After getting browned off on Pella (nice windows, i have in the existing house, but absolutely the most crappy corporate customer support I have ever seen in my life), we went with the 400-series Andersons in the new house. Interior and exterior applied grills (but I decided the spacers were extraneous...they really contribute nothing to the divided light appearance.

They're either fixed or casements in our case. I suspect it's 5/8. I'm happy with them so far. We haven't put the screens up yet. We have hardiplank trim around them which is the same color as their exterior "terratone" color.

Here's a picture of the windows and door (sorry I don't have anything recent, but I'll be down there this weekend moving furniture in)

Thanks for the photo, your windows look great.
I think I am going to stick to Anderson since it's a brand I trust.

We purchased Andersen windows about 15 years ago for our current home and installed ourselves. They have been absolutely wonderful with zero problems. And they still look and function as if they were brand new.

Because of our good experience with them, we decided to purchase them for our new home as well. They are truly top of the line and I couldn't be happier.

We also purchased an Andersen french door as well as two french sliders. They are just as awesome as the windows.

I don't see how you could go wrong with them.

ronnatalie:
thanks so much for posting your windows. we're getting the andersen 400 series with the prairie grills also, but i've never seen a good pic of them!

and to the OP: i think the thickness or weight of the grills depends on the configuration. most don't seem to use the thicker 1" grills on a prairie style window. at least i haven't seen any. but if i were getting a colonial style the 5/8 or 7/8 would be to thin for me. GL.

We are going with a colonial style grill top and bottom sash. Our house will be more of an colonial look with shake siding in a solid stain.

I like the look of a bolder grill but I don't want to end up with something that looks to big for the window itself.

I might need to start a new thread asking for photos of 1" and 7/8" grill sizes.

I used Hurd and Anderson.
some pictures?

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo

robert.modular- go away...you are annoying.

OP- you are not going to be able to really tell the difference in 1/8" unless your windows are tiny. I'm sure the 1" costs more...I'd put that extra money into something that will provide more bang for the buck. My $.02

I checked the sizes again and the next width up is 1 1/8" so it would be 1/4" larger. The 1 1/8" has a bolder appearance after the screens are put on the windows so I think that is why I like it. Most window show rooms only show the 7/8 or 5/8 on windows and the 1 1/8 on doors. So I drove around today and found a few houses.

I think this one looks too small and spaces are too long and narrow. I will have some 4 across if I leave them 7/8 that's why I am wondering if I should go up to the 1 1/8" and make them 3 across.

Opinions please, I am down to the wire.

We have the Anderson 400 series and as I recall we used the 1 1/8 inch grills.

We also have the clearview screens... that reminds me we need to get on having them installed.

Here's a pic. Two different size windows in one of the children's bedrooms

Here's a pic of my casement window in the kitchen. We used Hardie plank to trim on the outside

ponydoc- Thanks for posting pics.

How did you decide to go with the larger grill size?

We have a few windows on front of house that are drawn as 4 across 2 down in each sash like your pink bedroom window on left. The architect specified 7/8" instead of 1 1/8. Another window guy drew the same window with the 1 1/8 grill as a 3 across.

Do you feel your grills are too oversized from inside the house. Could I bother you to measure them?

Sorry to be so OCD on this one but it is a lot of windows.

1 1/8" with 3 rows is my vote.

The Andersen 400 Woodwright and the 400 TiltWash models are very different windows so be careful to distinguish between them. One has a Fibrex clad sash and the other has a special paint finish. The permanent grilles are quite different too.

Traditional window muntins are about 5/8" wide. Andersen offers permanent interior and exterior grilles that are 3/4", 7/8", 1 1/8" and 2 1/4" wide. If you want to emulate a traditional window why not use the narrower grille profile? To me a wide profile looks inelegant. It makes little difference when viewed from outside especially if a full screen is used but it is quite noticeable from inside.

Hi,

A bit off topic here. My take on windows manufacturers is in order of quality:

1) Duratherm - boutique maker, huge cost wish I could aford them
2) Marvin - Best and Most expensive of the "volume" makers
3) Anderson and Pella
4) The rest.

For my house I went with a few custom Anderson windows and a "the rest" maufacturer for about 95% of my windows. The house is 4 years old and everything is still in one piece so far. (Sorry I cannot remember the exact manufacturer, we did have a cracked glass pane which was fixed promplty at at no cost by the company).

Best, Mike.

Hello, this is an old thread but wondering pinkpowertools what did you end up going with in terms of grill size and the sash pattern. 8 over 8 or 6 over 6? The four or three horizontal panes? I'm in the same predicament now for 3 foot wide windows.