Many window manufacturers offer different size grills. The architect that designs your home should be able to make suggestions.

Are there any who offer grills for the outside of the windows? I think that is where the difference is made. And would these be more costly?

I will check out the Marvin windows. We know the colonial, multi grid windows are what we need on the house, just needed to figure out where we could get some that don't look fake, like the between glass grids do. Thank you!

Most quality wood or aluminum clad wood manufacturers will offer simulated divided lites.

Is this option going to be costly?

One would suppose if you are high net worth individuals, this option would not seem costly. If you are average net worth individuals trying to build your home on a budget, then one could suppose this option would seem quite costly. But in answer to your first question, multi grid windows with pronounced grids that can be seen and felt from the outside tend to be a fairly large deal more expensive than the ones with simulated grids. Best wishes on your new home build

Thank you so much!

As much as I like the grills on the outside of the glass, washing the windows with the grills inside the glass is much easier.

(yes, I do windows)

I agree, we had them on our first home, but it's so worth the sacrifice! I just feel like windows absolutely make or break the look of a home. The others just look like "trailer windows" to me. I am the daughter of a contractor so I probably scrutinize a little more than most. :)

Everything on a build is costly. Some, even more so. There is a universe of difference between a $150 box store plastic window and a $1500 semi divided light premium window. Or a 15K historically accurate custom handcrafted true divided light window.

"Is this option going to be costly?"

They will not be inexpensive.

Think long and hard about this. My 1948 house had them and they were lovely. But it cost a fortune to have them painted every few years, and washing was more costly as well. I replaced all the windows in my house with Marvin's top of the line aluminum clad (outside) windows, wood inside, simulated divided lite. They bothered me for about 5 minutes! They do NOT look fake and ugly and skimpy and were quite expensive. I've never regretted this decision. No painting, no putty glazing falling out. It's truly the way to go unless one is restoring a historic home that must be totally authentic. A 1948 house may be "old", but "historic" it ain't!

@LINA JONES, what window material are you considering? Wood, vinyl, composite/fiberglass? There are products of each material that offer simulated divided lite grilles that look very nice. The down side as already mentioned is that they are more difficult to clean, and in the case of real wood interior, the maintenance of staining or painting can be cumbersome as well. If that's not a huge turnoff, they do look very nice.

As also mentioned, they do cost more as well. Typically they include an interior grille, and internal grille/spacer, and an exterior grille. That is three sets as opposed to one in a typical GBG (between the glass) option, so expect the price to follow that .

We do not want wood or the actual individual glass panes, just not the between the glass grids. As far as the cleaning, I'm okay with the sacrifice. I have always had a cleaning company do it for me anyway. Cost will be the deciding factor I think. I have resigned myself to a higher cost, but nothing phenomenal! Thanks for everyone's input! Very helpful & much appreciated!

Typically realistic looking mullions/muntins are adhered to the exterior and interior of the glass and offer an optional spacer bar between the cpanes. This is usually called Simulated Divided Lites (SDL) Only the cheaper windows especially those with not much thickness to the sash do not offer them so its not so much the cost of SDL as it is the cost of higher grade windows.

That's what I'm finding in my research. Marvin's higher grade window collection offers them & the muntins do not add so much to the cost. This shouldn't be an issue, because we wanted a good grade window to begin with. So it looks like I may get my wish!

I was going to say....SDL windows are pretty standard in custom builds. They look authentic and have the correct depth and shadow lines. The “between the glass” muntins are most likely so much easier to clean, but look REALLY fake.

Agreed!

I have the Marvin sdl and they were a large part of our house expense. No regrets. But my windows are the fractional style with just the mullions at the very top so window washing is not much of an issue.

i wanted these windows in our last house built in 2005 but they were not in the budget. so we used the Andersen dh with the grills between the glass. Lots of grills on both sashes making window washing a breeze. I really thought they looked great and not offensive at all, especially from a distance. I was on this board even way back then when we built that house and one of the members suggested the wider grills. Yes, Andersen gives you the option of wider than standard gills between the glass...making the between the glass grills look more realistic. Worth taking a look if you find out you are shocked by the price of your Marvin SDL window package.

Here’s a couple of pics of our Marvin SDL’s. The big window is a Marvin Ultimate. The cottage grills are on a Marvin Integrity. They are a bit of work to clean, but look awesome.

You're describing either a true-divided lite or a simulated-divided lite window with muntins on both the window interior and exterior. A number of manufacturers offer them. Typically, they are the highest priced offering.

We just installed 20+ Andersen 400 windows (mostly casement), my 3 kitchen ones have grills. They are like Millworkman's link and I absolutely love the look! I was able to design the width and exact placement of each grill. My husband is a GC so we went through a window broker.

I have SDL's in vinyl (PGT win guard windows) and they made the difference in my new build craftsman inspired house

I definitely think the SDL's look better. However, I'm not using them on our home except for our door transoms. I, personally, couldn't justify the cost difference for us. I live in a rural area with lots of dusty fields so my windows will have to be cleaned more often than most and the SDL's just add to that frustration. I don't have a cleaning lady, either :/ Plus, they'd add nothing to resale because we are so rural. I think one must weigh the pros and cons and decide where they'd rather spend their money. To me, I preferred to spend what the SDL's would've cost to build a concrete safe room in my basement and upgraded some roof trusses to attic trusses so I can now have room in my basement for a pool table and exercise equipment versus storage. Those were my priorities, though :)