Andersen E-Series Warranty: 2604 vs 2605 Finish, Wood Terms & Glass

Coverage at a Glance

Terms below are taken directly from the manufacturer's written limited warranty. All periods run from the date of purchase from the retailer or dealer.

The E-Series is Andersen's architectural line: aluminum-clad wood, built to order in any color, with the widest size and shape range Andersen makes. Its warranty is the oldest current document in the Andersen residential lineup, last revised in May 2019, and it is structured differently from the 100, 400 and A-Series documents. It names the wood explicitly, it splits the finish by coating class, it excludes stress cracks, and it contains the one explicit transfer clause Andersen writes. If you are choosing between an E-Series and an A-Series, or between the standard and upgraded finish on an E-Series, this document is where the differences live.

Glass: Twenty Years, Minus Cracks

Factory-glazed glass is warranted free from manufacturing defects for twenty years and against material obstruction of vision from manufacturing defects or premature failure of the glass or organic seal for the same period. The covered list is broad: dual-pane, the Low-E4 family, HeatLock, tinted, patterned in textured, frosted, grooved, beveled and color, laminated, grilles between the glass and tempered versions. Decorative glass gets its own ten-year seal warranty.

What is missing is the word stress cracks. Where the 400 Series document covers them, the E-Series exclusion list names stress cracks, thermal shock cracks and broken glass, along with laminated glass delamination, special-order glazings, decorative glass beyond its seal term, impact-resistant glass and glass not factory installed. On a large custom E-Series picture unit, that distinction is worth knowing before ordering.

Wood: Two Tiers, Both Conditional

The E-Series document is the only Andersen warranty that names the wood. Interior wood and exterior wood-composite components are warranted against manufacturing defects for ten years. Exterior wood components, meaning unclad exterior wood, are five. Both terms are conditional: the owner must finish and maintain all wood surfaces. Natural variation in wood texture, grain and color is excluded, as is paint or stain failing to adhere to the composite parts. Because the E-Series is built to order, a unit built to a special or custom specification falls outside the warranty, so the specification conversation at the sale is also a warranty conversation.

Hardware, weatherstripping, integral blinds and insect screens are ten years, and the document extends that to the finish on Andersen's Limited Lifetime Brass hardware. Retractable door screens are one year.

Finish: 2604 Versus 2605

The E-Series exterior is aluminum cladding with a factory-applied paint, and Andersen offers two coating systems. Under the standard 2604 coating system, the finish is warranted for twenty years not to crack, check, peel, flake, blister or lose adhesion, and for ten years against color fade greater than five delta E measured to ASTM D2244 and chalking greater than eight measured to ASTM D4214. Under the 2605 Kynar coating system the adhesion term is the same twenty years, and the fade and chalk coverage extends to twenty years as well. Anodized finishes are five years.

Andersen's published comparison chart summarizes this as 2604 ten years and 2605 twenty years, which describes the fade term. On a white or light E-Series the difference is academic; on a dark bronze or black unit facing south or west in the Treasure Valley, 2605 is the finish with the written promise that matches the exposure. Coastal installations within two miles of salt water are reduced to ten years, with proration inside 1,000 feet and a quarterly fresh-water wash required.

Two Years of Labor Through Your Dealer

Before the document's remedies, the one that sits outside it. Andersen covers the labor on covered warranty repairs for the first two years when E-Series windows and doors are bought through an authorized Andersen dealer. Wood Windows is that dealer in the Treasure Valley. On a custom clad-wood window that can run to twelve feet, the labor to swap a glass unit is real money, and for two years it is Andersen's rather than yours. The same unit ordered through a non-dealer channel carries the same parts warranty and none of the labor.

Remedy and Exclusions

Andersen's remedies are the familiar three for glass and components: replacement to the dealer you specify without labor, a factory-authorized repair at no cost, or a refund. For the finish, Andersen may refinish, repair or replace, with labor not included on replacement, or refund. That is a small but real difference from the A-Series, whose refinish option expressly includes labor.

The exclusion list carries the standard Andersen items and adds several of its own: a storm door over a patio door, glazing by others, building movement or deterioration, fade of five delta E or less even when non-uniform, products sold by dealers but not made by Andersen, and the labor exclusions for replacing sash, panels or glass, removal and disposal, and finishing or carpentry afterward.

Transfer and Claims

The E-Series is the one Andersen document with a dedicated transfer clause: the warranty and all claims and rights under it transfer to any new property owner upon the sale or other legal transfer of the property during the warranty period. The other documents convey the same result through their Transferable Limited Warranty headings; this one states it.

Claims go to the dealer who sold the product, or directly to Andersen at 1-888-888-7020. If Wood Windows sold the windows, call (208) 376-2200 and our Garden City office opens the claim against the original order and schedules our own installer when the part arrives. Andersen asks for the exterior color, unit type and size, inside visible glass measurements, the etched glass logo and the purchase date, and may charge an inspection fee when coverage is unclear, waived if a covered defect is found.

Last reviewed 2026-09-16 by Wood Windows Inc — (208) 376-2200