We're going to be buying lots of aluminum windows and sliding doors for a house we're building.

Milgard Aluminum has the best price so far, however, I noticed something in the showroom that troubled me. On the exterior of the Milgard sample window, it looked like there was a hand-applied bead of clear caulking (waterproofing?) over each of the four mitered corners.

This detail looked really sloppy because the caulking was unevenly applied. Has anyone else noticed this or is it my imagination? Are their sliding doors constructed in the same fashion, or how are the corners of the Milgard aluminum sliding doors constructed?

Does anyone have any insight into how Milgard Aluminum compares in quality to other aluminum products including: International Window Corp, MIWD.com (BetterBilt), Western, Heritage, Atrium aluminum or Fleetwood?

thanks