Multi pane windows offer a lot of benefits, but the major con is that they have a limited lifespan. If you are buying or selling a home with Milgard windows, and there are any panes with seal failure, it’s possible that they may be covered under warranty.

We’ve worked with a number of clients who were able to get dual pane windows and doors fixed or replaced through Milgard’s warranty during a home sale. Here are a few things to check to find out if you might be able to get windows replaced at no cost to you, or let the next owner know about the coverage.

Related reading on this site:
Why does it matter if the bedroom windows are small or high?

How will you know if your Milgard windows are still under warranty?

There are two main things to do first.

• Find the original paperwork for the installation and note the installation date and any warranty papers that came with your order.
• Check the Milgard website’s warranty page for their Full Lifetime Warranty and their Limited Lifetime Warranty.
• In many cases, the original owner who paid to install the windows has a lifetime warranty for seal failure, and subsequent home owner may receive coverage for up to 10 years from the manufacture date.

Seal failure examples

In the most extreme cases, seal failure can look like drops of water trapped between the panes of glass, almost like it just rained, or could even start to grow mold between the glass! Often it’s much more subtle, just a little haziness or fogginess, or a bit of a milky tinge to the otherwise normal view.

The photos below both show examples of the typical clouding (neither of these two photos is of a Milgard product). Please note the whiter areas on the right side – it almost looks like smoke. This is what the haze looks like.

The next one is a very old double pane window, and here the fogginess is more pronounced. In this example, the window is also very dusty, which can make the seal failure harder to spot at first glance. (This is also a different manufacturer.)

Clean your windows and glass doors, and have a careful look

When selling your home it’s wise to get the windows and glass doors professionally cleaned, but this is even more true if you want to double check the condition of the windows prior to sale. Often residents get used to things as they are and don’t realize that something is amiss until it’s been corrected. That’s true both for seeing that the windows are dirty and seeing if there’s seal failure or other problems!

Get your glass cleaned and then see if there is any haziness, fogginess, moisture, or unclear areas afterward. It’s best to have a careful look at different times of the day, as early seal failure may not be visible in all lighting, but may present itself if the sun hits it just so.

Cleaning your windows will help to identify any other problems with the window, which may or may not be under warranty. Plus, clean windows beautify the home and allow in more light, so even if you don’t find any trouble spots (which is always the wish) it will still help make your listing more photogenic and appealing to buyers.

It can take several weeks between when seal failure is detected and when it may be corrected (with or without warranty coverage), so if you think you may want to sell your home, check your windows months before you expect it to go on the market as part of your pre-sale preparation.

How to file a claim for Milgard windows with seal failure?

If it looks like a claim is warranted, you’ll want to visit the Milgard website page for filing a service request. There you’ll need to provide either the date of service OR the product and line order. Also, you can call Milgard with this number: 1-800-MILGARD. (PLEASE do not phone me about your windows! I do not work for the company, just trying to give some help where possible.)

If the paperwork for the original purchase is not available, it may be possible to get some basic info from the window itself, as most of the time the sales info is imprinted there. Unfortunately I have found that this isn’t 100% in my experience.  The numbers are often high up on the window, and are in a shade of gray that is legible but doesn’t stand out. Here are 2 examples:

The formatting changed between the 2006 window and the 2021 window, but in both cases the date is super clear.

For more information on locating the sales number and the line number, please see this page on the Milgard website, where there’s a photo and the letters and numbers are explained clearly.

How can we tell who made the windows?

Sometimes it’s easy to identify Milgard windows due to the logo on the window pull. But there are various styles of windows (wood, fiberglass, vinyl) and different lines of windows, so you may not always find it in the same spot or in the same design.

Below are 2 types of handles, both Milgard, with the first one on a vinyl window and the second on a fiberglass one. On the fiberglass window a distinctive “MW” Milgard Windows logo is visible, but the vinyl has no apparent branding.

Nearly always, the order and line info are imprinted on the window, as mentioned above, and if they are there it can be used when phoning the company to confirm the manufacturer as well.

The warranty for Milgard windows is one of the reasons that I wanted them in my own home. We do not see as many homes with Milgard products that have seal failure, but it does happen. When that happens and the warranty is still in effect, that can be a true win-win for both buyer and seller. It can be a major improvement with no cost to the buyer or seller, and the buyer doesn’t have to build in the repair cost with a lower price. But the key is jumping on it in time and finding out your warranty coverage early on!

Related reading:

Buying, Selling and Moving Homes with Kids in Silicon Valley (this site)

Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley – 9 FAQs (on popehandy.com)