We looked at many window manufacturers (Pella, Marvin, Windsor and a few more) before deciding on BiltBest extruded aluminum casement SDL with wood interior. We also have three triple and one single french door sets on our lower veranda. The lower and front veranda have wooden french doors. My parents ended up using them at their lakehouse and our GC has used them on several homes since working with them for the 1st time on our build. We've been in 4.5 years and no problems. Our first bid was high, so we went from the "mansion series" to the next lower level (in size) which made these windows 6" shorter in height. These are over 6ft tall, we don't miss that 6" and the lake/ridge view was not hurt. We also went through and made many non-operable... but each room has at least one that opens, some like the sunroom, has four operable. These changes lowered the bid by 30K. Their newer site is off-line at the moment: http://www.biltbest-windows-and-patio-doors.com/ But the old one is working: Here is a link that might be useful: BiltBest

We actually just went through this process as we are building a new home in New Jersey. We currently live in a 1911 colonial and after dealing with the maintenance of the original wood windows, there was no way that my husband wasn't going to get maintenance free windows for our new house. Just to give you an idea of how long we researched windows, we got our first estimate in January and didn't order the windows until the end of June. We visited many different showrooms and spoke with many different reps. We also spoke with people we know who have each type of window and did research with consumer reports, etc. Our 40 Marvin Ultimate Clad Double Hung windows with 1 1/8" SDL grills and our 2 sets of french doors with transoms in the upgraded wineberry color just arrived on Thursday and they are GORGEOUS. We were also comparing the Marvin Clad, the Pella Architect Series and the Anderson Woodwright. Every response we heard and all of the research said that the Anderson and the Pella were comparable in price, so that wasn't an issue, but they said that based on construction they wouldn't choose Anderson. We also ruled out Anderson because if you pressed on the center of the glass window, it really gave and felt really flimsy, the others felt substantially stronger. So that narrowed it down to Pella and Marvin. Next we looked at the cross sections of each window. The exterior of the Pella has wood that is wrapped in the cladding material and there is a space where water could easily get behind it and rot the wood. The exterior of the Marvin is 100% cladding, no wood, so you never have to worry about rot. That was the deciding factor for us, next to not having a significant price difference. We were 100% leaning toward Pella because our cousin works for the main factory and we were getting a 30% discount (FYI - there is a 100% mark-up on windows). So we got the best possible quote from Pella (verified by our cousin), which came to $35,000 and change, for a standard color, standard hardward, and the smaller grills. We got our Marvins in the upgraded color with the larger grills size for $39,000. A few things that we learned regarding pricing from the process is that for both Marvin and Pella, selecting a non-standard finish (we love oil-rubbed bronze) for the hardware adds thousands of $$$$ to the price, while upgrading the color and grill size really doesn't add that significantly to the cost. So we chose to get the standard white hardware figuring it will be covered by window treatments and it will blend in because we are painting the interior of the windows glossy white (we ordered the windows pre-primed). If the cost is prohibitive for the Marvin Clad, you should look into Marvin's Integrity series. The principles are basically the same except the exterior cladding material is made from a different material and you can't customize the windows (two choices of hardware colors, and only a few choices of exterior colors). Also if you have obscure shapes and sizes you might have to mix and match the windows with Marvin Ultimates. The other difference with the Intergrity is that the hardware to get the windows to tilt out is recessed in the top ledge next to the sash lock, where with the Ultimates it's part of the sash lock. If we couldn't have afforded the Ultimates we were going to definitely go with the Integrity over Pella. Don't get me wrong, Pella is a great window, but for the $$$ Marvin just had more advantages. Pella can easily such you in because they have a lot more cosmetic features that Marvin doesn't (e.g., vivid view screens (you can't tell there is a screen on the window) and those blinds in between the window panes), but I think that hands down Marvin is better quality and construction. I hope the novel that I've just written helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

I am a commercial contractor in Florida. My last home had Pella Architect series throughout. 10 years and 8 months in the home, and we discovered the bottom rails in approximately 75% of the windows had rotted. Our house had casement and French doors throughout. We had two French Doors that the bottom of each had rotted. The only way we found out that our windows and doors had failed was the magnets for our alarm system fell out. The alarm monitor said “zone faulted” When I called the Pella representative in Orlando, I was told that had we called a year earlier, they would have warranted the windows. The frustrating thing was since we live in Florida, it's typically to hot to open the windows so we would never have known if not for our security system. After some investigation into the windows, it became known that Pella knew this issue was a problem for quite a few years. According to one of their installers, they had been testing windows for 6-8 years in south Florida because of the numerous failures. Soon I will be purchasing approximately $150,000.00 worth of windows. I am leaning toward PGT casement windows. I think vinyl and aluminum both have their advantages.

I work for one of the above, which one is not important. I can tell you that I am not surprised that there is a differance in price. The reason is most likely because you are not quoting apples to apples. Andersen has three prpoduct lines, 200 Series, Narrowline and 400 Series. Jelwen also has three, Builders, Custom and Premium. Eagle only has one line. (Eagle was purchased back in 2005 by Andersen as thier high end window. Andersen is all vinyl clad, Jeldwen Builder and Premium and Alum Roll Form Clad, the Custom is extruded. Eagle is all extruded. Many features that Eagle offer are standard,to get some of the items as standard on the other two you need to compare with the Premium line and the 400 series. There are a lot more differances. Visit each website.