Pella vs Marvin

[Hoff]

I am in a quandry to say teh least at selecting between the two manufacturers. I am expecting Marvin's pricing early next week, but I am less than impressed with Pella's customer service. Everyone was polite, but I felt like I was getting a sell job at every turn. Can anyone give me an honest evaluation of each? Thanks!

[Dallas Burgher]

clad wood windows with the low e glass. In nine years I have not had a single problem of any type. I don't know about the quality of Pella long term except I had them for about a year before moving. No problems in that short time.

The Pella people strike me as incredibly arrogant.

If I had unlimited funds I would go with Marvin's clad wood again but money is more of a concern now.

[wlc_girl]

We have had Pella windows for 30 years. Here is my experience:

- The mechanics of the hardware has stopped working on many windows. It isn't b/c the components aren't good... For example, I have a handle and a handle base against which the handle is cranked. The screw which connects the handle and handle base has fallen out. I've contacted Pella and no one has replied after calling them multiple times.
- The windows are double pane but the seals have broken down over time. Now I get frost inside the window (yea.. really bad I know). Again, no one from Pella has called me back
- Hardware parts are hard to replace... really hard and also expensive.
- Our windows are older but Pella says they provide a lifetime warranty... I don't think that is true.

You may as well know what you're getting with Pella. I love the look of Pella windows and still look at it when I am in Lowes. It definitely provides more light than some of the other brands (don't know about Marvin) but the follow up support is just not great. At the end of the day, when you spend a lot of money on these windows, it is disappointing to receive such poor customer service.

[scordea1969]

I've been replacing Pella pro-line windows one every year or two due to wood rot in my 12 year old home. Very disenchanted with the Pella name. Don't buy a window with wood unless YOU will maintain it well, painting cleaning protecting it. I'm all vinyl with the replacements. Because I don't have time in my life for annual window maintenance. My father does and his wood windows are lovely. For more modern lives, wood windows is a mistake.
Marvin fiberglass is a maybe, but not sure the material is worth the cost.

[JScott]

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/pella.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRel ... RN20080220

http://www.childresslawyers.com/48E76/a ... Loucks.pdf

http://www.windowdoorlawsuit.com/My_Hom ... Page3.html

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wi ... 14301.html

[buddy11]

Looks like Marvin has some suits too

[advanced_energy]

fiberglass windows cause tidal waves, drug use, unemployment,rabies,and make the sky a liitle less blue.

by the way,i am all for high quality vinyl windows but please do not buy any vinyl windows from Pella or Anderson;they are total junk and anyone window guy worth his salt will agree 100%.

[Windows on Washington]

fiberglass windows cause tidal waves, drug use, unemployment,rabies,and make the sky a liitle less blue.

by the way,i am all for high quality vinyl windows but please do not buy any vinyl windows from Pella or Anderson;they are total junk and anyone window guy worth his salt will agree 100%.

Hilarious. Don't forget global warming, 2 trillion dollar deficits, and the advance of socialism....nevermind that is someone else.

[smuzik]

In 1989 had Pella wood casements installed as replacement for old metal casements in our older home. Got true divided light on front and side of house and casements with grids between the glass 6 foot tall about 2 wide (5 triples) in a large sunroom addition and several other windows. (Many thousands of dollars even back then). We were led to believe these were quality lifetime windows.

We discovered rotting windows/sills in addition windows (grids between glass) at about 12 years despite regular painting. One window was so bad that it rotted through to the inside of the house. When we contacted Pella, we got a lackluster response. they sent someone out to the house to tell us there was nothing they would do about it THEN to ad insult to injury, they tried to charge us for a service visit!!!! (I think it was about $60 - I promptly called them to say they had to be kidding and would not be paying them for that! We're now to the point where over half have enough rot that we have to replace them all. True divided light windows on the front of house seem to be ok. There has got to be some kind of design problem with the rotting windows. Installation wasn't the problem. BEWARE of Pella's lousy service and questionable products.