Ok - I get it - I should not have expected to get what I paid for and was specifically told by my rep I would get ;-) - a superior primed trim that should not require much prep work and would provide a near flawless finish - not my words - hers. She also specifically said it would save time and money painting. I now know for future reference - if I were ever to rebuild a whole house again and I'm not! -that I fell for a good sales job. My GC seemed to agree with her but he is not a painter. I knew going in that he has strengths and weaknesses - I would say trim finish is probably not a strength but my builder cousin came out to visit during the framing and said it was about as well-framed as we could expect it to be - a top notch job. I'd rather know the bones are good and deal with some finish issues. My painter did say it would require another coat of primer and they did the typical filling and sanding before priming and painting. It turns out it is a sheen level higher than eggshell so perhaps we will go with eggshell if the brushing putty doesn't do the trick on its own. I will certainly speak to him about why he did not notice the ridges when it seems that 100% think he should have. I did not notice after the primer he put on when I stopped by the job site - during our weeks of rain here in CA.But I wasn't painting it. He noticed at the first coat of the higher sheen finish and that is where we are now. One piece has now been sanded well with two grades of sandpaper and primed and painted and the lines are still there. This was done by my GC's foreman - he has specialized in restoring original moulding in historic homes and does beautiful work so I have now had a second opinion - so to speak. It does sound like I am ahead that my trim rep believes I received bad trim and is going to refund my money. Otherwise I would have paid the labor cost for all the sanding myself - if the painter had noticed right away and taken the time to do it - and still had lines in my trim. Now I know the sanding doesn't get rid of the problem and can go straight the the brushing putty and hope for the best. I honestly don't really care about a "glass" finish - I just don't want to be sitting in my beautiful new living room surrounded by doors and floor to ceiling windows with stripes running down them! I'd even take a couple drips for an overall smooth appearance at this point. THanks for the feedback - even as I seemed to have trouble "getting it."

Thanks for your reply. We live in Southern California and heat loss is not a big concern (normally). In fact, the opposite would be the case. I'd still be interested in re-woodworking the openings and even replacing the aluminum frame windows. I'm pretty handy but I'm not a contractor and am hesitant to replace a window frame solo. At one point I had measured one of our window openings and had a vinyl dual paned frame written up, but got cold feet when it came time to special order it. Anyway, please tell me what you think and thanks for your help.

Ok here are some pictures. Its the second floor so I used the zoom. Hope you can see well enought. Finished exterior: http://oi41.tinypic.com/k2mwt2.jpg Zoomed in: http://oi44.tinypic.com/2d8f8dj.jpg The bottom zoomed in (not sure if he caulked that actually): http://oi41.tinypic.com/29urgx3.jpg For reference, here is the downstairs bathroom window which has not been replaced yet: http://oi43.tinypic.com/309o8bn.jpg From bottom: http://oi41.tinypic.com/ogvz3o.jpg The side ( ignore the tape from party favors) http://oi43.tinypic.com/296oqxx.jpg For reference, this is the bottom of another window I am planning to replace. Not a bathroom window but its similar trimming. http://oi44.tinypic.com/avr7rd.jpg

Updating this thread for others considering aluminum frames: We did install the Milgard aluminum windows. They are really neat looking! My one regret is that there are a few windows where the old had a fixed pane and a casement. I ordered double casements instead, and probably should have stayed with the original layout. This because the double casements have a lot more 'frame' showing than we originally had. A few other things: 1.) We had some problems making casements work in some bedroom locations - due to emergency egress requirements. Basically a Milgard casement must be 30" wide for egress. Narrower and it won't meet code - even though the hinges are on the jamb. Wider and it becomes too heavy to work right. So we had to use sliders instead. 2.) Energy-wise, Milgard offers 'thermally broken' aluminum frames, but, strangely, not in California. I did order our windows with Milgards "Suncoat Max" upgrade though. It is interesting to place ones hand on the frame and then place it on the glass. Big difference in temperature. However, combined with other things in the construction (e.g., IB Systems membrane roof, and Techshield radiant barrier decking), the house is staying suprisingly cool during the current heat wave. (Got up to 100° yesterday.) And the insulation and drywall have yet to be installed! So in our case the aluminum frames don't seem to be a big problem. But if one were to insist on thermally broken aluminum, then Fleetwood seems to be a better way to go. (FWIW, I gave the local Milgard area rep a hard time about not being able to order thermally broken in California. Seems silly that you can order them in other states, but not here.) 3.) Milgard delivery was *fast*. Like less than two weeks from order to delivery. 4.) A nit: Our frames are dark bronze color, almost black. For some reason the screws mounting the casement lock handles are bright colored. Yet other screws, such as the ones holding the screens, are black. I need to call Milgard to see if they can provide some black screws to make the bright ones 'disappear'. 5.) For the master bath, I ordered reeded obscure glass, on the thought that it kinda carried the theme of the reeded obscure glass in the sidelight of my front door. (Of course a workman accidently broke the original 1950s sidelight a couple weeks ago, so now I get to match the sidelight with the master bath instead...)