It looks like I am heading into a $$$ replacement of half the windows in my house. We have had occasional water entry issues during severe storms - but it reached a more serious issue during the recent storms in the Austin area (70 MPH winds and big horizontal rain). We have common aluminum single hung double pane windows.

Just starting to look into this and if I'm going to spend > > $10,000 I want something better than what I have. I am not gonna do the work.

So it looks like the top 3 are the brands in the thread title. It looks like I am looking at at least $250 for a 3x5, up to $400 or more for the window itself.

Thoughts?

We are very happy with our Window World replacement windows. A WW location in Austin did my inlaws house in Fredericksburg last year after hail TORE THEM A NEW ONE!

We considered Andersen 400 and Marvin in our new home. We went with Marvin ultrex in showers and garage and Marvin wood-ultrex elsewhere. Marvin was our preferred window and when Andersen came back more than twice the cost of the Marvin's it was a no brainer. Both are light years better than the typical window but we liked Marvin better. It's been about 6 months since we made that decision so I don't remember specifics. The windows are absolutely beautiful and the quality is really noticeable. Windows are now one of the first things I notice when I go into a home.

Simonton is well liked by JD Power & Assoc. Depends on how long you plan on being in that house too. These big boys have lifetime warranties I believe. I went with a smaller company out of Dallas (I think), Ram Windows. Warranty is similar to a roof, and saved some serious cheddar (they're also vinyl, double paned, low-e, etc).

We ordered the nice Lowe's windows and installed them ourselves. 2,100 sf house was done for $1,500.

1960's house with smaller and few windows than a more modern house.

We have Pella. They are older but have held up well.

We just had simonton 5500 series installed at our house. A good piece of advice I received when starting my research was to not worry about going high-end unless you have a million+ dollar home. "Double pane, vinyl windows" is usually all you need to be able to say. Most aren't going to inquire as to the brand unless they are shopping themselves.

NT, Simonton, Window World all sell quality windows. Customer service and warranty are important factors in addition to a quality installer. The installer will probably have a larger impact on performance than the brand.

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The installer will probably have a larger impact on performance than the brand.

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I totally agree. When the old window is out there is a chance to spray foam insulation into the gap by the brick before the new window goes in. Plus proper install of the brick molding and caulking.

Lowe's / Home Depot have occasional 20% off sales on custom ordered windows.

Definitely shop around and talk to your neighbors. We live in an old neighborhood and it is easy to see who has 1960's windows (UGH) and who has nice new ones.

One thing we discovered in our old houses was that if there was a 5' wide window, it was cheaper to cut down the brick to the foundation and install a french door!

I don't actually care about the brand. I don't know anyone who notices windows or is a window aficionado like I am about beer.

Consumer Reports clearly shows that Marvin, Andersen, and Pella are a cut above the others.



I expect installation to be a big deal. I am handy enough, but do not have any appetite for doing this myself.

Yes, you can buy the best window on the market but if it's installed poorly it won't perform. You can also buy a cheap window and install it correctly and it will not perform as well as a quality window also installed correctly. Install is very important.

Windows are one of those things people just look for the best price but up to a certain point you get what you pay for. In my research, it seemed Pella is not what they used to be and they sort of ride on past reputation. Andersen is starting to go that way with their lower end windows. Not only do you have to look at the performance numbers of the windows but there are differences in materials and construction. Marvin and Andersen are like apples and oranges in that regard.

We did look at Siminton and they were the only vinyl window we considered. It was very brief, however, because as soon as we put our hands on them they just felt and looked so cheap compared to Andersen and Marvin. Until using my Marvins, I just thought all windows were PITAs. Turns out a good window is easy to operate.

We ordered the vinyl custom windows from Lowe's that cost ~$100-200 each. They were installed 13 years ago when we did a remodel on a 1967 home.

They are still perfect. They open/close just as they did when installed and we do NOT have any problems with moisture between the double panes.

We did the install just because we were too cheap to pay someone and Mr Dubi was adept at the task. We just did a window a day until the house was done.

I can totally understand paying someone, but I would not unless it was a 2 story house.

We have moved into a home with custom Pella windows and I do NOT notice a significant difference.

[This message has been edited by dubi (edited 6/18/2014 1:16p).]

For what it's worth, I installed Pella windows and sliding doors at a property and I am underwhelmed. I can't say I have an issue with them but I do not believe they are worth paying a premium.

We installed a couple on our house. The specs on each brand we looked at were comparable. We got 3 quotes and ended up going with Window World and are very happy with the install 1 year later

You can not go wrong with the Simonton 5500, compare the frame on it to everything else and it wins.

^ and I work in the window industry. I don't know a good contractor in your area which makes a big difference, but I would contact Norandex in Austin, their a Simonton distributor there, just ask them who the most honest quality contractor they sell to is and get an estimate from them. AND DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT ON THEIR FIRST VISIT.

[This message has been edited by TexjbA&M (edited 6/19/2014 12:48p).]

I paid a lot of money for Enercon's windows in Bryan. I'm not impressed with the window quality or Enercon's support.
Failure is an orphan.
I'm sure there are better options out there but I don't know what they are.

An off-duty firefighter installed windows on a house across the street. Really nice windows, made at a local Fort Worth factory. Only they were 1/2" too small on all sides - installed them anyway. Outside there was a 1/2" - finger thickness gap between the window and brick, and they filled it with expandable foam insulation and painted it. The old windows were tight and snug up against the brick. I didn't say anything to my neighbor, but turns out the guy measured from the inside of the house/window area rather than measuring the actual window from the outside of the house.

Watch them install the first window - make sure it fits as tightly to the brick/wood as the old window frames.

[This message has been edited by b.blauser (edited 6/24/2014 6:23p).]

Sadly he could have framed them before installing.

We bought new construction windows because they are cheaper than remodel windows, dremeled off the flange, then framed them in wood before we installed them.

I'm building a house and went through the window selection process about a year ago. I mostly researched Marvin, Pella, Anderson, Hurd, and Lincoln. My research was only for wood-clad, casement windows with integrated, retractable screens on the opening windows as that's what went in the house. Marvin seemed to be the best and had the most positive reviews. I would say Hurd and Lincoln were tied for 2nd and Pella and Anderson were tied for 4th. I think Marvin windows were the best, but they were ~30% higher for my entire house. Hurd and Lincoln were very close on price with Hurd being slightly cheaper, but the distributor wanted 50% up front which my builder didn't like. I think the retractable screen in the Hurd was a better design, and the locking mechanism in the Hurd door was probably a better design as well, but we ultimately went with the Lincoln windows because of the builder.

Like others have said, the most important thing is that the windows are installed correctly. Even the best windows will perform poorly if they are not installed correctly.

I am honestly surprised how many brands there are. There must be at least 20 different brands. And many are sold by installers/retailers that behave like water softener sales people.