Personally, I like all vinyl windows the best. While wood looks very nice (for some styles) I think a window must withstand water for decades. I've never seen a wood window (incl. cladded ones) that stood up perfectly for a decade or more.

There is no short or general answer to your question which I'm sure you were told on the window forum.

A common mistake homeowners make is to assume that windows can be compared by construction type and brand like tires or vacuum cleaners.

The information you seek is simply beyond what a knowledgeable person would be willing to do here, if in fact it is even possible. Anecdotes from homeowners familiar with a few of the issues will probably confuse you.

Tell us first what the design constraints are: if the windows will be double-hungs, casements, awnings, etc., what the climate is, the general price range and region of the country. That might reduce the answer to a manageable level.

There are reasons why all of the hundreds of window types are made but you don't have to understand all of those reasons in order to choose one for your house.

Well actually I wasn't ready to start narrowing down the choices for our particular build. I was just curious which type is considered high end and which type is considered cheap/trac home worthy, which type warrants a higher price tag, etc. I guess there are just too many choices and quality levels out there to be so general so I'll just jump right in to my personal quest:

We are building a 2500 square foot home on an infill lot in a historical area in Asheville, NC. The weather there is generally mild and they get very little precipitation. It will have mostly craftsman elements to the architectural style. Afterall, it will have to pass muster with the historical commission. Most of the windows will be double hung with one fixed square on one side of the house and two awning or casement style squares either side of the fireplace. We also are going to have a casement above the kitchen sink that will be replaced with stained and beveled art glass. The interiors of the windows on the first floor will be stained, not painted. Our framing is 2 x 6s so we will have deep sills. (I never was considering all vinyl...I just wanted to know where this style fit in to the hierarchy.)

Of the three homes we've owned one had single panes with fixed storm windows over. Another had single hung all vinyl. And the fully custom home we live in now has all wood in and out. Painting has not been an issue. We have lived here 10 years and only had to paint the two windows that constantly get sun. However the wood windows have given us the most problems. They have warped and swelled (sometimes causing our alarm to malfunction) and some have had seals to fail. They were made locally and are not a brand.

I assume in the new build we will put some type of wood clad window in. I do not like the idea of paying for a highly visible name brand. I would much prefer a no name brand that has superior quality. My builder has said he has worked with both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. He will be glad to advise me, but I like to be armed with at least a little bit of knowledge before I start questioning him. The way the real estate market is in North Carolina there are a lot of people who move here with a lot of money and just buy "the best there is" meaning whatever namebrand they've heard is the most expensive.

We're also going to need two sets of french doors (one inswing and one outswing,) but I suppose that's another discussion entirely. The builder has already shown us a mahogany craftsman front entrance door that is about a third of the cost of most others.

The world is full of strong opinions based on limited knowledge and experience.

The wood windows in my house are 117 years old and work fine. I have installed aluminum and vinyl clad windows in houses for 40 years and have no reason to expect them to start failing anytime soon.

All-vinyl double-hung windows that have smaller glass lights in the upper sash and are only available in white don't meet my minimum requirements for appearance so I don't use them.

I was not aware that there were Craftsman style houses as far east as NC or that the style was old enough to be considered historic in a state so rich with much older historic homes.

Your fear of well known window brands seems completely unfounded from my experience although I do stay away from Pella and am very picky which model Andersen windows I specify. You should learn more about the residential window industry rather than making intuitive assumptions. Your bad experience with locally made windows should have taught you something.

See if Eagle (aluminum-clad) is available in your area. When double pane glass is allowed in historic work, Marvin has always been my first choice with Eagle a close second if the price is right. Marvin and Eagle will both put a simulated divided light aluminum-clad sash in a wood frame and attach the trim at the factory and this allows "mulling" multiple windows together. Marvin also provides the narrowest SDL muntin that has a spacer between the glass. To get anything better usually requires custom built windows or single glazing with an exterior glass energy panel (Marvin will do that too). In fact, Marvin's custom shop will make pretty much anything, even a sash weight pulley system.

I have also used Boston Sash double-hungs with storm windows over them when that was preferred by the local historic commission; you never know what they will want. These windows have a completely hidden balance system and cannot be distinguished from site built windows from the 19th century except they are in perfect condition. These windows have the advantage of looking more historically correct from the inside and you can't usually see the sash from the outside anyway because of full height screens.

mighty anvil:
I think you might enjoy checking out this link! http://www.craftsmanperspective.com/architecture/south.html
Also thank you for your advise and recommendations.

PS That should have been "advice." Also I might add that I personally do not think that the photos shown on that link are the best examples of arts and crafts style bungalows. They are really more of morphed victorians which Asheville is full of along with tons of kit homes. The interiors of many of the homes from 1910-1930s are wonderful examples of craftsmanship. Many of the craftsmen who built the Biltmore Estate decided to stick around after their work was done, thus creating some of the country's finest work in ordinary middle class houses.

Have you checked with the historic commission to see what is required? I used to live in a historic area and only wood windows were allowed. A friend of mine just built a new building in a different historic area and they only allowed wood windows as well (as well as wood gutters).

Yes, I was expecting that, too. However they seem to be extremely strict on what can be done to the older homes and not so much on the new construction. In the older homes they will not allow you to do any type of replacement windows. Your only option is to rerope and reglaze the existing windows. Then they don't specify the materials for new construction. We have only watched presentations for the construction of commercial property (retail shops and a hotel) and they did not have all wood windows and doors. On the other hand, I am very conscious of preserving the historical integrity of the area and I do want to do the right thing.

The awful sash detailing of vinyl windows would eliminate them from historic work if the lack of color choices and flat fake muntins didn't.

All clad windows have nailing flanges and, for reasons unknown, the sill nose usually aligns with the jambs. This means you have to add casing trim and a sub-sill in the field to emulate a real window from the past. Not only does this cost a lot of money for labor and involve a lot of joints full of improperly applied sealant, but it never quite looks like what it is trying to copy.

We used Marvin wood windows on one of a William Ralph Emerson's Shingle Style houses.

I can appreciate your questions ncamy as I have been having similar thoughts. I would like to go with a wood clad window in our new build and will be heading to the home show this weekend to see, touch, feel many of the components we'd like to include in our home.

Mighty - what would cause you to stay away from Pella? I had been previously looking at Pella as well as Jeld Wen. Although with your endorsement of Eagle, I was please to see their is 1 local distributor here in Seattle. Just looking for more insight.

Our plan calls for mostly casement windows and I'd rather not do Vinyl in this new house.

Coysmum:

If you do a search on Pella, you will find a ton of poor reviews provided by homeowners on this site.

Pella used to be a good source of windows. My parents have an upper line that has been in place over 22yrs. No problems whatsoever. But friends of theirs who built a few years later had nothing but problems. They had ended up replacing every single window...and it was a large house.

We used extruded aluminum clad casements with wood interior fixed grills, etc. by BiltBest and are very pleased with them. My parents used them in their lakehouse and my GC is now using them in other new homes. Here (at GW) Susuancc is using them on her new home. We also have some of their french doors on the lower level (used wood on the upper verandas). We first saw them when out looking at new construction before our build. fyi, we moved in 28mths ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: BiltBest Windows and Doors

Search the window forum for Pella discussions.

mcamy: we just completed a new Craftsman inspired home. We went with Eagle and have been pleased. The other option for custom windows with a "craftsman" style was Pella and our builder had installed both. Eagle was a little less $$.

By the way, we attended the 2007 Arts and Crafts show in Asheville last February and participated in a walking tour of homes in the area. There were some very good examples of Craftsman style homes in Asheville. This year's tour is next Saturday, February 23rd.