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adam211_gw

Custom grille pattern on clad window for reasonable price?

adam211
10 years ago

Greetings,
I've heard so many great things about Marvin on these forums that I was sold on getting Marvin Ultimate for our home. I got quotes for 3-over-1 and they seemed reasonable to me. I was set to go.

Then I decided last minute to get a custom SDL pattern, as in the original design of our home, and got the Marvin quote back. WOW! Here's what I got. Everything is pretty standard except SDL diamond pattern on top half of window:

36"x54" casement w/ custom diamond pattern:
Marvin Ultimate ~$2170
Andersen A ~$1220 (actually mis-quoted at standard 56" height)

30"x54" double hung:
Marvin Ultimate ~$650
Andersen A ~$790

The Andersen double-hung is supposedly more expensive because 54" is a non-standard height. If I went down or up a couple inches I could get closer to the Marvin's pricing.

Does this seem reasonable? I got Marvin quotes from two different retailers and both came within the same range. I'm trying to get another Andersen quote because I feel the Andersen A-series shouldn't be more than the Marvin. Those prices just don't seem right to me. I talked to three different Marvin vendors, all said the same thing, verbatim 'Andersen and Marvin is an apples to oranges comparison', yes they all used that exact phrase. Other salesmen say they are comparable. I believe that the Marvin are probably much superior, and I have a hard time buying the standard windows in Andersen when they cost more than they would in Marvin.

I want to go Marvin but at this price it seems absolutely ridiculous. I'm willing to pay a little more for Marvin but not double. Anyone else have any experiences ordering custom patterns at reasonable prices, such as Kolbe Kolbe I'm trying to get a quote from Kolbe Kolbe. Any others?

At this rate, I'll get the inferior Andersen window (I'm willing to get a nice but not top-of-the-line window to get the pattern I want), but I'm hoping for another top-of-the-line option that won't gouge deeply for a custom pattern.

This post was edited by adam211 on Tue, Jul 30, 13 at 23:54

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