Class Action Lawsuit Claims Certain Ply Gem Vinyl Windows Fail to Prevent Water Intrusion

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Ply Gem Specialty Products and Cornerstone Building Brands face a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the companies’ Builder 1100 series vinyl windows are defective in that they are unable to prevent moisture intrusion.

Get class action lawsuit and settlement news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 23-page lawsuit was filed by two residents of the 251-home Queensbridge neighborhood of Indian Land, Lancaster County, South Carolina who allege that the windows’ failure to keep out moisture can cause visible fogging, reduced visibility, water accumulation and water transfer to window sills, frames and surrounding walls, posing the risk of mold, wood rot and other property damage.

Per the case, the Ply Gem windows were marketed as “low-maintenance,” with “energy efficient warm edge insulating glass,” and include a 10-year warranty that assures the windows “shall be free from material obstruction of vision as a result of film accumulation on interior glass surfaces resulting exclusively from failure of the hermetic edge seal (from sources other than glass breakage or cracking) due to faulty manufacturing.”

Ordinarily, the lawsuit states, insulated glass windows need to be defended against moisture accumulation or intrusion by a desiccant, which absorbs residual moisture trapped during manufacturing and any small amounts of moisture that slip past the seals over time.

However, the complaint alleges that no desiccant was ever applied to the Ply Gem windows and that this was an intentional design choice made to lower the cost of manufacturing, even though it significantly raised the risk of water damage in and around the windows.

Compounding this, the windows were installed with faulty or improperly placed settings and sealing materials and contain defective weep systems, meaning that they cannot adequately prevent or discharge water intrusion, the lawsuit claims.

“A window that permits water intrusion violates building codes and industry standards,” the case emphasizes.

The lawsuit reports that several Queensbridge residents ordered replacement windows from Ply Gem when they began to notice the effects of the apparent defects in their original ones. However, the lawsuit claims that the windows that were delivered as replacements, for which the residents still had to pay shipping and installation costs due to one of several limitations in the warranty, bore the same defect.

Per the lawsuit, Ply Gem has not changed its manufacturing practices or standards and is still selling defective windows that customers have no way of knowing are defective until well after purchase and installation.

The complaint contends that Queensbridge residents whose homes are equipped with the Ply Gem windows at issue have not only been deprived of the value they were promised but have also suffered additional property damage from water and moisture intrusion.

The Ply Gem Specialty Products class action lawsuit looks to cover all homeowners within Queensbridge located in the County of Lancaster, South Carolina, whose homes are equipped with the Builder 1100 series vinyl windows.

Check out ClassAction.org’s lawsuit list for the latest top class action lawsuits.