jaymaneul: Honestly, I would not use Gibbens Pools again and I would not recommend them at this time. We signed our contract in February and we are still not finished. We were told 6-8 weeks completion time from the time we signed and we are still waiting for the pool to be complete. We had to get the pool replastered due to color discrepancies. They finished it this past week and although it looks fantastic, there are two areas where water sat in the shallow end/dripped down the walls(didn't blow out the skimmer equalizer line) as the pool was filling up, leaving unsightly discolorations. Gibbens has not addressed this issue yet. Working with Gibbens has been an uphill battle. Their subs (other than the plasterers) have been nothing but excellent, but dealing with the owners of the company has been like talking to a brick wall (Gibbens subs everything out, btw). Our pool will be great once the issues are worked out, but working them out is taking forever. Example: when they shot the pool, the gunite overspray got over everything, most importantly our black, iron fence. We called the company the following day to let them know. They said it would be cleaned. This was in March. To this day, we still have gunite all over the fence. After talking to a fence installer, he said that the fence will have to be replaced. It seems as if they ignore the problem, it will just go away (the sheer descent wall was the same way). I can tell you from talking to the subs, that we are not the only ones that seem to have difficulty with this company. Maybe not to the extreme we are experiencing, but a majority of the complaints from other pool owners is the amount of time it takes to complete the pool. As for your contract, Gibbens (as many construction type businesses) uses a typical 'builder's contract'. Essentially, it is a contract written in their favor. Many builders (home, pool, etc) expect a bonus if they complete a project before the deadline, esp. if you stipulate a penalty clause (I doubt Gibbens, or any other pool company, would go for that type of contract). I don't want to harp on the negatives too much, because when it is all said and done, we will have a gorgeous, well built pool (thanks to the subs). Likewise, there are two sides to every story, and I'm obviously biased. If you need any additional info, let me know. Good luck with pool build.

First, thank everyone for the speedy responses, your insight is very helpful. Seems like Okna 500 is definitely the preferred option. I have a follow up question. I am in between Okna 500 vs. Interstate 8800. Interstate is definitely smaller and less known. Can anyone comment the difference between them is substantial? The price differential is ~$50 per window with Okna being more expensive. Thank you!

Or one of these...but they're narrower Fagor 6HA200TLX 24" Single Electric Wall Oven with 1.98 cu. ft. Oven Capacity, 10 Cooking Programs, Left Side Door, European Style Convection, LCD Touch Controls, Child Lock and Telescopic Pullout System http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/6HA200TLX.html?mv_pc=gg_pla&st-t=googlepla&utm_source=google&utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=pla&utm_term=&gclid=CJfGy6CPncUCFVUbgQodir0ACw ============================================= Frigidaire Gallery 27" Single Electric Wall Oven w/Convection http://www.searsoutlet.com/d/product_details.jsp?pid=115619&mode=buyUsedOnly&sid=IDx20110411x000008&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=U991115619&gclid=COuCzs-PncUCFVFp7AodD1cA8g

So, your double pane U-Factor appears to be a 0.27. Good, but what about that "will add thermal performance that far exceeds the vinyl options". I am quoting you directly from above about 6 posts ago. There are more than a handful of vinyl windows that will best that thermal performance in the case of double pane and more than a handful that equal or best the thermal performance numbers that you show in triple pane. To be certain, 0.15 is a good U-Factor, but it is only equivalent in this case to just the handful of vinyl windows that I know of personally not to mention the more exotics that are designed solely around performance. I do love nice wood windows, but to claim they are more efficient because of the wood is sketchy science to put it mildly.