The 41" wide opening must be a two lite casement. You didn't tell us the options, so it's hard to compare prices.

Is it pre-finished?
Low E Glass?
Aluminum Clad exterior?
Muntins?

Marvin is a high priced window. If Marvin is what you want, you'll need to get comfortable with the high price or shop another line.

Michael

Prefinished -- Yes
Low E Glass -- Yes
Aluminum Clad Exterior --- Yes
Muntins --- No

I replaced all the windows in my home with the Marvin Infinity fiberglass window. I have double-hung, and the installed price was about $650 per window. I believe casements are probably more. I'd certainly shop around for a better price. However, a good installation job is of utmost importance, as well.

This is the first winter we've had with the windows, and, even on the coldest day, I cannot detect any cold air coming in. All in all, I have been very pleased with these windows and with the company. They make a good product.

Marvin's Integrity line is a lower priced line because they are fiberglass and not Aluminum clad and their color choices are limtited. They are still wood interior. They are available in mostly standard sizes, Marvin clad windows are available in more custom sizes and colors. You can not get Grids (SDL bars) on Integrity windows. They are all good windows, it depends on your budget.

Norcalbl,

You are wrong about the Integrity and grids. We are just finishing building a home and used all Integrity windows because I hate the thought of ever having to paint exteriors windows again. We have grids for all of our windows. They are removable for easy interior painting/washing.

They look amazing, much better than the people down the street who used Milgard vinyls.

dowpig,
Check with your dealer, but I would guess the grids are not an Integrity product, but an aftermarket item. There are many manufactureres that make them.

I am also looking into windows. It is hard to decipher who has the best windows...for the best price. Most people around here use milgard, but there is something about them that look "cheap" even though they really aren't. Can anyone tell me a site or personal experiences with proline pella, geldwin, integrity marvin, and anderson? I know that anything will be an improvement from the single pained aluminum builders special in my home presently. Anyone live in the del mar/ carmel valley part of san diego???

nusi2
Jeldwyn has a factory in Carlsbad. To find Integrity windows, (by Marvin) you can check on Marvin.com. to find a dealer in your area. I think most of the companies you are asking about have a better window than the standard Milgard. You are right to want to replace your single pane windows. Even though your climate is relatively mild you will still save money on your engery bills.

Here's a quick tutorial on windows, based off questions above. First and foremost from the world of Building Sciences. "Test Before You Invest" are true words of wisdom to live by before you do anything. You hear so many horror stories about mold, mildew, radon, ice dams, moisture and most importantly CO2. Take all the information you've learned about replacing windows and throw it out the door. When it comes to the biggest investment in most peoples lives (their home). We've been going about things incorrectly since the neighbors through up their first castle back in Scotland. Today we are teaching the customer to look at the shell of their home and have it analyzed for energy loss. A home energy analysis can show you where you need to correct all the leaks your home has. From windows to doors and the most over looked areas, your attic & basement. If your home is not sealed from air infiltration. It won't make a difference on what windows you purchase. Even the best windows money can buy will not save you anything if your leaking inside air out your doors or HVAC (heating & air conditioning) system. Ounce you know where your home is leaking, you can purchase a good middle of the road window for your home. The money you save by not buying the top shelf window can be used to seal up your home. Ounce this is done your efficiency will be a savings of 40% to even 70% on your homes energy bills. By doing it this way you are "guaranteed", (yes I mean it) the savings to your home!
If you have an older home with an older furnace. Changing your windows can actually do more harm to you and your family than good. Please take the time to do more research before you invest a lot of money!
As for window grids here is the industries standards.
TDL or True Divided Lights, are the old school grids which make separate openings which you must clean one at a time. Just like Grandma's old house down on the farm.
SDL or Simulated Divided Lights incorporate internal aluminum muntins and external grids with a single insulated panel of glass to simulate a true divided light.
Removable grids are the snap in wooden grilles that remove for cleaning the glass easier. Most manufacturers such as Marvin, Pella and Andersen make their own grilles. They are not made by another company. You can get them from companies who just make these grilles for the DIY stores and smaller manufacturer's.
Last but not least there are "Internal Grilles". These are inside the IGU (insulated glass unit) which give the grid appearance without any protruding muntins on the exterior sides of the glass. These are todays windows which we see in most of the new homes popping up every where.
Just a note from above, Marvin windows here in Northern Minnesota, have a glass company near their plant. Cardinal glass built a plant up their years ago to provide glass to Marvins ever growing demands. The Marvin family still runs the business built built by their Great Grandfather George. Sue runs the Integrity plant here in MN and her brother George runs the Infinity plant in Virginia. Good Luck!!!

having installed/replaced windows in both a Southern Calif and a New England home, I will vouch for aluminum or vinyl clad wood for all climates. The better the window, the tighter the room, the sound (and rattles) and the energy control. I put a lesser brand alum clad casement in Calif. and the difference of having dual glazed ("thermopane") was remarkable and also tightened up the cheaply constructed wood and stucco house. I now am sold on Marvin, having used both them and Anderson in a Rhode Island home. The evalue of the better windows (e.g. Marvin, Anderson and perhaps the higher end Pella) is noticeable. The functionality of the Marvins, including the lockign systems have been really good.
Indeed, they cost more.

Do you guys who install windows think that it is advantagous to use the aluminum clad over the fiberglass windows? I know that the fiberglass integrity window came in at less money then the traditional aluminum clad windows. Noone is mentioning jeldwin, so I am assuming that it isn't anyone's favorite? I appreciate all of the advice...as this is an expensive investment...

Marvin's Infinity window is all fiberglass. The Integrity window has a wood interior. I have the Infinity replacement window and it cost approximately $650 per window, including installation. For the life of me I don't understand why people want windows with wood interiors. Painting windows is the absolute pits. And by the time you add window treatments, it will be hard to distinguish what you have. After years of painting these fool things, I have come full circle and returned to nice white woodwork.

What type of window and size at 650 installed? What area of the country did you purchase? I have huge casements that are rotting and looking at fiberglass Marvins as they would never rot on the NE and NW conrner of my house. I have been going around to building supply places just to tough some of the products on discussion. Sick of the window sales people in my house. I would like to see some Alsides in person. Any opinion on them?

Hi irene_windows,

By "Alsides", you meant "Aluminum Clad" windows, true?

We have Marvin AL Clad exterior and wood interior. So far, they have worked well. We prefer Aluminum regardless of brands because when we looked into this in '03, the fiberglass, vinyl and composites exterior all had lines that seemed weird. Up close, they did not look like old wood window lines. Closest was Aluminum so we settled for the AL clad. Things may have changed now.

While AL will get hot, construction dictates how much heat gets to the inside. We have dbl-hung facing Southwest and receives full sun all year. When it gets to 115 or 125 around here, the wood of the window feels luke warm but the house remains at 75 without A/C. So not all AL clad will heat up the interior.

Our Winter ranges from low of 25 to 65 with most highs averaging around 58. We do get heavy rain and strong wind and occassional snow. Wind gusts here are strong enough to whip gravel and smash them against our patio doors. That happened twice last Winter and we had to make a planterbox barrier to protect the doors just in case. Amazingly, the Aluminum surface are in good shape, no scratches and no dents and no discoloring but I won't want to take any more chances.

My understanding is that fiberglass is very stable and strong as well and thermally more inert than Aluminum, so it is a good choice as well.

Good luck.

Marvin's fiberglass is called Ultrex and is 8x stronger than vinyl. It has a KYNAR finish that fades less than any other color finish. It has the Low E w/Argon gas glass as thier Made to Order line. Thereby Minimizing the heat loss in the winter and cold loss in the Summer. Ultrex expands and contracts with the weather the same as glass thereby minimizing the chance of stress cracks and seal failures.

Marvin Infinity now offers permanent exterior and interior muntins for a "simulated divided light" appearance. Colors are white and pebble gray. The sill needs a field applied sub-sill to provide an adequate drip like many other nail-fin windows.

I meant to say Marvin Integrity. There are no custom sizes and the simulated divided light patterns are limited to the standard grille patterns shown in the catalog. There are no integral spacers offered behind the muntins.