Since your HOA is so oppressively restrictive, why don't you ask them to provide you with a list of "approved" windows? That's better than playing the game of "how about this one".

My biulder is also the subdivision developer, he said aluminum or wood exteriors are pretty much it.

I know the reputation of the company is spotty, however, the last few Jeld Wen windows we have looked at have been decent. I don't have any real extended life-cycle analysis but they seem to be okay.

If aluminum clad wood is it, why not Marvin?

Take a look at Kolbe and LePage if there is a dealer near you. LePage is a very nice wood unit with a 6/4 eastern solid clear pine frame, they never use finger joint with an options extruded aluminum exterior.

I would love to be able to go with Marvin, but their quote was about an extra 20k. Dont have that kind of scratch this time around unfortunately. I will check out the others. We are leaning toward Pella maybe in a casement instead of DH.

its interesting they do not allow some of the best windows for the money...

out of that list, Eagle would be my vote. I know prolines are the cheapest wood option from Pella, but maybe to compare apples to apples look at the Designer or Architect line too. They are a better designed window with better hardware than the Proline.

I actually found out thats its not the hoa, its a township zoning issue. My neighborhood was zoned with specific constraints and that was one of them. My biulder says its bs, but they will definately enforce it. We may do a mix of prolines and designers. Im meeting with the guys tomorrow.

I really don't understand how a town can legally ban vinyl, fiberglass and composite windows. If it is legally filed as a historic district, then I could understand it, but new homes? I think I'd be making a few calls to my State Congressional Representative as well as the AG.

What if they decided that everyone had to drive a particular model, color and/or style of a car? To me, this smacks of cronyism.