Only really hear of the vinyl products to be honest. Post up what you come up with. I would be interested to see as well.

We built a house in Palm Beach county in 2003. We were subject to the Miami/Dade county hurricane codes and chose CGI because there were very few choices at that time. The heft and profiles on the doors and windows were far superior to the other mass produced products.
They are incredibly quiet which I love, and we have had no mechanical problems, but I have not been happy with the longevity of the exterior finish. The outside of the doors and windows have gotten very chalky feeling, and have become uneven. Also, the “arms” which open the casement windows have rusted quite a bit.
CGI has been completely unresponsive when I have contacted them about advice for refinishing.
We are planning to build another coastal house, where the requirements aren’t quite as strict as Miami/Dade (yet) and will probably go with Marvin Ultimate. It’s not as solid looking as the CGI, but we like the interior finish choices better.

We built a custom home in southwest FL in 2021 and used Marvin (ultimate and elevate) for windows and Euro-wall (https://www.euro-wall.com/) for our large sliders. All impact/hurricane rated.

PGT has bought out most of the other smaller companies in FL and is probably the biggest player in the impact/hurricane window/door market. I just wanted a better product (both looks and quality) for my custom home than what every tract builder in FL chooses for their projects, but we did have to pay a lot more for that choice.

I wouldnever do aluminum widows in Fla so wahy is that the choice at all? I can understand powder coated steel.l but to me vinyl is a much better choice in areas where moisture is always an issue . When we ere renovating I actually asked my insurance company about huge window coverage since hwere I live huge ppicture windows cannot be replaced easily and for sure not cheaply . I do not need the hurrivane coverage where I ma but I found the insurance company info helpful

We're waterfront in the Caribbean. We got the absolute worst of Hurricane Irma. Our neighbors' PGT sliders held; others did not. When we rebuilt, the contractor ordered us PGT sliders.

The supply chain was total chaos and PGT would not give me any information ("We're not a consumer facing company"). So we got what we got, which seem very sturdy, although apparently they're not TOL.

@Patricia,
Powder coated Aluminum will not rust, even if the powder coat is damaged, which is why it’s used in Florida rather than steel. All of my outdoor furniture which isn’t teak, has to have aluminum structure rather than other metals to last. Aluminum windows also last longer than vinyl windows and typically look much nicer.

Sally:

Call my buddy Doug please. He's been in the window business in south Florida for over 30 years. Dougramsey49@gmail.com

For those mentioning Marvin, my Architect said that the "coastline" series was the series he's used for other clients. So I called Marvin out of curiosity and I was told that their Coastline series is the only series compatible with impact hurricane ratings. That none of the other series would pass for Miami-Dade County.

Is it possible that those of you who went with "elevate" or "modern" or "ultimate" series didn't have impact glass? Maybe this is a new rule they have.

Joseph, what's his window business name?

Chrispa, how are you enjoying your Euro-wall? Did they install it for you and what was the pricing like if you don't mind sharing here?

All my Marvin are hurricane/impact rated ... I'm on the west coast of FL, but I believe we follow the same codes for most hurricane stuff.

I like the Euro-wall multi-slide doors. They were cheaper than the Marvin at that time. We had issues, but they are due to the distributor and not the product. We are still waiting for some weather stripping on one of the sliders, as the distributor messed up the installation of it and is taking forever to correct. I would pay extra for Euro-wall to do the installation!

" So I called Marvin out of curiosity and I was told that their Coastline series is the only series compatible with impact hurricane ratings "

Everyone who makes impact rated products makes them to Miami Dade as they are the most stringent. All Marvin impact product will work in Fla.

the best, is PGT now is not cheap other than that i recommend ESW as far as i been informed, allllll brands get their prodcuts from colombia/south america. and then assembled in miami dade

" allllll brands get their prodcuts from colombia/south america. and then assembled in miami dade "

Says who? If you are trying to taken seriously with these outlandish quotes, the least you do is use some proper grammar.

" the best, is PGT now is not cheap "

Who says they are the best?

Nothing is cheap now, but I think there is an obvious difference (in quality, design and look) between my Marvin windows and my neighbors PGT windows. Several of my builder's subs, who tend to mostly see PGT windows installed, commented on the difference in quality.

Our previous house used to have Millgard vinyl windows and they were very popular in CA, but I hated the quality and looks. I wanted better for our retirement home in FL and PGT definitely wasn't going to give me that, so we looked at Marvin and Andersen. Marvin came out ahead.

Truth is most people don't care about windows and the PGT windows keep overall budgets lower, so they definitely have a large share of the market, specially here in FL, even in multi-million $ homes.

PGT sucks, they are horrible as a company and they also have a crappy dealers who doesnt install them well at all

Miter Brands acquired PGT earlier this year, not a win for the consumer IMO.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTF9dLq7M/

If the windows are not installed correctly they are worthless. See conditions on 17th floor of St. Pete's highrise during Milton. Imagine the lawsuit coming at the window installer on this project.

That is good feedback. In place testing is always a good vetting tool.

We have Anderson impact windows now and building a new house next year. Interested in Marvin windows vs Anderson, why pick Marvin over Anderson?

What series Marvin? What series Andersen? What type and features are you looking for in a window?

Has anyone used ” New South Windows?” I am on the west coast of Florida. According to the sales person that came out this week, they are made locally and have a lifetime warranty. The price quoted was for impact windows, 22 of them. It was 50,000 and that was 50 % off.

" Has anyone used ” New South Windows? "

Builder grade at best. The "50% off" is the give away of the used car salesman mentality in my mind.

Anyone looking into New South for window/door replacement should ask to read the contract first. They require final payment prior to inspection (and ours failed) and they have a clause that limits the buyer's ability to comment publicly on their product and service. We regret our purchase. I would say more, but have to worry about lawsuits.