Period Millworks - what is the issue with living in a humid area (like Seattle) with clad windows? I.e. the Marvin Integrity Ultrex line? (sorry for digging up an old thread - hopefully someone still finds this question helpful)

So here's the deal with humidity- sometimes humidity can get between the cladding - i.e. Between the aluminum or fiberglass and the wood on the inside- when this happens if the the wood is inferior it will eventually rot from the inside out. Which means by the time you see or realize it's rotted - sometimes well after the warranty - it is too late. So we reccomend that you pick a clad product that is going to perform for your needs. Marvin integrity is fantastic for humid areas because it is all fiberglass. As I said earlier though- I am a Jeldwen Dealer and I also manufacture real mahogany and Spanish cedar Windows- in my opinion Jeldwen is the BEST clad window available because of the aura last wood. So if the humidity got to aura last it is a fully saturated treated wood unlike ALL of the other woods from the other companies. Basically it's KDAT - and JELDWEN offers a lifetime warranty because they know they can back it up.

So my final thoughts for your area are to stay maintenance free- if your look is modern stick with fiberglass or steel and if you want some warmth and tradition go with the Jeldwen aluminum clad!

Thanks for the excellent and clear answer. Do you have any thoughts on any of the new vinyl clad wood windows? I.e. Andersen 200/400? I'd imagine they have the same humidity issues . . .

kdunic - It's great that you're spending some time learning about different windows before your purchase - not enough people do that. I had never heard of any issues with humidity getting in between our cladding and the wood, so I made a couple phone calls to our customer service and quality groups. They were able to confirm that this is not an issue we've had with our clad windows. However, if you prefer to avoid cladding anyway, we do offer Silver Line vinyl windows and our 100 Series product line, which is made of a composite material called Fibrex. Let us know if you have any questions.

What does anyone think about Milgard? I haven't seen them mentioned here.

Im really needing to know if Quaker windows are good . My builder is insisting on them and I don't seem to be able to get him to do anything else.