We are on Lake Lanier and have built with Marvin Integrity Ultrex/Wood. We replaced a smaller house and one of the best decisions I made was to change from slider to french doors. The sliders on the old house were large and did not seal that well (although they were fairly high end). The constant opening and closing of these sliders became annoying after a few years. With the french doors, the opening is much bigger (when you open both doors) and they operate like a door so kids can use them easier. You're welcome to stop by and see them if you like. Let me know and I'll send my email address.

The Ultrex material on the Integrity windows and doors is very strong and can be painted any color you want. It comes in Pebble Grey and Stone White. It is a great insulator as well. The production time is much quicker because there are fewer size choices and options. I would put Integrity in my home if I didn't want to pay the price for the Marvin clad product. They will soon be coming out with an all Ultrex double hung window, and later they will add casements and gliders.

Windows on Washington, Thanks for your comments. I've had replacement window Reps in my home who offer Lifetime warranties on their windows, Reading through Angie's List in my area there seems to be many complaints from customers who can't get the company who sold them the windows to honor the warranty or they make the process so difficult customers give up. Nor can some customers get the manufacturing company to send a rep to access the problem. More attention is paid to the selling side than honoring the warranty side after they're installed. And the older the replacement window...the harder it seems to get some companies to come out to inspect it or they come out and find a reason to not replace the replacement. I've read quite a bit of that on Angie's List for my area and online even for companies like Marvin which surprised me. The replacement window companies would have fewer complaints if their Lifetime Warranty side of the business was just as eager to honor the warranties as the sales side is to sell the windows. In addition, the online complaints never disappear. So, even if/when a window company cleans up it's act and starts addressing their Lifetime Warranty promise new prospective customers will run into those negative reviews which cast a bad light on some companies. Marvin seems to have a lot of complaints. We love our house. Our goal is to age in place for as possible. We don't want to go through replacing the replacements! Experts say, vinyl does not last like wood and it will need to be replaced 7 to 10 yrs, or if you're very lucky you may get 15 yrs useage on some of them. I know people who've replaced vinyl windows after 10 yrs due to the clouding problem which they experienced on too many windows. Maybe the reputation of replacing the replacements for various reasons is why some vinyl companies offer the Lifetime Warranty. We have spent countless hours doing the pros and cons. Our biggest concern is our huge cottage picture window and 2 matching large companion windows on each side of the pic window in front of the house. The picture window takes up almost an entire wall in our livingroom. The light is wonderful especially in the winter, it's a southern exposure all day with no obstructions. We use to have trees but they're gone so, we can see why they built the these big windows across the front in '63, all 3 had shade from 2 trees. We also want to replace the small single pane wood grid windows on all with a no grid double pane large window that is designed for full sun on the picture and the 2 companion windows with a double hung double pane with grids only on the top window. All the local window companies are only as good as the sales team, installations team and fulfilling the warranties especially, in a timely manner. Failing to do so in any of those 3 areas means I'd be less likely to buy windows from them.

Thank you both! Sorry that I don't understand what this means: " would recommend a fiberglass door like Integrity or Pro Via with Low e 180 to maximize the VT on your north facing door and get under the .32." Do I need to pull a permit to switch from my current slider to this one? No changes at all otherwise. I mean, I am painting and stuff, but no structural changes? Are you saying I should wait and do this with a permit while repairing part of a kitchen (where door is located)? I cannot seem to figure out how to find a thermally broken aluminum door? @eastbay10 - can you help me understand why a fiberglass door is a better way to go? @Windows on Washington - what does it mean to "outperform"? So sorry - I am really new to all this!