I worked at Milgard Woodclad for 2 years making the fiberglass painted and woodclad product line. I made the fiberglass portion of the window as well as I know little bit about fabrication of the window. I am also familiar with the Vinyl windows since I dealt with the product with coworkers and had them in my old house. I will just list a bunch of points about Milgard Woodclad and Vinyl windows and doors. Some of my comments are true about any manufacture. 1. Milgard is a very good manufacture of windows in general 2. Milgard like other manufactures have poorer quality line of windows so you can't look at it as a whole. You have to look at every line individually. Here are my thoughts 3. Woodclad Picture window 4. Woodclad single hung 5. Woodclad casement 6. Avoid Woodclad Double Hung, until the perfect the assembly 7. Woodclad is very good looking window, I would go with Bronze for the outside color 8. Vinyl sliders are OK, but the are perfect all other lines are OK, but I am not a fan of double hung windows, too many chances of failure 9. Milgard Woodclad Doors are very nice, but have water infiltration issues, not recommended for north west locations on the house. Sliders are better than French 10. Their Vinyl window and doors are Gold labeled AAMA certified, they Woodclad window and doors are Silver labeld AAMA certified and fully guaranteed. Not much difference from silver to gold except more quality control in the raw materials. 11. Milgard installers are better than certified contracted installers, there is a difference in training. 12. Probably the worse thing about Milgard windows is that they have a very high turnover rate of employees, like 50% overall. That means their quality can be unstable. 13. Personally I would consider Milgard Windows, but you have to look at the construction of each style of window and door you want and look at it very closely. Ask and look at weeping design of water. How a window is glazed and sealed. Look at spots were air can come in. Look at how much weather striping is used, it is a clue on how sound the construction is. Bottom line, look at the quality of the windows you get once they are installed and be picky. 14. Milgard will stand behind their window and doors, maybe not the contractor but Milgard will so talk to them directly if you can. 15. Another tidbit, the majority of the Woodclad windows are made in Tacoma WA, a few in Simi Valley, CA. But there are 14 sites that make Vinyl windows. The Vinyl window manufactures distribute the Woodclad windows, so alot the locations that sell the windows don't know a whole lot about the Woodclad windows. I am currently making product for a bunch of small WI window and door companies. I have one those companies windows in my new house that I am buying, they are Kolbe and Koble double hung wood with aluminum clading. I didn't pick them. but they look pretty well built and good looking. We will see how they work out. Buyer beware when picking out windows.

Popular =/= "good idea." Witness most of the 1970's. The thing is, the more "popular" something tends to become, the lower the lowest standard of it drops, and the more quickly the wheels of "trendy" tend to run it over. "Modern farmhouse" is no more special than "Shabby Chic" or any number of similar trends that have previously erupted, taken over Pinterest, and faded away to nothing but a trope. It's just that right now, the proliferation of media means that it's entirely possible to flood your senses with one thing. Most of the criticism has been this: It's not an architectural style at all. If anything, it's a design phenomenon. And many of it's most prominent features are either just egregiously misplaced in anything but a rural setting - or in a HOUSE, for that matter (barn doors, chicken wire, windows propped up here and there, galvanized metal "paneling"). Others are OK in a general way, but being used in ways that are less "new" than "silly" (Shiplap fireplace surrounds). Or fine in theory, but so overused as to give people an eye twitch (grey paint, especially Revere Pewter, "word art", rusty anything). And because it isn't an architectural style, most of the plans that your seeing are the same stock plans that have been around for decades with a new "modern farmhouse" elevation slapped on the front. A little white siding, a standing seam metal roof, some black windows, and voila!! Bonus - once the trend dies, a new facade relating to whatever's next can be switched out with no need to alter much of anything. Less work for the plan design factories! If you like it, great. Just be prepared for a lot of it to very soon go the way of dusty blue, mauve, and demented geese.

I would look into thermally-broken aluminum windows. They are more expensive than vinyl but less expensive than wood or wood-aluminum windows, around 5-10% (depending on the brand). Aluminum is far more durable than vinyl, plus more energy-efficient (depending on the brand). They are powder-coated so they are more resistant to fading, chipping, and scratching as well. Generally, you can also get dual-color options with one exterior color and one interior color (this is something we offer with no upcharge but not sure regarding other brands). Here's a historic-retro fit we did with wood-aluminum windows (full gallery here), to provide you with more examples while you deliberate on which route to take. Hope this helps!

We are purchasing a fun little mid century ranch in Lake Worth, FL. We'll be meeting with a GC to go over the project once we close, but for now, I'm kicking around different ideas on the windows, and the backyard. We want to bring in a MCM vibe, but not completely over the top. Most important, for me, is keeping similar lines/style to the existing windows. But... the windows are large, and are stacked awnings, which cannot be found in impact windows. My initial thought is to do the front LR window, which is a 2x4 stacked awning, in a casement with horizontal muntins, and do the Bedroom windows, all 2x2 Stacked awnings, as twin awnings, also with a horizontal muntin. But so far, I'm getting costs of $2k per opening just for materials for awnings and casement, which really is not in my budget. Are there alternatives that I am not considering that would be more affordable? The reason my budget is so low for the windows is because I plan to spend all of my money on the backyard, ha. Our goal is to create a beautiful spa-like backyard. My rendering is pretty self explanatory, but we are looking at a pre-cast concrete plunge pool, with the edge of the pool providing the backing for benches around a firepit. To the right, we'll have floating steps up to a multi-level sundeck. The tall sundeck will be the pool entrance, and the lower sundeck will be a built in daybed. Where I get a little lost is in how to design the back porch. I'd love to figure out something MCM, but also a bit of a Key West vibe, and I'm just not sure those two styles can be married. My initial rendering, out of lack of any other ideas, is just a pergola with a solid top. Whatever we do on the back, I'd like to tie in the front carport. Do we just replicate the carport's style on the back porch? Would that go with the spa-like vibe we are going for out back? What do you all think? Front of the house: Back Yard rendering: Plunge Pool Inspiration: