New Construction Windows

11 years ago

We are building a new home in a FEMA "V" zone where the eye of Katrina made landfall. The main (2nd) floor will be about 3' above the Base Flood Elevation of 15'.

A total of 30 windows will be installed with the largest being 8 - 3' x 7' windows installed on the south side of the home along with 2 - double doors.
We are looking at Pella Impervia (fiberglass) windows, Ply Gem 1110 (vinyl) windows, Showcase NC 200 (?) (vinyl) windows, and Ply Gem 4700 & 4800 (Aluminum frame) windows. All windows will double glazed, Low E, and argon filled.
I need to finalize this selection soon since framing will start by the end of the week.

I am primarily interested in finding out what is the latest info on the various manufacturers since it seems that they all have issues. Thanks for any opinions.

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Comments (4)

PRO
Windows on Washington Ltd
11 years ago
Can I say none of the above without being too harsh?

Start with what you want to look and feel like and work backwards from there.

After that (i.e. material/aesthetic) choice is made, we can make recommendations inside of that family of products.

Do you require an impact rated window?
millworkman
11 years ago
+1 on wow.
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HomeSealed
11 years ago
Given your concerns about extreme weather conditions, you are going to want to pay close attention to the structural performance ratings as you are shopping for windows. Ask for a structural data sheet on each product so that you can compare one product to the next. Design pressure will be very important, and air infiltration will be rather telling as well.
johnhmi
Original Author
11 years ago
I assume "wow" is "windowson........" and I have eliminated both the Pella Impervia and Showcase windows.

I am left with Ply Gem Vinyl or Aluminum windows.

All of the windows in my current home were replaced after Katrina with Alenco aluminum (now Ply Gem) double glazed windows w/o argon.

I have been satisfied with those windows without having anything to use as a benchmark to measure against. No apparent air infiltration or water infiltration and my north side of my home faces Lake Pontchartrain which can be extremely windy with Tstorms and fronts.

So even though I know that the aluminum frame is not as efficient as the vinyl frame, I am now leaning to the PG 4700 or 4800 series Impact windows on almost all of the 30 windows that I will need to buy with the PG 1110 series or Pro (?) series vinyl windows being an alternative.

Without having any experience with vinyl windows, I am not too confident with the durabilty of a vinyl product.

With regard to the HomeSealed suggestion, I will request structural submittal data from the local rep or directly from PG.

This is the first time I am posting anything in this type of forum and I am open to any suggestions that may help me to get this right. Thanks for any replies.