We have the BiltBest casements - you will love the single lock. One thing we ended up doing - our architect had drawn in windows that were 6" larger than we ended up installing. Four rooms have very large windows on 2 or 3 walls to take in lake view. By going down 6", we went from "Mansion Series" size windows to the next lower cost level. Saved a small fortune. He had ALL the windows as functioning - we changed numerous windows to fixed to also cut cost. By doing these two things, we cut 30K from the window bid. Here's a picture of the breakfast area during construction (9ft ceiling):

I also left this post over in the remodelling forum since it seemed to fit a thread over there as well as this one. I have been considering this post for a week or so and I wasnt sure if I ever wanted to actually post it. But now that I have seen posts from other folks who are concerned about purchasing Loewen because of seeing specific negative posts on this (and other) forums, I have decided to comment. As usual, it is probably too long. kavo United States  registered on November 18, 2006  birthday June 19. From kavo on November 18, 2006 at 1919 (in the Windows forum)  "A cautionary note...we are having a major problem with some of Loewen windows just installed on a new addition to our house. The service from Loewen has been terrible and their rep is unresponsive." From kavo on November 18, 2006 at 1922 (in the Windows forum)  "We are having a major problem with large french casement push out windows by Loewen. Just installed and do not operate properly -- the rep insists they are fine and is stonewalling us" Kavo has no additional posts on any THS forum pnwarchitect  United States  registered on November 19, 2006  birthday May 19 From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2138 (in the Remodeling forum) "In particular I would stay away from the large casement windows. Loewen uses the same size framing on the larger windows as on the smaller ones, and it is inadequate to support a larger window properly. As a result the windows tend to warp when you close them, if you can close them at all. I had a project in which you had to go outside and press the top corner of two of the windows in to close them at all." From Adrian Justin on November 19, 2006 (not from a THS forum - but the link to this post is in a THS forum post)  "Âthe larger ones are defective. The primary reason for this is that Loewen does not increase the size of the frame in the larger windows, allowing them to warp signicantly when they are closed and therefore not lock correctly. Two of our windows actually require a person to stand outside and push on the window while another pulls to get it to seal correctly." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2303 (in the Windows forum)  "I'm not surprised. Loewen has been going downhill since it (over)expanded a few years ago. Sales have become more important than quality. I think that attitude will catch up with Loewen soon, I've heard many negative stories about Loewen from builders and other architects recently." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2310 (in the Windows forum)  "If you choose to go with wood, I would stay away from Loewen, their large windows are underdesigned and fragile." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2320 (in the Windows forum)  "Some manufacturers do not upsize the window frames for larger sizes and the windows do not function correctly due to warpage without constant adjustment. Loewen windows are notorious for this problem. Whatever you get, make sure that the larger windows have upsized frames." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2326 (in the Windows forum)  "Unfortunately for you, Loewen casements are a problem in larger sizes (small ones are ok). Also, Loewen windows are generally fragile, the douglas fir is a veneer and can come apart easily" pnwarchitect has no additional posts on any THS forum magnum pio  Canada  registered on December 5, 2006  birthday January 6 From magnum pio on December 5, 2006 at 2004 (in the Windows forum)  "I wouldn't waste any time with Loewen (speaking from experience!)" From magnum pio on December 26, 2006 at 2008 (in the Windows forum)  "I'd love to E-mail you some pictures of my Loewen windows (triple glazed units!) with frost/ice build-up on the inside of the glass! Do waste your money on Loewen!" magnum pio has no additional posts on any THS forum My point to all this? In the intelligence biz (my previous occupation before entering the glass and window industry) one looks for consistency and patterns when gathering data. People tend to be creatures of habit  they tend to be consistent in how they do certain activities. Note, for example, that the number/date of registration and the number/date of birthday is the same (once) and one number lower (twice) for these three folks and that for two of the "individuals" the date of registration was also the date of their only posts to THS. Note the similarity of pnwarchitect post and the Adrian Justin post on another website forum  and on the same dayÂnote the timeframe of posts from all three individuals. From all three "individuals"  the essence of their posts is to slam Loewen  nothing else. In addition, pnwarchitect made a number of factual errors and misstatements that have been addressed by others following his posts in the specific threads. Also note that in all three cases the "I live in" was the country US, US, CAN. Again, many people also list their country of origin  many donÂt. Again, there is nothing about any of these comments that cannot be applied to many others who have posted on THS and elsewhere  but within the framework of this particular discussion there are a good many consistencies that seem to add up. I will offer no conclusions since this is simply idle conjecture, but I would suggest some interesting possibilities. Again, while I have debated with myself whether to actually post this thing  and I really donÂt care one way or the other if folks decide on Loewen as their window company  it does bother me when I see other folks becoming hesitant about their potential window purchase based on information in posts that one might consider to be not quite as straightforward as it might be. And as a disclaimer, I certainly donÂt spend my days "analyzing" what other folks post - I really enjoy reading what other people write - but, I was once trained to recognize patterns and I have spent a good part of my life identifying and analyzing consistencies  and in this case the numerous consistencies pointed out a very distinct pattern that I could not help but notice  I suspect that others may have noticed these as wellÂ.

I had no idea this link existed until I ran across it by accident. We put double hung windows in our new home about 11 years ago. We paid apprx. $5,000 more than what Anderson or Pella would have cost. I felt the additional money was well worth it because the carpenter we hired to help me build our house had installed them before and thought they we excellant windows. We purchased them through a regional building supplier, 84 Lumber. Then the nightmare started. My carpenter did not use the regular flashing over the nail flange that was recommended. Instead he just used Tyvek tape as he said he did with all new window installation. I did not know any better so I didn't object. The windows leaked water at the top and bottom corners, alot of water as in ran down onto the floor. Factory reps looked but could see a problem except to say that they were not installed correctly due to the lack of flashing. By this time we were in the middle of winter making any kind of water testing impossible. We removed every single window in the house and re installed with Tyvek flexible flashing and caulking behind the nail flange as recommended and reinstalled the vinyl siding. You can imagine the disappointment and anger we felt when they still leaked, primarily at the bottom corners. Eventually my carpenter found the problem by using a squirt bottle of water on the outside of the side jamb and watched under the window as the water driped in through the joint between the side jamb and the sill. Finally Loewen sent a very knowledgeable techinician to our house. He removed the jamb inserts and caulked the joint between the sill and side jamb. His explanation was that the company said that the water was coming in through an area that was on the outside of the house and the leaking shouldn't matter. Obviously a bunch of BS but there was little I could do with him. My guess is that this joint should have been caulked or sealed at the factory but was not, but he denied this was the case. Why it happen to every one of our windows, is beyond me. Bottom line is, even though they were not installed according to mfgr's recommendations, that was not why they were leaking. The cailking seemed to stop the leaking for several years but about 5-6 years later it started again altough not nearly as much. I have not put the trim on any of my windows that face the west and south because of the fear that water will get in and cause rot that I will not know about until way too late. I realize that I should have hounded the company after they started leaking again but I was just too disgusted to make the effort. As you can imagine having no trim on the windows has been a major source of contention with my wife and I am at the point where I am going to contact them again so that I can finish the windows. The other issue is air infiltration. I echo all of the comments I have read on this site. The windows are deplorable. They leak between the sash rails and the jamb inserts mainly at the top and bottom corners and in the middle where the top and bottom rails overlap. The windows were reinstalled correctly, caulking, flashing, level and plumb. This is without a doubt one of the most frustrating things I have every dealt with. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks for listening. .....GS

Everyone will tell you their grilles are the best. But I have to agree with mightyanvil. If you like the real muntin look, you will be disappointed with snap in grilles or between the glass grilles. Removable grilles tend to get abused by the sun and temperature swings, and they break. Permanently applied grilles offer the best look. They take a little longer to clean, but how often do you clean versus how much time is spent looking out of the windows? I'd go for the SDL bars. To save a little money, you could get them without the spacer bar between the panes of glass, as long as you don't mind not having a true divided light look. Good luck.