I am considering purchasing a leftover Marvin elevate french door available in my area so that I don't have to wait for the long lead time (3-4 months+) and save some money buying leftover vs new. We are mid-construction (remodel) and have decided to add a french door (single outswing rough opening 37 5/16"). Some considerations of our decision of the immediately available leftover Marvin french door I have found for sale locally are: A) exterior color is ebony, whereas all other french doors and windows we have are stone white exterior [learned it can be painted; references mentioned at bottom of this post] B) adjustable hinges are ebony, whereas the other french doors and windows are satin nickel PVD [learned we could order replacement adjustable hinges to match color; references mentioned at bottom of this post] C) perimeter bar is black, whereas the other french doors we have are stainless [currently thinking that is is not issue for us, given the the room we would be installing this french door has no other windows or french doors] A references - From this post above, and the Marvin website, it seems that you can paint the exterior without losing the Marvin window warranty https://www.marvin.com/products/collections/elevate/swinging-french-door Exterior Finish section states "If a design change calls for a new color down the road, our material can be painted without voiding our warranty." B references - https://www3.marvin.com/WebDoc/Parts_Elevate_Outswing_French_Door.pdf my questions are: A) how visible is the perimeter bar? B) would it be best to paint the exterior color (as stated in above thread by Marvin rep) before installation or after installation? C) would it be best to replace the adjustable hinges before installation or after installation? Curious to learn from folks that have experience with construction. I appreciate any advice.

We actually just went through this process as we are building a new home in New Jersey. We currently live in a 1911 colonial and after dealing with the maintenance of the original wood windows, there was no way that my husband wasn't going to get maintenance free windows for our new house. Just to give you an idea of how long we researched windows, we got our first estimate in January and didn't order the windows until the end of June. We visited many different showrooms and spoke with many different reps. We also spoke with people we know who have each type of window and did research with consumer reports, etc. Our 40 Marvin Ultimate Clad Double Hung windows with 1 1/8" SDL grills and our 2 sets of french doors with transoms in the upgraded wineberry color just arrived on Thursday and they are GORGEOUS. We were also comparing the Marvin Clad, the Pella Architect Series and the Anderson Woodwright. Every response we heard and all of the research said that the Anderson and the Pella were comparable in price, so that wasn't an issue, but they said that based on construction they wouldn't choose Anderson. We also ruled out Anderson because if you pressed on the center of the glass window, it really gave and felt really flimsy, the others felt substantially stronger. So that narrowed it down to Pella and Marvin. Next we looked at the cross sections of each window. The exterior of the Pella has wood that is wrapped in the cladding material and there is a space where water could easily get behind it and rot the wood. The exterior of the Marvin is 100% cladding, no wood, so you never have to worry about rot. That was the deciding factor for us, next to not having a significant price difference. We were 100% leaning toward Pella because our cousin works for the main factory and we were getting a 30% discount (FYI - there is a 100% mark-up on windows). So we got the best possible quote from Pella (verified by our cousin), which came to $35,000 and change, for a standard color, standard hardward, and the smaller grills. We got our Marvins in the upgraded color with the larger grills size for $39,000. A few things that we learned regarding pricing from the process is that for both Marvin and Pella, selecting a non-standard finish (we love oil-rubbed bronze) for the hardware adds thousands of $$$$ to the price, while upgrading the color and grill size really doesn't add that significantly to the cost. So we chose to get the standard white hardware figuring it will be covered by window treatments and it will blend in because we are painting the interior of the windows glossy white (we ordered the windows pre-primed). If the cost is prohibitive for the Marvin Clad, you should look into Marvin's Integrity series. The principles are basically the same except the exterior cladding material is made from a different material and you can't customize the windows (two choices of hardware colors, and only a few choices of exterior colors). Also if you have obscure shapes and sizes you might have to mix and match the windows with Marvin Ultimates. The other difference with the Intergrity is that the hardware to get the windows to tilt out is recessed in the top ledge next to the sash lock, where with the Ultimates it's part of the sash lock. If we couldn't have afforded the Ultimates we were going to definitely go with the Integrity over Pella. Don't get me wrong, Pella is a great window, but for the $$$ Marvin just had more advantages. Pella can easily such you in because they have a lot more cosmetic features that Marvin doesn't (e.g., vivid view screens (you can't tell there is a screen on the window) and those blinds in between the window panes), but I think that hands down Marvin is better quality and construction. I hope the novel that I've just written helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

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.

The Okna EnviroStar actually looks like a wood window when its installed. Many homeowners who live in older ( higher end neighborhoods) tell me they have an aversion to cinyl and demand wood. however, when i show them the Okna EnviroStar you would be shocked to find how many turn the corner and its never just based on price. its the performance as well as structural advantages of a higher end vinyl such as the Okna and last but not least, no maintenence. the EnviroStar is one of only a select few of higher end brands that can actually maintain or even enhance the integrity of a Tudor or older home. as a side note, you may want to request seeing the okna with antique brass or brushed nickel hardware. its a real head turner.