hhmmm..here is how the outside of the house looks...we live in oklahoma.. so hot hot summers and usually chilly winters...not much moisture.. When we went to the window store there were basically 3 option wood vinyl and something else (lower end)...and our builder basically just put us down for wood windows from one of his suppliers..maybe Andersen brand? so what do i need to make sure and do to make sure they are good quality?

My husband stopped last week and looked at the Marvin Integrity windows. He felt they had the look of a pretty basic window and thought the window locks seemed kind of cheap. That was just his impression compared to some of the other windows we have looked at. I'm going to go look at them this week too to see what I think since many of you seem to like this brand. In summary, we're going to choose from these windows we have looked at: Milgard thermal break alum Anderson 100 fibrex Milgard Tuscany premium color (painted) Marvin Integrity all ultrex Milgard Ultra Fiberglass I've listed these based on the least expensive to most expensive quotes we have gotten, but all are within a price that we consider acceptable. There is a difference of $2060. between the least and most expensive option. It looks like the thermal performance numbers are about the same for the Anderson 100, Milgard Tuscany vinyl, Integrity ultrex and Milgard fiberglass based on UF around .30 and SHGC around .22. The thermal break Milgard alum has UF of .37 and SHGC of .23. Anderson and Marvin have a similar 20/10 warranty and Milgard offers a lifetime warranty with glass breakage (except the alum which does not include glass breakage). We are currently installing 7 windows in our new build ourselves, but we want to have a window dealer replace the windows in our main home down the road so we want to pick a window that will be good for both projects. Based on this information, what would be your recommendation for our warm climate? Does the improved energy efficiency of the other windows or other features outweigh thermal break alum enough to warrant the additional cost? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you for the help.

The choice shouldn't necessarily be between all-vinyl and painted-wood windows. After paying to paint the wood windows you could have used a number of other kinds of windows for a similar price. You should be considering fiberglass-clad wood, all-fiberglass, and PVC clad wood. Andersen makes a factory epoxy painted wood window sash in a PVC clad frame (200 series). The only windows I would reject categorically are roll-form aluminum-clad (Pella, etc.). A word about categories: all window manufacturers make many different windows to meet as many budget and style needs as possible. It is not wise to try to categorize them by material or brand. If you want to get specific information about a window, describe the brand, model and configuration or state your needs, climate and budget.

Thank you all of you for your recommendations. We are building our home in New Albany OH (east of Columbus). The price comparison between wood vs vinyl is roughly $31k vs $16k. Cost is a moderate factor so Vinyl or non wood windows is definitely an option. Since the interior is going to be painted solid color (off white), I think vinyl or PVC should be ok. When it comes to vinyl, some dealers said that they cannot mull some of the large windows vertically, and I have to make changes to the window sizes and layout in the plan. Out of Anderson/Silverline, Windsor and Quaker (all vinyl windows), only Quaker can actually match our design requirements. Just for clarity, here are the window schedule. (This schedule is only for sizing) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxbJ91RIbyqMT2FtWmgwVjdsbmM/view?usp=sharing The main concern I have with Quaker Manchester series is that their DP rating is from 50 to 15 for the larger ones. Also, they only offer 20 year warranty, glass only 1-2 years for stress cracks. Have you had any experience with Quaker Manchester series? MP