was the better method, but said his method was a good compromise that would save money (his bid was higher). My father-in-law's window guy also agreed method 3 was the best. (He's in another state so he wasn't biding on my project.)
Additionally, Mountain View installs Milgard windows (the owners are former Milgard employees). Milgard seems to be known for their warranty on various Internet forums. My brother-in-law has Milgard windows and has had to have a few things fixed under warranty, which he said they (Milgard directly, not Mountain View) did and excellent and prompt job of.
To top it off, Mountain View was the cheapest of 5 equivalent bids I got (the 6th cheaper bid did not include new sills and cases).
The actual work was also excellent. Their sub-contractors, Aaron and Mike, did great work. Aaron build beautiful cases (picture frame around the window) for all the windows. Everything looks very square and tight. They also promptly fixed problem I noticed (a window that didn't slide smoothly and a screen that wasn't tight).
The salesman, Mike, was also incredibly quick to respond to all my phone calls and e-mails.
Finally, Mountain View and Milgard seem to be a great combo. I wanted double-hungs (opens from top and bottom) in my bay because the seat usually ends up covered with paperwork and other stuff that would block the opening on the bottom. Milgard doesn't typically only does single-hungs in bay windows, but Mountain View special-ordered it for me.
-= A few (very minor) gripes =-
* Mountain View recommended thicker glass rather than a laminate in between two sheets of glass for noise reduction. My neighbor has a very noisy truck and leaves at 5 AM, and I wish I'd spent another couple hundred for the laminate in my bedroom. It may have only been as small difference in noise reduction, but at 5 AM every decibel counts.
* The final bill was for a few hundred dollars too much. They corrected it promptly, no questions asked, when I pointed it out though.
* I ordered a slider (moves horizontally) in a bathroom shower because a salesman from another company recommended against a horizontal surface that water would collect on. Sliders also have a horizontal surface at the bottom because the two sashes obviously have to be offset. This is obvious when it's installed, but it seemed logical when the other sales guy recommended a silder. This is my own fault (I did request the slider), but I wish Mountain View would have strongly recommended the double-hung so the horizontal surface would have been higher up (less water from the shower) and I could have gotten frosted glass only in the bottom sash.
-= Other window buying advice =-
Window warranty was the other differentiating factor in the 6 bids I got. All vinyl windows seem to be "100% virgin vinyl", offer double sliders, and use low-e glass for good insulation (a state requirement, I think), so I think it's hard to buy a bad window. But warranties do differ. MIlgard (and I think AmeriMax and probably others) offer:
* Lifetime warranty
* Transferable to next owner of home
* Warranty INCLUDES labor and shipping
* Warranty does NOT get prorated after 10 years or for the next homeowner
Be wary of brands that don't meet those requirements.
Finally, this review really is for Mountain View Corp 4090 Youngfield, Wheat Ridge. (Apparently there is at least one other company, possibly two, called Mountain View that installed windows in the Denver area.)