My husband & I just had a discussion about windows yesterday. He said some days he's ready to just replace all the Pellas we put in our home when we built 11 years ago. Today I'm going around with my Liquid nails, opening each window to determine which pieces are falling off & gluing them back together. Ours are crank-outs, a designer series with the mini-blinds in the middle but not the triple-paned sealed variety. We'd had Pellas in our previous home with good luck & felt confident in our decision in '96 to put Pellas in the house we were building even though they only came with a 1 year warranty that year. That should have been a red flag. Recently we had to replace a window pane due to a lawnmowers rock chip. When I watched the guy replace the pane of glass I could see part of the problem. The metal cladding on the outside just clips off and doesn't fit real tight. It just wasn't sealed tight enough, plus they only spot glued parts of it so as moisture or air gets in, the glue gets brittle and the parts break down. That's my take on it from a non-professional, frustrated homeowner. Would we use Pella again - NO WAY!

Will the windows be installed over sheathing and some kind of siding overlapping the nailing fin or will they be inset in a brick opening? The Infinity window frame is intended to mimic a brick moulding and if installed without additional trim, although it doesn't do a very good job of it. Since a brick mounding is tapered in thickness from the edge on the window side to the edge on the siding/brick side, adding it to a modern window would appear redundant unless it is brought out to the face of the frame by installing it over a 1 inch (+/-) thick flat moulding which would make the brick moulding protrude more than the siding (and possibly the brick). This is obvious if you look at the window frame in a showroom. An Eagle aluminum clad window frame looks more like a brick moulding IMHO.

Moisture between the glass would not be caused by poor installation. Rather, it would be caused by a defective manufacturing issue or due to some type of unusual situation where the normal wear was affected. For instance, extreme variations in temperature due to orientation or something going on regarding the interior of your home. I design and specify windows for homes in Florida almost all of them on the water or close by. Sierra Pacific offers a 30 year warranty on its 2605 finish and 20 year warranty on its patented Coreguard wood treatment and I would consider those windows. Andersen performs well too but they reduce their 20 year warranty to 10 years when on the coast. In my 40 year career, I have had great success with Andersen and SP and would run away from Pella if you are looking for an aluminum clad wood window. Just my opinion based on more than a hundred installations.

Hi, E Weiss, It looks like you've got a lot of responses to sift through! I just wanted to chime in and ask if you've considered other window materials? I think wood is beautiful but you're right they are pretty expensive especially when you want to replace all the windows in a house or building and without regular/frequent maintenance they won't last long. Even aluminum or fiberglass cladded aluminum windows eventually need to be replaced because water/moisture can find its way behind the cladding. I think I read that you're in an area that experiences lots of rain or snow? If you would consider something other than wood I would recommend looking for a fiberglass window vendor. A quality fiberglass window can outperform a quality vinyl and will certainly outperform an aluminum window. They'll also last longer than wood windows with much less maintenance. I can't recommend any specific product line for you, we're in Texas and used to sell Milgard's Ultra Series but Milgard was acquired by another company and they've left the state. Milgard may have also stopped selling the fiberglass Ultra series. It looks like fiberglass-windows.com suggests Marvin, Milgard, Fibergrame, and Pella as fiberglass window manufacturers. Good luck with your replacement project! - Ariana