Is this a coastal application?

If so, most aluminum/vinyl clad windows are not well suite for that type of exposure.

As far as the reviews go, you are bound to find a bad review on even the best companies.

What sort of look were you going for?

No, its not coastal. We are several miles away from salt water.

We are looking to have a modern look. Originally, we were choosing aluminum so as to have a low profile look.
There are a variety of window sizes (and doros), with some picture windows having large spans which some of the manufacturers could not meet.

Thank you

Have you looked at fiberglass as well?

We are about to complete construction of our whole house renovation. We have an entire house of new Sierra Pacific windows and doors (25 windows of various sizes and 2 doors).

These windows and doors replace 8 year old Andersen 200 slider windows, Andersen 400 french doors and Andersen 200 sliding door. We looked at various brands - from Marvin, Pella, Andersen, Kolbe, etc.

We ultimately went with Sierra Pacific for a variety of reasons - our contractor, who used to build high end home developments, put in a lot of Sierra Pacific windows, and had overall positive experiences with them. Our architect, who designs mainly high end homes, specs out a lot of Sierra Pacific windows and has SP windows in his home, and had no problems with them (except for the handles). Ironically, our architect did spec out Andersen 400s in our house (that was when we were going to reuse the Andersen 200s in the back of the house). We were able to get the look that we wanted (simulated divided lights) in the grid pattern that we wanted, at a budget that was workable for us (given that we are now 15% over budget on our construction, I'm glad we didn't spend more for the windows). Finally, when we compared window performance against various brands, they were within range of each other, and they were going to work ok in our relatively mild climate here in the SF bay area. I also stopped by the SP showroom and customer tech support center one day and talked to a lady who handles some of the customer calls. She told me that in general, most of the calls she takes in are for customers who had issues with the handles, weather stripping, etc. or minor things (of course, take that with a grain of salt since she works there and can tell me whatever she wants to disclose). However, her comments, along with my home developer turned contractor (in the recession) experiences in installing many of these windows, have helped us feel comfortable.

The windows are in our house now, although we are still a few weeks away from completion. Some things in general about the windows from my personal experiences

1. on the doors, handle operation felt different that with my previous Andersen 400 french doors. It wasn't as smooth, and had a more clunky feel to it. The same was observed with the operation of the locking mechanism. It wasn't a rough operation, it just didn't feel as "substantial" as my old Andersen. This is not a comment about the quality, longevity, but more about the feel as compared to my old Andersen.

2. We had casement windows and awning windows (no sliders). We never had casement windows before, so I have no basis of comparison with our old Andersens. The crank operation was easy and smooth, although I wasn't crazy about the handle design. It also was very easy to latch the window shut once the window had been closed. the handles were not all solid construction, but rather metal sheet that has been rolled and formed into a handle. That may be why the tech support person said handles was an area they get calls on.

3. One thing I wasn't sure about, and it seemed a little suspect to me, was their "leaf" weatherstripping at the bottom of the window. It didn't seem to me that it could keep out the drafts, as it looks rather insubstantial... I realize with the windows latched shut (especially with casement windows), you would get a pretty solid seal against the elements, regardless of this leaf weatherstripping. That said, I don't know have any first hand experience with this potential area (since we haven't moved into the house yet).

4. at the corners where the aluminum cladding comes together, the joints were in general well done. I noticed a couple of windows where it wasn't as nice and clean looking as the others, but it does seem to be well sealed.

5. a little bit of a nit, but in most of the windows, the mounting flanges were powder coated just like the aluminum cladding on the window frame. There were a couple of windows where in one section of the mounting flange the powder coating was thin or not there. The mounting flange is going to be hidden and covered by the trim boards, so it doesn't matter anyway, but I would have expected the painter to just paint it so that every square inch of the cladding, whether hidden or not, is coated.. (that's just me).

5. Overall, the windows seem well built, although I can't comment on the design. So far, I'm relying on my architect and builders experiences on longevity and it seemed to be working ok for them.

6. Although SP offers a lot of different color options for the aluminum cladding, I found that in our case, we weren't looking for a radical color and that we could have found something similar with the other windows that would have worked for us.

I think for us, it came down to how much more we were going to get for the additional cost of going to Marvin and whether that would be worth it to us, versus spending that money somewhere else for an upgrade. Ultimately, we felt that given our climate and the window design we had, the SPs were good enough and that going with other windows wouldn't have given us a noticeable increase in value.

Hope this helps.

Did you look at the Marvin Integrity?

Andersen's Eagle line is, as I understand it, advantageous when dealing with inserts/replacements as the upcharge to customize is low. That also means the price for standard sizes is relatively high.

I'm having 17 Andersen A Series double hungs installed in a few weeks. I got a quote for Marvin Integrity which was about the same price as my A Series Andersens, and the Marvin Ultimate was a good 20-30% up from that. Now, I did do a lot of negotiating with my Andersen dealer, and one of the main reasons we went with them is I had one other Andersen window installed by them before and I really liked working with them.

The company selling and installing your window is as important as which brand you pick, once you're talking about Pella/Andersen/Marvin. The differences between their comparable lines are generally pretty small. The wrong installer can make a mess out of the best window in the world.

I agree with looking at the Marvin Integrity line. The Integrity Casement/awning window is the best value on the market in my opinion.

"once you're talking about Pella/Andersen/Marvin", I completely agree about the installation and whom is doing it but I disagree with putting Pella in the same breath with Marvin. Andersen (depending on the series) is a solid window while in my opinion anything by Marvin is considerably better and Pella well no so much........

I suppose my main point was just that a poor installation of say a Marvin window will end up with a worse situation than a great install of say a slightly lesser quality Andersen.

I chose Andersen because I trust the company I'm working with and they have a great reputation. They've worked with me through a series of options/changes and spent a lot of time figuring out standard size options/combinations to avoid the added expense of custom sizes.

On the flip side, it took 2 weeks of me pestering the Marvin guy for a quote - and this is working directly with Marvin - no 'dealers' in the Toronto area. Not sure if this how Marvin works in the US as well. At first I was happy to be working more directly with the company, but they sure didn't seem interested in my business. They might be slightly better windows, but the peace of mind I have working with my Andersen dealer/installer is worth the difference (I'm also saving a few thousand $).

So lets agree and kick Pella to the curb :)

You had to go thru a dealer for Marvin as they do not sell direct in Canada or the US from what I know. And I agree completely that the the installation is as important if not more important than the product generally speaking. And I kicked Pella to the curb years ago myself!

This thread is over two years old now, but I ran across it because we're dealing with the EXACT same question. Wondered what you selected, how it's been doing over the past couple years, and if you had any regrets about not going with the Marlins?