I personally feel that sloping and flashing of the sill rough framing is a more important detail than the integrated sill of the window. Water doesnt behave like you tell it to in a diagram. The profiles pictured dont account for what happens in the corners, the seal between glass and frame or most egregious getting past the head and side nailing fins. From my experience, very little water makes it through the crack between the bottom sill of the casement and a picture framed trim piece. What little water does make it past is prevented from getting to the sill by the nailing fin and runs behind the siding on the weather resistive barrier WRB (housewrap). If this is a major concern then flashing tape over the second lap below should redirect it to outside the siding (second lap course because the first course is butted to the trim). I feel the amount of water involved here would be measured in drips per x gallons. I shot this pic this morning and know its hardly evidence but I may satisfy my curiosity a little more with some other methods on a project we currently have in the framing stage. My thoughts are to place some paper towels behind the picture framed piece, vigorously wet the window with 5 to 10 gallons and seeing how wet or if there is a measurable amount of moisture is getting through this admittedly vulnerable location (from a stand point of water behind cladding NOT rotting the sill). I dont think it will be much and feel that a sloping/flashed rough sill will handle the much more dangerous and damaging leak points.

Hey...hey. I don't back up everything that Millworkman says...unless it is positive about me. Then yes. But in all seriousness, Millworkman has more experience with wood windows than I do and my lesser experiences all echo his recommendations. Regardless of the "technical" evaluations of the windows, I would suggest that you examine how Jeld-Wen has previously handled warranty claims against their product. I don't know the Sierra Pacific product but I can speak about how Marvin has previously handled warranty failures and it is above board. They have posted on here and sought to help out in any manner than they could. That speaks volumes about a company that doesn't really need to do that to secure their reputation. What technical evaluations are you looking for. Most of the feedback here is based on in the field observations of window failures, deficiencies, and general construction. As you stated, the warranties are similar so everything on paper looks the same so what good would technical document that reflects that same scenario benefit. There are certain things in wood windows that tend to translate into a better overall product and are representative of a company approach to longevity. The first would be extruded vs. roll formed cladding. Roll formed is cheaper, easier, and less wasteful by its very construction. Extruded is thicker, more resistant to expansion/contraction, and generally more difficult to work with. I would opt for a window with extruded cladding because it indicates a companies construction tenor and dedication to materials selection. Second would be engineering. I have handled some extremely large Marvin units before and they work as flawlessly as the more modes sized units. That indicates an attention to detail and thoughtful selection of components. By contrast, I have taken other wood windows out of the paper and not had them work and require field repairs before setting them. The last would be warranty handling and see my notes above. You are definitely a big time heating degree dominated climate up there. That being said, do either of these windows, or any that you have looked at, get you the energy performance that you need to see? Wood in and of itself, might night be the best choice unless you have something in a super efficient option. A modern style home will look good with the more narrow profile and modern frame style. You are close enough to Canada. Have you examined any of their higher end fiberglass options. Most would be available with a wood interior for a wood feel to the inside as well as have much higher efficiency glass and air tightness ratings. Hopefully this gives you a bit of information outside of what Millworkman might so I can shake off my "parrot" tag. Good luck with the project and please feel free to post up as I am happy to volunteer any feedback on products or options.

This is a huge nine foot wide by nine foot high door. It has three, three foot sections, all mulled together, with the operative section/door in the middle. Only the LCC pan, the metal part of the pan, that shows inside the house, is ice cold. Immediately below the corner of this metal pan, i can see the subfloor is wet, for about 1/2 inch, running along the entire 9 feet of the pan (but this only occurs when it's 40 degrees outside, or colder. The colder it is outside, the bigger the problem). I also learned that the installer should only run a thin bead of silicone inside the very same corner, alluded to above. This prevents water from getting in, under the door, into the house. But my installer spread the silicone on the pan, the entire middle of the nine foot door, maybe one inch wide, which is bad. This is bad because the water that forms from condensation, cannot flow back outside, and so the wooden base of my door is sitting in a wet pan. I also know that he did not set the door on 1/16th inch "shims", so the aluminum on the outside of the door is touching the LCC metal pan. This causes more condensation. Monday, I put the last trim piece, outside, along the entire nine feet, along the bottom of the door, hoping that this would help, but it is snowing today, and the condensation has returned on the inside sub-floor. So this did not help. Maybe i should re-install the doors with plastic pre-purchased pans. But i would prefer to just assume the problem will go away. This would be a huge project. The house is humid inside because of drywall, tiling, etc. The doors are Andersen E series (previously the "Eagle" company). I would be so grateful for advice, or for some "expert" who i could turn to.

All granted, and well said. The way I saw it though, the OP here had made his or her decision of windows and installer, and was only looking to increase the chance that it would go well. One thing I will add, though, is that sometimes in an industry, the "better companies" are their own worst enemies. We hear about this over on the LD forum often too, and it actually just came up again there. They don't call back, they won't take the time to do small jobs, and they communicate badly - can only talk jargon. Less true of landscaping but more of the building trades, they have impenetrable websites if any, no advertising in the yellow pages to help a customer understand who offers what services, and no sales staff with the time to help a customer make sure they're getting what they want. No displays to help a customer educate themselves and make decisions. Open M-F 8-4, closed weekends. Offices in the industrial park. So these companies have evolved into only being able to talk to other contractors and GCs, because that is more money for less sales/communication work. For the customer who wants to go about doing that homework and research you suggest, those companies are inaccessible, intimidating and often simply won't take the time - no interest. They figure they're in the trade, not in sales. That leaves a huge vacuum in the market at the bottom end, and it is really no surprise that other companies like HD have evolved to fill it. Put up displays, be located conveniently, open long hours, with friendly staff who can talk at your level about the details of your piddling insignificant little project, and offer some element of confidence... all that, and not the actual installation, is the competitive product. Through our nearly 20-year ongoing renovation (often stalled for years at a time), I - as a now middle-aged woman, previously as a younger mom with kids in tow - have been in innumerable of these specialty outfits, because as I said, I'm not a big box fan. I go out of my way to find the "better companies," and have been treated astonishingly badly in a lot of them, written off as stupid, had my needs and wishes swept aside and otherwise discounted because "that's not the way it's done" or "you can't get that," not been given crucial information, and been outright ignored as if they think I must have come in by accident. If it's windows, for instance, they're too busy building windows to sit down and talk to me about the window I want. I've had good experiences too, but this is why people go to HD, and I don't blame them. Funny, isn't it, that it takes a company as big as HD to pay attention to the small jobs? Anyway, when you disparage people who go to HD, you might want to make sure there is a viable alternative. The OP here didn't seem to have found one. Karin L