Milgard fiberglass or Essence?

11 years ago

I will be glad when the window selection is done! I started out planning to have black Marvin fiberglass, but it turned out I could not get a black interior and the wood option was pine. Our interior will have some other doug fir and I like the color of it, so that seems to make more sense if we go with a wood interior.

Our house will be sort of a "modern farmhouse" style, if anything-- a somewhat traditional shape, but with corrugated metal siding, concrete floors, and definitely windows that are black on the outside. So we started looking at Milgards because I read Cwirick's thread on a similar topic and found they had a black on black option. Do you think I could find that in a showroom? Well, not so far, except at Milgard itself and of course, they are not open on weekends.

Today I looked at the Milgard black fiberglass (this one had a white interior, and I couldn't tell if I liked them or not. The "showroom" had no natural light and colors were hard to determine, plus it was just plain dim in there. I did notice that one of the 3 mitered corners was what I thought to be "off" by which I mean there was sort of a lip where the 2 pieces met. And you would think you'd want to show off your best stuff in a showroom, right? So what would that mean for what you'd get as a regular customer?

Plus I couldn't really tell because of the lighting, or lack of it, but it seemed that although the outside was a nice matte black, that the inside was shinier and looked a little too much like vinyl. Of course, it would be different with black, so I'm not sure what to think.

So we looked at the Essence with the clear VG fir and the salesman told us the price would be about the same, which I found surprising, but then he said something like "I think these are pine now, I don't think they come in fir any more" which made me feel like he really didn't know the product line very well.

I guess after seeing what we saw today, we are leaning more toward the fir interior-- I can't imagine ordering a houseful of windows I had never actually seen. I scoured the internet and did not come up with any photos of the black on black version or even one of two dark colors.

So if anyone has either of these, I would love to hear what you think of the quality, esp. of the joints on the interior, and if you have any photos of fiberglass with a dark interior, I'd love to see them!

Featured Answer

LE
Original Author

8 years ago

Yes, eastbay, I think it was the spacers I was referring to. Black ones look much better with the black windows. Thanks!

Mshutze, I can't recall the name of the line, they are Milgard, and the only line that is all fiberglass. Funny how much I was forced to learn about windows, but how quickly I forgot the details. Guess I needed those brain cells for the next thing-- plumbing or lighting fixtures, I think it was...

Comments (13)

WindowDog
11 years ago
Sounds to me like your picking windows based on colors. Milguard is so-so. Black heat absorption and so-so window do not a happy window combo make. 2 cents is all I got :)
PRO
East Bay 10
11 years ago
Essence is brand new to the market and just rolling out. That is why you are getting sketchy information on it.
Related Professionals
Arlington Window Contractors · Atlantic Beach Window Contractors · Fernandina Beach Window Contractors · San Jose Window Contractors · Bloomington Window Contractors · Damascus Window Contractors · Minnetonka Window Contractors · Mount Kisco Window Contractors · Orlando Window Contractors · The Villages Window Contractors · Coronado General Contractors · Rolling Hills Estates General Contractors · Waipahu General Contractors · Happy Valley Carpenters · Miller Place Carpenters
LE
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, yes, I admit the color is important. But I live where we are lucky to get 2 weeks of hot weather if that, so heat is not much of a concern. Low maintenance led us toward fiberglass.

I thought that Essence was new, but I wasn't sure how new. That's why I thought it was odd that he said the fir "wasn't available any more."

We could look into the thermal break aluminum and get an ever sleeker look, but I'm assuming that would cost even more and we'd have to re-do the energy (heat loss) calculations for the house.

I guess I was trying to make sure we stayed middle of the road on window costs. We never considered vinyl, never wanted white windows, but also don't want to end up painting wood. We've done the "old house" thing for the last 25 years, and would like to leave that behind!
CWirick
11 years ago
Lori, I will try to take some pics of our windows tomorrow. Our new house sounds like a twin of yours. Red siding, corrugated steel, steel beams, wood and concrete floors...

I love the black on black windows. Like you I wasn't able to find any locally to look at, so I took a chance and just ordered them. Now that they're in I wouldn't have it any other way. Beautiful windows inside and out.
kendog2
11 years ago
Once you decide on windows, have you considered ordering just one window to make sure they're what you want before ordering the whole houseful? That way, if you aren't pleased, you won't be out nearly as much $$$. Maybe you could get a bathroom window which might be small and isolated from the other windows. If you changed your mind and ordered different windows for the rest of the house, perhaps it wouldn't be a big deal if the bathroom window didn't match.
LE
Original Author
11 years ago
Kendog, that is an interesting suggestion. We could do that and just store a small window til we needed it. I'll consider that!

CWirick, saw your pix on the other thread, thanks so much. I'm 99% convinced on the black interior after seeing them in the showroom. the Essence had nice fir, but too many pieces of it, looked a little chunkier than was I was envisioning.

The windows in the showroom (this was adjacent to the factory) had perfectly flat mitered corners, with none of the issues of the one I saw last week. Sales person did point out that the one I saw was a sample that travels to home shows, etc. and assured me that I should expect the miters to be perfectly flat. So I hope that is the case. Our contractor is pretty picky, I think, so they'll have to pass inspection before getting installed.
mshutze
8 years ago
Hello, I'm looking for black on black windows for our 1909 farmhouse (replacing the original single pane windows). My husband and I are interested in fiberglass because of the low maintenance and also we live in Boulder, CO where temps are hot and cold. We are doing the modern farmhouse look as well. Please share your experience with your windows and where you got them!!
LE
Original Author
8 years ago
Well, they've been through one winter and we do like them so far. Some are fixed, a couple are awnings, several are casements. We went through a local window place that sells many brands. We did need to specify the flat trim (a contemporary look) and I think there was a small up charge to make the interior piece that separates the windows black instead of silver. Well worth it! I wish I knew the correct terminology...
LE
Original Author
8 years ago
Forgot to say we also had to specify all the low-e coatings we wanted. In a lot of your reading, you'll find that people do not want any solar heat gain as they are in cooling dominant climates-- not the case for us! So we have a different coating on the south side and it does make a difference.
PRO
East Bay 10
8 years ago
I think you were referring to the spacer in the IG unit. Standard is silver with options for black etc.
mshutze
8 years ago
Thanks Lori - did you go with the Milguard Ultra, Milguard Essence or the Marvin Integrity?
mshutze
8 years ago
Thanks Lori!!