tent repair person chiming in here, over 15 years in the biz...Misc comments on the thread....
The china comment - any product is only as good as the management that oversees production. To use the "made in China" argument as an overall indicator is lame at best.
Wenzel uses 'double stitched, lap-feld seams"-- which sounds good anyway. Amazing what they do with automation these days.... Their floor seams are "welded" which does sound a little dubious, although apparently Mountain Hardwear and Sierra Designs use a similar process on certain products.
But more to the point, I've never seen anything like seam failure -- on ANY tent. Just doesn't seem like a reasonable concern.
Everyone uses double stitched lap felled seam, and if you haven't seen seam failure on a low price tent you aren't looking very hard. The thread quality is very poor, and and tends to shred and break.
You can seal a tent just as well with seam grip as factory seam sealing - more depends on the over all quality of the materials and construction.
Low thread count fabric, cheap thread, soft metal on the zipper sliders.... only a few factors that add up to make a big difference in longevity and performance.