I think you would be fine with the lumberyard, but check the references and maybe look at some other jobs they had done. Too become an Infinity dealer Marvin generally requires specific training on their products and they generally will not allow them to be sold to anyone off the street without installation. So chances are even though you saw and are purchasing them thru a lumberyard they have a Marvin Infinity certified installation division, but as I stated it will never hurt to check references and prior work.

I'd concur with the gentleman that you spoke with. The Okna 500 compares favorably with all of the other options that you've seen, and offers a great value. The Verde is a great window as well, but the Okna will best it both thermally and structurally (better u-value and air infiltration). On white windows surrounded by dark trim, that is really going to be a personal decision. In my experience, if someone is open to the idea and does not object to even the thought of it, they typically end up loving it as it can really brighten up the room/windows.

Re: Painting aluminum, most reps I talked to say it voids the warranty, b/c you have to sand the aluminum to get the paint on, apparently and that interferes with the finish, so it voids the warranty on their finish, whatever that means. I have widened the possibilities to Eagle, Loewen, Pella's Architect and Marvin. Pella was too expensive for what I wanted. The rest were competitive in price, even though it had to be custom size for Eagle and standard for Marvin and Loewen. Pella had to be custom, so I am assuming that's why it was so expensive. Marvin also has a shorter lead time of 4-6 weeks vs Eagle and Loewen had to be 8-9 weeks. So, I am inclined to go with Marvin, but I haven't seen any of these windows in person yet, so I am worried about looking at just one and deciding. On the other hand, time is way past for ordering these windows. Never knew how stressful window picking would be! Pinar

We have an AL clad Marvin Casement with stained interior not directly over tub but next to it, just outside the shower curtain. The bathroom does not have a fan to draw moisture out so a hot shower can steam up the whole room. On cold winter nights, the window will have some condensation so we just mop it up at the end of each shower, no big deal. The window is three years old and seems to be fine. The stain is in good shape, no mildew formation. To compare, we have two vinyl dbl-pane non-Low-E windows in our house and both have mildew problems even though they are not in high-moiosture rooms. We believe low-E makes a difference on the amount of condensation. The stain we use is "OSMO One Coat Only" from Germany. If you are really worry about rot, go with fiberglass (Ultrex). Good luck.