Settlement, Rebate Given For Windows Insulating Gas Leaked From Hurd Windows; North Idaho Habitat Chapter Gets $8,333

Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho got an unexpected gift from the attorney general’s office Tuesday: a check for $8,333.

“This is like found money for us,” said Habitat President Eula Hickam.

The money will cover about one-quarter of the cost of building a new home for a low-income family. It’s part of a settlement against a Wisconsin company that sold windows in Idaho.

Hurd Millwork Co. advertised that its windows were insulated with an inert gas.

In reality, the gas escaped from between the two panes and the windows had no special insulation qualities, Idaho Attorney General Al Lance said.

In a court settlement, Hurd Millwork was required to pay a total of $25,000 to Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Coeur d’Alene, Twin Falls and Boise. The company also must pay $77,000 in rebates to Idaho customers who purchased certain types of Hurd windows.

Hurd sold about $750,000 worth of windows in Idaho, said Brett DeLange, chief of the attorney general’s consumer protection unit. The rebate does not replace the windows, but reimburses customers for lost insulation value, he said.

Hurd officials were not available for comment Tuesday.

According to Lance, the gas escaped through a “breathing tube” that the company inserted into the windows to equalize air pressure when the windows were transported through high elevation areas.

“Customers had no way of knowing that their windows had lost most of the gas,” he said.

Habitat will put its $8,333 from the settlement toward a four-unit development proposed for Rathdrum, Hickam said. The organization has begun raising $120,000 for that project.

Lance presented the check to Habitat volunteers at a house under construction on Corbin Hill Road.

Tina Voorhies and her 12-year-old son, Bryan, will move into the three-bedroom Habitat house when it is finished this fall.

The family lives in a small trailer at Spirit Lake.

Voorhies, a certified nursing assistant at Newport Hospital, said she wouldn’t have been able to afford a home on her own.

Her pride was apparent as she gave tours around the 1,000-square-foot house Tuesday. “I can’t wait ‘til it snows,” she said, gesturing to the view of pine covered hills from the living room window.

Voorhies will put 250 hours of “sweat equity” into the house, a Habitat requirement.

She also will make interest-free monthly mortgage payments on the home, which cost between $35,000 and $40,000 to build.

REBATES Consumers have until Dec. 29 to file a claim. They should submit a receipt for the windows or other proof of purchase to the attorney general’s office: Consumer Protection Unit, P.O. Box. 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0100. Windows subject to the rebate are Hurd’s Insol-8 and LowE/ Argon windows and SC75 and TC88 products manufactured after 1994. The windows were sold locally at Roetter Window and Door Co., said Brett DeLange, chief of the attorney general’s consumer protection unit.