US window manufacturer

I'm looking for a US-manufactured recommendation for windows. Our house bid came back way higher than we can afford, and we're going to have to forgo the beautiful German windows we'd hoped for. The architect is recommending a UPVC alternative, as next best. But isn't UPVC icky? We'd like to keep as much of the quality as we can while avoiding too much debt and (environmental) destruction.

Hi Erica! What kind of windows? Single hung? Double hung? Tilt open? Custom shaped non-opening?

I am assuming that you want wood windows?

I can't remember the name of the manufacturer of my windows.  I am not really that happy with them because of the design.

These are like my windows:




There are a lot of different designs so knowing what you want in a window might help.

Here are a couple of article on widows that might help:

https://www.thespruce.com/wood-window-manufacturers-1822933

https://www.wcmanet.org/window-manufacturers/


Traditional design:




Modern design:

James Freyr wrote:Hi Erica! What kind of windows? Single hung? Double hung? Tilt open? Custom shaped non-opening?

The ones that open are tilt-open, and there are a number of non-opening ones. (they were tilt-and-turn from this company: http://www.enersign.info/)

Anne, it doesn't necessarily have to be wooden, although that would be lovely. I wonder about aluminum ones? Our architect is wed to a Passive House standard (which I appreciate) but I'm not sure how to balance cost, performance, and material, in terms of environmental impact, etc.

Have you looked into Pella or Andersen as us-manufactured windows?

I need to ask the architect more questions. It's unclear to me why a top-line Pela or Andersen might not fit the bill. About half the cost of the German windows is shipping, so we should be able to get a very good window here, with much less shipping $s.

Which did you pick for your new house, James?

Erica Colmenares wrote:

Which did you pick for your new house, James?

I'm glad you asked.

I chose Ply Gem, and I do not recommend them to anyone, and I will share why. Every window they custom made for my home was the wrong size and didn't fit. Someone in manufacturing made an error and made my windows to the same size as the rough opening. That part is ok, we're all human and make mistakes. Every window rough opening had to be enlarged to make the new windows fit, costing time and money. We (me, my contractor, and the representative from the building materials supply company) contacted them and asked to send some money back for the mistake and to help cover the costs of resizing the rough openings. They said no, refused and turned their back on us. Thankfully, the very nice people at the building supply house understands relationships with people, and that customers are human beings also, not merely a transaction or sale. They were generous enough to send me money back to make things right, even though it was of no fault of them and they really didn't have to do this.

While I think the windows themselves are a fairly decent product, in my experience, the people making decisions within the company cared about the money in my wallet and nothing more, and refused to help me when something went wrong.

James Freyr wrote:


While I think the windows themselves are a fairly decent product, in my experience, the people making decisions within the company cared about the money in my wallet and nothing more, and refused to help me when something went wrong.

I agree - quality of product is important, but you also want to feel good about the values of the folks you're buying from! I remember you mentioning this issue in your house build thread, and it seemed like such a pain!!