Lincoln Wood Class Action Claims Windows Prone to Wood Rot

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Three Pennsylvania homeowners claim Lincoln windows are defectively designed in a way that causes them to fail, damaging surrounding structural elements.

Plaintiffs John Karnes and Robert and Carol Golzak claim the windows they bought that were made by defendant Lincoln Wood Products Inc. are so defective as to be unfit for their intended purpose. The plaintiffs say Lincoln windows are vulnerable to penetration by water, causing them to rot and fail.

The plaintiffs take issue with a line of aluminum-clad wood frame windows manufactured by Lincoln. According to this Lincoln windows class action lawsuit, the aluminum cladding on these Lincoln windows is inadequately sealed.

Water gets in between the cladding and the wood core, they allege, where it accelerates rot and degradation of the wood, causing the windows to fail prematurely.

These Lincoln windows also fail to keep water away from the surrounding structural components of the buildings they’re installed in, according to the plaintiffs.

“Degradation of the sashes and frame permits additional air and water infiltration into the home in an accelerated cycle, damaging nearby building components and other property within the home,” the complaint reads.

The Golzaks say Lincoln windows were installed in their new home that was completed in February 2010. Robert Golzak is employed by the company that built the couple’s home, and he worked on that construction himself.

Robert says that after the windows were installed, he noticed they were missing pieces of aluminum that should have been there to mold pieces of wood together. He also noticed wood rot, condensation, and ice build-up near the windows.

A repair effort by the lumber company that sold the Golzaks the windows was unsuccessful, the couple claims, and their ice build-up and condensation problems continue to this day.

Karnes says that around 2006, he began to notice rust and moisture between the panes of the Lincoln windows installed in his home. Lincoln replaced those windows between 2007 and 2008, he says.

By 2014, the replacement windows began to show similar rusting and moisture, he alleges. He made another warranty claim with Lincoln, but the company told him the warranty was extinguished because the original defective windows had been replaced. Karnes says he ended up spending nearly $10,000 to replace his defective Lincoln windows in the fall of 2016.

The plaintiffs seek to represent two plaintiff Classes, one seeking injunctive relief and the other seeking damages. The Injunctive Relief Class would cover all persons in Pennsylvania who currently own a structure in which Lincoln windows are installed. The Damages Class would cover owners of such structures whose Lincoln windows exhibit rot or premature deterioration.

Plaintiffs are asking the court for injunctive relief voiding provisions of the windows’ warranty that the plaintiffs say are unconscionable. They seek a court order requiring Lincoln to revisit all prior warranty claims relevant to the defects alleged here, and to set up an inspection program to identify wood rot on affected structures.

The plaintiffs also seek an award of damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs include Benjamin F. Johns and Andrew W. Ferich of Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, and Panagiotis “Pete” V. Albanis and Frank Petosa of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.

The Lincoln Windows Defective Design Class Action Lawsuit is Robert and Carol Golzak, et al. v. Lincoln Wood Products Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-00617, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.