Marvin Ultimate vs Pella Reserve

2 years ago

We are doing a small addition to the back of house and selected Marvin Ultimates based upon the architect’s recommendation and their quality/high reviews. We need casements, a French door and 16ft wide x 8ft tall sliding doors. We also plan to replace all of the existing windows (double hung) in our home.

Our builder is recommending we switch to Pella Reserve because Marvin is at 18 weeks to deliver vs Pella Reserve at 5 weeks. I love Marvin Ultimates, but that delivery time puts us into late October. The addition will be brick so we need to do that before winter.

Pella Reserve has only been available for 2 years and I cannot find any reviews specifically on this line. Pella salesman says they are all extruded aluminum and equivalent to Ultimates. The Pella quote is also more expensive than Marvin. Is it worth it to pay more for Pella and get them 3 months earlier? With Pella we will be without a kitchen for 6 months. Marvin will be 9 months. I need to make the decision quickly if we go with Marvin and get them ordered. Thanks for any advise.

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PRO

Ultra Windows

2 years ago

Marvin makes a much better product. So it comes down to Pella for speed or Marvin for quality.

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Comments (10)

PRO
Charles Ross Homes
2 years ago
Ditto to what Ultra said. Marvins are worth the wait.
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Would love to see photos, beautiful home! Not that you asked, and this is an old post, but I'm a purist so I wouldn't change out those original windows if you paid me - new windows just don't have the character and look--not sure that if well maintained that the heating/cooling would make it worth the cost either from various things that I've read over the years. The Ultimates can be made in wood interior & exterior as well, so that is a good compromise one can afford it. Ultimates and Elevate are what we're looking at and cannot makeup our minds. Our home was built in 1978 and originally had all aluminum windows. They were replaced with tacky beige vinyl Milgard windows (guessing about 15-20 years ago. Some get stuck and you can hear them expanding when days got hot or very cold, plus most have broken seals. We didn't like Pella at all and the extruded aluminum is def what got me to look at Marvin. Each window was about $300 more for Ultimate, but hopefully these will last well after we're gone!
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millworkman
2 years ago
For me I cannot in good faith ever recommend anything Pella so........................
L Schatz
Original Author
2 years ago
It is frustrating that Marvin is having production problems. We had Marvin in our last home and loved them. I find it interesting that there are no reviews on Reserve and I can’t find one review online that recommends Pella over Marvin.
ranchtastic
2 years ago
We just waited 3 months for an order of Kolbe Vistaluxe windows. We found this out a week into the order, but decided to stick with them because the detailing suited the vision we had developed with our architect. The work to be done to get the house ready for the windows ended up taking longer than expected and it all worked out in the end. They're being installed this week and they're beautiful. I saw a house down the road from here being built with Pella windows and a $$$ slate roof. Based on some of the reviews I've seen here, I feel good about our choices. We can upgrade our roof down the line but will never replace the windows.
Rich
last year
@millworkman - what specifically about Pella you won't recommend? We're getting quotes from various brands...
millworkman
last year
Poor fit and finish, quality control, mediocre performance and lousy customer service.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
last year
I am in the same boat millworkman is in.
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Charles Ross Homes
last year
Millworkman was listing Pella's better points.
ottawanewbie
last year
last modified: last year
I would not trust the Pella time estimates. They will tell you a short delivery window, but many people seem to have experienced lengthy delays and poor communication. If I had to do it over again, I would ask the sales rep what's the percentage of orders that have been delivered within time estimates during the past 12 months.

Marvin Ultimate vs Pella Reserve

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