Best wood windows be in my opinion Marvin and Kolbe, neither of whom offer blinds in the glass. And your correct that there are many bad reviews on Pella and I myself do not care for them either.

Gorell, Simonton, along with some others (Sunrise and OKNA), make vinyl windows with similated wood grain interiors.

I installed some Simontons a few months back with ORB handles. They were nice.

For realwood, the ones MW mentioned are at the top of the list.

I agree with all of the above. Personally I am a fan of premium vinyl, but in wood, those choices are right about on top. Anderson and Weathershield have some decent stuff too.

Brando, has Weathershield improved recently as I remember them as being very mediocre in terms of quality but it has been a few years. As far as Andersen I have always felt there best products were what is now called the 400 series and that the newer products were ok, not great but ok (even a wood window guy has to brush up on his info now and again, lol).

Brandon, sorry for the typo!

Don't worry millworkman.

Brandon think of himself in Marlon Brando type grandeur so that is about spot on.

HA!!!

HA! I actually have family and friends that call me Brando, so that threw me for a loop... On Weathershield, they have so many lines that it is impossible to keep track of, but I've installed a few jobs with good results. I would not put them on par with Marvin, but probably a notch below. They have a fair amount of weatherstripping wich is uncommon for wood windows. They were one of the first wood companies(at least the more well-known one's) to offer triple pane. Their FG product is kind of ugly.

anderson

If you are replacing a lot of casement windows, have you seen the "push out" casements? I've always had a problem that over time the casement windows get difficult to operate. I've never taken one apart to figure out why, but suspected the gears didn't fit together as tightly as when they were new.

But the push out casements really impressed me - it seemed so logical (unless it's over a kitchen sink where you can't reach the window). I saw some at a Marvin showroom & really liked them. I haven't bought or installed any, just thought it was a neat solution.

Lincoln has a Vinyl Clad Wood Casement (Harmony collection) that is a good unit & it is available in Push-out with a Retractable Screen, but, that option will add 150.00 to 200.00 to the price of the crank out unit. It is not available with Blinds.

I have not seen Lincoln's newer products so maybe they have improved, but we replace rotted out Lincoln's from the 80's and 90's on a regular basis.

They are a good chunk of some of our replacements as well.

schutjer ask for wood interior/vinyl exterior casement/awning windows which is what the Lincoln Harmony series is. there is No wood on the Exterior to Rot Out. Even on the Lincoln Primed wood exterior, the only thing that is wood, is the face of the sash. And that is clad on the Hybrid series. Every Manufacture has Wood Rot problems on poorly maintained Wood Exterior windows, Especially after 20 to 30 YEARS!

Seeing Gorell mentioned in this list and being from around the area the windows are made, just thought people should know that the company has been failing in recent years and has just been purchased by an Ohio company. Not sure what the plans are for Gorell, how warranties will be affected, etc. Just FYI.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_781757.html

EngineerChic. I don't see how the push out casements work with screens?as I won't buy without screens and not retractable.

A push out casement would generally have a wood framed inswing hinged screen that would unlatch swing in and then you would either open or shut your casement sash.