It was good to be set straight on the best (and worst) brand options. Thank you!

If you replacing one window things

get complicated. in general you want that window to look like the others. With one window it is very undesirable job and I would not even touch it. Marvin is solid and Anderson is good in their upper lines. m

+1 to the above comments from @toddinmn and @millworkman

The persons with "beefs" with certain manufacturers tend to post inexhaustibly and are vastly over-represented in terms of total issues.

Marvin is still a good brand as are upper end Andersen products.

We replaced all of our windows (21) with Renewal by Andersen two years ago and could not be more pleased. Some casement, some double and triple sliding windows. Crew from north of Boston came out to western MA 4 days in a row and were the absolute best. You have to get over the hard sell part (and yes, the $$$$) and then realize that you're dealing with just one company for purchase and installation and not chasing after different contractors for different things.

That's great and they do nice work and the product is certainly better than most. The prime benefit that you mention is no different than any quality window remodeling company.

RBA does not "make" the window. They are made by Andersen for the RBA dealers and RBA dealers individual franchisees and corporate offices. You have no identifiable or additional protections in dealing with a corporately owned office vs. a franchisee.

If you contrast that with another window contractor shop, they purchase their windows (just as RBA does) from a manufacturer and oversee the installation. There isn't really much that is tangibly different if you are dealing with a quality shop.

Also that business model is ideally set up for a house of windows. Many will not even get involved for one window as there is no meat on the bone, so to speak for the company.

WonW, I never said or intimated that RBA "makes" theirs windows. I was and am well aware where the windows were made and how RBA works. I was simply stating that we are very pleased with the product we purchased. And you're only going to know if they'll replace just one or two windows if you ask!

@Kate Cowers

Thanks. I inferred from your comment "you're dealing with just one company" that you were also referring to the materials side. That was my incorrect assumption.

Dealing with "one company" in terms of the acquisition and installation of product separates you from virtually none of the quality window installation companies so the differentiation is non existent at that point.

They seems to run good shops out of their network and franchisees. No doubt. I don't think anyone would suggest that the competitive comparison was a "Chuck in the Truck' type entity.

Either way, glad you are happy with the product and installation. What was the total project size (window count) and price? I am sure some posters would love to see some of that insight.

LOL @ "Chuck in the Truck".

Several other local companies were not as pleasant when we asked about their services. One in particular was "Sure we'll order and deliver windows, but you need to find your own installer".....so do you have recommendations for someone to do that? Nope. Ummmm....OK. List cross-off number 1! Our own contractor who has done multiple other projectsfor us declined to do it (and we had no problem with him saying no).

Actually, the total number of windows was 15. I was tending to count some of the doubles and triples separately, but they are considered just one window: 7 single casements, 2 double sliding, 5 triple sliding/fixed pane middle, 1 triple sliding (it's 3 sections of double sliders totaling 6 feet+ wide). All were custom sizes, inside framed in pine that we had stained to match our wood floors. This is one of the triple sliding/fixed pane middle windows.

Windows cost $76,000. Staining was another $19,000. Go ahead and faint! We did but all is good!

"Windows cost $76,000. Staining was another $19,000. Go ahead and faint! We did but all is good!"

I'd consider pressing charges. :0

@Kate Cowers

I appreciate your candor. Not sure where you are located, but that wasn't a great list of options you got when you were listing off the contractors. If RBA is there, it must be a decent sized market.

I would, generally, refer to your window totals as about 17 windows:

• 7 - single casements
• 2 - 2-Lite sliders
• 5 - 3-Lite sliders
• 3 - 2-Lite sliders mulled together to make the triple unit

The 3-Lite sliders get expensive because they really are like two windows (i.e. a picture and a slider).

We've never stained anything as it's just not the norm in our market, but I know the Mid-West if full of those type of openings.

It's a hefty chunk either way. You're happy with the finished work and that's whats most important at the end of the day.

fridge - not even a consideration.

WonW - had to stain the interior moldings otherwise we'd have bare pine moldings against oak floors. Painter did an unbelievable job matching the floor and other moldings around doors etc. using the SW pain matcher.

This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I called up my local glass place to get a quote and after four weeks and several back and forth calls, I haven't gotten a quote yet. They are in a "restructuring" process and under new ownership, so I get it. However, it's time to select a new installer. Given everyone's advice above, I was really leaning towards an Anderson E Series. However, it now looks like Anderson no longer manufactures French casement windows, which is what I was hoping for. Does anyone know why they stopped manufacturing this window?