"CON: Sometimes, you get what you pay for."

No, you always get what you pay for. I would look into Marvin in either the Essentials or the Elevate fiberglass lines as a comparison, depending on the look and interior finish you are going for. If going for an all white interior and exterior you may want to look at Okna, Polaris, Softlite in a vinyl window. Vinyl would be give you without a doubt the better performance numbers. The 400 series is ok, nothing great and anything Pella, run the other way.

Thank you remodelzombie! That article at the bottom was very informative! I hope to see that type of comparison with the Sanford Hills window from Mathews Brothers. Apparently in cold northern climate zones there is a condensation resistance factor to consider. According to some articles I have read, interior water vapor condensing on the glass surface can result in mold growth and sheetrock damage. I can find these values for Sanford Hills but not for Andersens.

Yes. Cold and elevation -- they change the air between the duo glass...I can't remember exactly if it was the pressure or what was changed . We were at 7200 ft elevation AND cold. Didn't have any problem with water vapor. I looked at Marvin windows also but I have never had them. Good luck!

Please allow me to weigh in here. Full disclosure: I work for Mathews Brothers. First, don't be fooled by the low price. We designed this window (it's proprietary to us) to look exactly like the wood sash we made for 160 years. In this sense, it's historically accurate and has been embrace by Historic Commissions who have viewed it and have specified it. It was made to compete against wood windows and since its introduction about a year ago, has blown away our projections.

Now, to the specific questions/comments.

On the portfolio section of our website, there are a number of projects using this window. Although the window design is new and unique, the method of manufacturing is the same that we've been doing since we started making vinyl windows in 1990. It carries the same lifetime warranty as our Spencer Walcott brand, including 5 years for labor. Since we've been around for 166 years, a Lifetime warranty from us should give you some level of confidence.

You are correct to be concerned with the Condensation Resistance Factor. Neither Pella nor Andersen nor Marvin make their own Sealed Insulating Glass Units (IGU), as we do. This is important in that their supplier, in order for those manufacturers to meet Energy Star 6.0, all us what's known as "S4" or "Roomside" Low-e. This is a second layer of (light reducing) Low-e coating that is on Surface 4 of the IGU. While this lowers the unit's overall U-Factor, it does so at the expense of reducing the amount of Visible Light Transmittance (VLT) but more importantly, at the expense of Condensation Resistance (CRF). In the North, especially, anything under 50 is going to be a constant problem of damaging interior condensation. Every window with S4 glazing has a CRF under 50 (except maybe Picture Units).

With all due respect to Remodelzombie, by their own admission they have no experience with Mathews Brothers. Except for a few very determined individuals (and customers in Brazil and Australia), no one outside of New England has our products, as we only distribute as far as New York.

Best bet would be to visit one of our dealers (https://mathewsbrothers.com/dealer-locator). Most of them carry either Andersen or Marvin. Pella you can only get from a Pella store.

We are restoring a very old home in Maine and were looking at Pella, Marvin and Anderson, needing 25+ windows. Our contractor steered us to Matthews Brothers, he felt pretty strongly that they would be the best bet for our house. We were very impressed with MB and ultimately went with the Sanford window. We haven’t moved in yet, but I have to say, they are absolutely beautiful and I look forward to great performance from them based on the companies excellent reputation.

We have two Matthews Brothers replacement windows and have been very happy with them. Now looking at replacing the rest of the windows in our 1880 house (In Maine). Matthews Brothers is high on our list. Also looking at Marvin.

The Andersen 400 is available in two models: the Tilt-Wash and the Woodwright. They have the same vinyl clad wood frame but the former has a painted wood sash with unattractive raised glazing stops and the latter has a composite clad wood sash. They both tilt for washing. Which are you considering?

The building code in Maine requires fall protection devices for windows that are high enough from the ground but have low sills so all manufacturers offer an option for spring clips in the sash that must be depressed in order to open the window more than 4".

I have never used a Mathews window because I have never specified a vinyl window but but I am about to order two hoppers for a basement renovation.

The best affordable Marvin window is the Elevate fiberglass model (formerly called the Integrity). I've used the all fiberglass Essential model in a shower but its not as attractive as the other models..

Hi sabbio.

DId you go with the Mathew Brothers Sanford Hills windows in your home? I am considering this line, and wondering how the wood-based stain-grade laminate holds up. There doesn't seem to be much information (images of the finished painted or stained laminate, reviews) out there. I'd feel more confident in choosing this option if there were. If you did go with these windows/this option, I'd greatly appreciate any feedback you're willling to share. Thank you.

Also would love an update, considering these for a camp we are building on an island in Maine.

Sabbio:
Would like feedback as well for a new build in Southern Maine please.

We had Marvin Ultimate replacement windows installed in our 1880 in house, and would go with Matthews Brothers if I had to do it again. We've had so many quality and customer service issues with Marvin, it's been a nightmare: defective spring mechanisms, split and bowed jamb covers, screens that don't fit.

As people are still asking, here's an update from my comment 2 years ago - 2 years in, our Matthews Brothers windows we installed at our 1820's house right on the ocean in coastal Maine are terrific. No issues, we are very pleased with their appearance and performance.

My neighbor installed Sandford Hills windows in her kitchen 18 months ago. We are in the process of building a new home so I asked her for a very critical evaluation of her new Matthews Bros windows. She couldn't come up with anything she didn't like about them. Being a stickler when it comes to energy efficient windows, I asked her if I could have a look. I was impressed not only with their appearance and the mechanics of the window...but how air tight the windows seal when closed. I presently have high-end Pella sliders and wood replacement windows in my home that I absolutely love! However, since the pandemic, I have heard that in general "quality" of many of the top window manufactures has not been what it was. However, Matthew Bros still seems to be manufacturing an excellent quality product! Within the past week we took a little trip to our local building supply store. They represent Matthew Bros, Marvin, Anderson and two other lesser known window manufactures. I'm just about 99.9% sure that with added positive information we learned (about their experience with Matthew Brothers) we will be ordering Sanford Hills widows for our new home.

The company names are Andersen and Mathews Brothers

Anderson went out of business many decades ago

I‘ve specified Marvin windows for 50 years and never had a problem of any kind

Can’t say that about any other windows

Andersen has been in buisness for over 120 years and is still going strong. They are expanding with manufacturing in the south east and southwest as well as Canada and California.

Likewise, Matthews Brothers has been making windows in Maine since 1854.

I had a hatchet that was brought over on the Mayflower. It has had three different heads and seven different handles.

Weird post bump up.

I was just trying to correct the comment by res2architect that "Andersen went out of buisness many decades ago". Rather, Andersen is an old and traditional company building products in the USA, Canada and Europe. It is constantly innovating, improving, growing and providing top quality products satisfying customers like myself.

@c koller, No, he noted that the correct company name is ANDERSEN Windows. there was a company by the name of ANDERSON, with an "O", that made a wood window and they went out of business years ago as RES Architect mentioned correctly.

I am a builder in Vermont and we use Andersen quite a bit, 400 series is the most popular. Going to build my daughters house this year and debating on using MB. I find Andersen are decent windows but always have a problem opening a double hung window, always seems to slide hard, maybe a good thing, also wish they would offer Exterior and Interior J channel. MB seems to have more options, just got a quote for Andersen and Sanford Hill windows and Sliding door, they were pretty much the same price, MB was quoted with flat 1x4 exterior casing, interior and exterior J, Andersen was basic. There is not local MB dealer close to us that seems to be a problem right now, hard to deal with a sales person on line.

Been doing research, comparing Sanford Hills verses Spencer Walcott, seeing if one is better than the other, have not found anything on that yet, did find on MB web site that Spencer Walcott could be more budget friendly, that is about it, thought it was the other way around.

Undecided on type of windows at this time.

Look at the energy and "PG" ratings of any of the brands listed in the posts above. Use the manufacturers own literature. Mathews Brothers Sanford Hills series windows have some of the best ratings of each class of window, especially when ordered with "Low E and argon filled" that meet the Energy Star 6 "Northern" climate zone In standard ready-to-order configuration. The other brands can achieve higher energy ratings, but almost all need special options and/or add on packages to meet the "Northern" climate zone.

In 2003 I built a SIP post & beam/log home in south-central Vermont and used Andersen 400 tilt-wash series double hung, 21 of them and 3 sets of Andersen 400 series frenchwood sliding doors. I loved the windows & doors! Loved the wood but not the constant winter condensation and temperature transmittance. The windows sashes, especially the uppers will need replacement eventually, very soon if the new owners don't keep wiping the condensation up every day (more than once a day when really cold) as my wife and I did.

Since 2019, I work in the building industry here, in Northeast New England, and we began using Mathews Brothers Sanford Hills series windows in mid 2020. We build very tight, code compliant houses and get energy standard approval certification on every one (unless the owner does not want it). We have had to add extra exterior insulation and other modifications on some homes to compensate for some brands of windows because the energy efficiency was not good enough. In most cases, when we ran the energy calculations on the same home without the modifications, with the the Sanford Hills windows, the house would pass the energy efficiency calculations. Additionally, the standard PG (Performance Grade) rating of the Sanford Hills units tends to be excellent higher then most other brands standard units. We use the Sanford Hills Line because the energy ratings tend to be better than the Spencer Walcott, and more types/sizes seem to be available.

But aren’t all Mathews Bros. windows vinyl inside?

" But aren’t all Mathews Bros. windows vinyl inside? "

Vinyl inside and out. They have an option for a laminate interior finish to make it look like wood.

Yeah. That’s what i thought…

Had the interior been different we would have entertained going with them.