As I mentioned on the other thread, we looked at thermally broken aluminum but ended up with Milgard fiberglass because we could get black inside and out. Also wanted to note that you don't have to have the same coating on every window to meet the codes (although you wouldn' want to change on the same wall.) We had a spreadsheet with the square footage of each window and the performance of each coating and tweaked it considerably to get the average to meet the code, which is what is required. It's a little odd because the code seems to assume we are in an air-conditioning climate, so solar gain is considered a bad thing, whereas we were trying to get some solar gain on our south side. (think we ended up with 3 different coatings on different window orientations.) Good luck! (There were some additional specs with the Milgards that you'd want to take into account if you go in that direction. I'd have to look them up.)

My husband and I paid the Marvin distributor ourselves for the windows. Our GC knows he made a mistake and is sick about it. I did not take pictures of all the windows open that day. But all windows swing on the appropriate side of the opening for the house style except these. The one set of three is a dining room wall the other set of two is our daughters bedroom. The GC thought he would have to buy new windows when we first told him and said it was his six thousand dollar mistake. Then GC called back saying he felt better because the distributor told him he could switch things around easily. But the windows have not been discussed in the 3 weeks since this was discovered and no work on the windows has happened and I became curious why. So, I decided to follow up with the distributor myself to see what they told the GC. The distributor said everything the contractor said but the distributor then decided to call Marvin to verify. Marvin stated the best way around the situation is to buy new windows. To rework the windows would be very involved and could ruin the integrity of the window. (haha...pun not intended) The distributor called the GC several weeks ago and told him. I wanted to get opinions on how others would suggest handling this. Of course I want things right but we are now in a time crunch to get this house finished. My husband is upset but thinks we should let it go. I think we are paying a fee for the contractor and this was a rookie mistake. Our GC is a carpenter by trade and does good work but has become very busy with other work and worry that our project, that has taken too long already (8month to date), will now lose out. Thanks

Sub-Zero makes the most reliable 42" frig. And nothing else under that brand. Wolf isn't a exact match for an OCD person. So you're stuck. Choose the 24" Designer panel ready column and the 18" freezer. They disappear. Pick a panel ready Miele dishwasher. That disappears. Now you've got two top quality appliances. Instead of double ovens many here are choosing a steam oven as the second. Miele is popular. Induction is also popular for a cooktop. Faster to heat up and change heat levels than gas. Much cleaner and easier to keep clean. It doesn't produce all the waste heat in your kitchen. Miele is a good option. . . .But wait. Miele also has integrated frig and freezer columns that can configure to 42". So OCD hooray.

If the frame width is a concern, make sure to take a measurement from the outside edge of the glass to the viewable glass area, WITH the screen on. Many times people look at the frame measurement to determine how much glass they'll have, and then slap on a screen that knocks over an 1" off of that. The Okna is very narrow and similar to Sunrise as vinyl windows go (roughly 2 3/4" frame to viewable are with the screen on), pretty much any other vinyl choices will be wider. The Essentials is pretty narrow lined. The Impervia doesn't get much love, and as for Andersen the 100 series is their composite option. Provia makes great entry doors but they are new to the window and sliding door industry, nothing particularly notable there IMO.