Andersen is a good quality product, so is Marvin. We have lived with Andersens (long ago) and Marvin (only 3 years). Family and friends have had Marvins (8-yrs, 4-yrs) and Andersen (10+ yrs, 2-yrs). Some are all wood, the newer ones have cladding. All these windows have worked perfectly so far. So Andersen and Marvin make sound quality product.

We picked Marvin 3 years ago because we prefer its woodwork details and extensive use of solid wood pieces for staining. We also needed custom work that Marvin could do easily. If Marvin was unavailable, Andersen would have been our choice.

We have no experience with Andersen's service but Marvin had to help with a family friend's massive multi-million remodeling installation 4 years ago. Their rep came out on time after one call, stayed for several days to work through issues with architect and contractor, no hassle, no arguments, very impressive service.

We looked at Pella three years ago but its woodwork did not impress for the price. Pella may have changed since then, we do not know.

If you end up with Andersen and need to change height of your wall opening, make sure you use a GC and not a window "installer". The GC will understand requirements of load-bearing wall and correctly maintain structural integrity of the house without using the window frames as structural support. I am not confident a window "installer" will know or do this right for you. In our case, we had serveral enlargement that required giant thick pieces of tree-tunk like "header" over top of the rough opening to provide structural support. They were needed to maintain structural integrity of the house around the opening. A window or door by itself should never be load bearing.

We had a window shop "installer" came out and when asked, said nothing about the solid structural header. We obviously did not use his shop.

It is always fun when you are about to make the decision, enjoy the moment!

Our experience with Pella was quite bad. It seems that the local distributor is entirely independent of Pella's corporate oversite and if the local folks fail to perform, there's no help to be had from Pella HQ. In addition, Pella clearly suffered from poor quality control at the time we used them, as between four and five dozen blinds had to be replaced (some windows were changed three or four times.) Those windows were one of the biggest reasons I was happy to leave that house. However, some folks love Pella and have terrific local dealers who really know what they're doing, so YMMV.

Our new house (builder spec, not custom built for us), has Lincoln windows. We're waiting on replacement of at least four, and repairs on others. The replacements were supposedly ordered about six weeks ago and have yet to arrive. I'm not impressed with their local guys, either. To be fair, I'd estimate that at least half of the problems with these windows were caused by improper installation rather than by poor QC in the factory.

In prior homes, we've found that local window companies could provide a quality window at a lower cost than the big guys. They were also more responsive to any service needs. You might consider asking around to see if there are any local window companies with excellent reputations that could bid on your house.

Thank you for the comments.

calbay - we probably won't go with Anderson if we have to significantly change our window sizes, but we weren't planning on changing the header. To his credit, the window company rep that gave us the quote did say that we would have to change the header to make the windows taller, so the changes would be to make the window narrower and longer by extending the bottom. Also, I agree that Marvin makes a beautiful window and door and if this were our "forever" home I would have no question regarding spending the extra money for them.

otmsheffield - my biggest worry is a bad install. Other than that, are you happy with the way the Lincoln windows look and operate? I plan on getting my Lincoln quote by tomorrow, and really like that they have many colors available. The dealer (who is also giving me a quote on Marvin) spoke very highly of them and of the company standing behind the warranty.

My initial impression of our Lincoln casements was positive and our RE agent certainly raved about them. The few double hungs are defective, although that could be due to installer error on two of them. It turned out that most of the casements do not close easily, which may be because the builder failed to have them properly painted (IMHO) immediately after installation and they were left open, exposing some raw wood to the elements, allowing the wood to warp. I am still waiting for the replacement windows and parts, but have heard that the installer may come next week. Once these repairs & replacements are done, we'll see what Lincoln says about the remaining warranty.

Andersen's Woodwright double hungs can be ordered in custom sizes. You can customize size, width and height, in 1/8" increments. The units are priced by united inch, so there is no big upcharge for custom sizes. Have the dealer/contractor price out the windows using your sizes.
It should reduce your cost.
Otherwise, the other brands are all good quality, so long as they are installed and maintained properly. You will always hear horror stories regarding every manufacturer. I recommend you request samples to examine, a showroom for viewing, and referrals for local projects using each of the brands. From there, just pick the one you like best, with the best options your budget will allow.
Good luck.

Thank you for the information on Anderson's sizes, mike35. We did recently receive a quote for Lincoln, which came in quite a bit lower than Marvin ($3,000 less without upgrades like hardware), and it has many exterior colors to choose from. I'm sure it doesn't have the name recognition of Anderson or Marvin, but the dealer assured me that all 3 are good products.

We're probably going to go with Lincoln because of the color choices, unless our designer thinks one of Anderson's standard colors would work with our design. Then I'm back to square one!

we have both lincoln and marvin windows in our home. we used lincoln exclusively for one very large picture window (non-operable) and for exterior french doors because marvin's were so expensive (i think we saved $5k on four doors and the one window.). otherwise, all double-hungs and casements are marvin for one simple reason: aesthetics.

the marvin windows are far better looking frame-wise and have the hidden lift mechanism. our windows are all painted white on the interior, so you don't notice the lift mechanism at all. plus, that allowed us to use the standard (white) sash lock. because the marvins near the lincolns don't have any divided lights and the lincolns are doors or non-operable, you don't notice they're different.

on another note, our humidifier is currently set too high, so we have a lot of condensation on the windows/doors. the lincolns are A LOT wetter, which means colder, which I'm assuming means less well insulated.

also... one of our marvins cracked shortly after we moved in and was immediately replaced by them. and... my SO is an architect, so we get 5% off marvin for our own home. i mention that for two reasons: we would have used them anyway and marvin was gracious enough to extend the filing deadline for the rebate when our rep failed to turn it in on time. they're a nice company.

finally, we are about to build a guest house. we're going marvin on the main floor and lincoln in the basement.

Lincoln windows suck. We have them, and after we were just beyond our warraty period, seals are broken on over 50% of the windows in our house. There is condensation between the panes, and ice on the inside of the house on their windows. Buyer beware!

I have Lincoln, which are crap. 15 yr old now. All 15 windows now need replacement due to mold & rotting. They always have had and continue to have extreme condensation when get to 32 degrees above zero!!!! I do not have a humidity problem. And I'm not got to try get the humidity below 10% (desert levels) to stop the condensation. Window freeze shut in winter creating a hazard, would be unable to open them to get out if I had a fire. I'd have to wait for the fire to melt the 1 inch thick ice dams on the upstairs windows. What a crappy design. Glass conducts cold, then they have basically have cellophane thickness, double face tape, (again no insulating properties) then the aluminium spacer which again conducts the cold, then the other thin tape, then the inside glass. So it's a design of intention to conduct the cold from ontside, to the inside of the house, especially all 4 sides of the window. Where did the so called designers of their windows go to school? Some 3rd wold country obviously , or no school at all! Lincoln windows are just 1 step up from a screen window.

I have Lincoln, which are crap. 15 yr old now. All 15 windows now need replacement due to mold & rotting. They always have had and continue to have extreme condensation when get to 32 degrees above zero!!!! I do not have a humidity problem. And I'm not got to try get the humidity below 10% (desert levels) to stop the condensation. Window freeze shut in winter creating a hazard, would be unable to open them to get out if I had a fire. I'd have to wait for the fire to melt the 1 inch thick ice dams on the upstairs windows. What a crappy design. Glass conducts cold, then they have basically have cellophane thickness, double face tape, (again no insulating properties) then the aluminium spacer which again conducts the cold, then the other thin tape, then the inside glass. So it's a design of intention to conduct the cold from ontside, to the inside of the house, especially all 4 sides of the window. Where did the so called designers of their windows go to school? Some 3rd wold country obviously , or no school at all! Lincoln windows are just 1 step up from a screen window.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

What about Milgard windows. Any comments on their quality?

Wondering why a "clad" product when you could have all vinyl... honestly the best choice for windows. Why choose vinyl? Vinyl windows have welded corners which are strong and leakproof. Be sure to look closely at the corners of products you're considering. If corners are screwed, stapled or glued, they will leak over time. You could not only have damaged windows, but a damaged structure, as well.

Vinyl is so durable it resists fading, it's maintenance free, and it lasts a lifetime. In fact, our windows have a transferable, Limited Lifetime Manufacturer's Warranty plus the Good Housekeeping Seal 2-yr. money back guarantee. That's how sure we are about the quality of Earthwise vinyl windows.

Although many don't realize this, vinyl is a sustainable product. Did you know the main substance used to produce vinyl is an abundant resource? It's salt! And vinyl is 100% recyclable. So why waste trees?

Vinyl windows are some of the best in energy efficiency. At our company, we take energy efficiency one step further: We built our windows and patio doors to provide optimum performance for your specific climate.

Forget the ads you're hearing now that suggest vinyl windows will warp - it's just adspeak. It's actually wood, composites, fiberglass and aluminum that warp over time. I hope you'll have a few minutes to look into the reality of today's vinyl windows because they're certainly very affordable.

(Just our 2-cents worth...)

We used Lincoln windows and doors on a new home. ICF construction 8600 sq ft. We wanted black frame windows that crank outward and these were the only ones that the builder found. Sorry we used them. You can feel the draft in front of the doors and windows.

Leaky Lincoln's strike again.........

@juddgirl2 what brand did you end up purchasing and are you happy with your windows?

We recently purchased Lincoln Windows for our new house...Majority will not lock and the sliding door is not closing all the way... They are fixing, but it is taking a very long time!!!

Fairly tough to get parts of keep to reasonable schedules these days with infection spread and HR challenges. If they fix it and stay on top of communications, I think that is a good showing.

If they are not locking now they were probaly not locking from the start?? Might be a little worrisome. I never left a job with a window not locking and never had a call back when the ”majority” would not lock. Cant honestly remember the time I had a call back for windows not locking outside of sash drift on double hungs. Sound like it could be poor installation.

Thanks...We wondered about installation, but a representative from Lincoln finally came out and evaluated and said somehow the lower sashes themselves are actually about a 1/4 inch too small in the length...It happened in production. More of our concern is our large sliding door that was missing many parts and will not close... We have been living here for 3 months with painters tape to close the gap... I know tough times with getting parts, etc, but the communication was horrible at first...Our builder called every day and it took a month to get someone to respond and then weeks to get someone here just to evaluate the problem.

That was my second guess cause it rarely happens. I would

tey to get a direct line to Lincoln Nd Ir it out. i do know some reps from big companies and they do tend to care

of the squeaky wheel first.

Thanks...We did reach them and they sent someone out...working on a solution...