I live in Portland, Oregon in a 1938 English cottage and will be replacing 17 windows. Here are the choices I am looking at:
Marvin Infinity Simulated Divided Light: Apparently there are no samples of the SDL in Portland yet, but the installer claims that they have gotten rave reviews on the East Coast. It has a fiberglass-like exterior.
Pella Impervia (fiberglass, grids between the glass) or Architect Series (Aluminum clad, ILT fixed grids)
I prefer to keep the architectural integrity of the home, and therefore do not really like the grid-between-the-glass look. While we cannot afford to spend a ton of money, we are willing to pay for quality.
What information do any of you have on these products? Any other suggestions?
Marvin Infinity SDL vs. Pella replacements
pdx,
Our first SDL shipment from Marvin for their Infinity product is due to us next Thursday or Friday. They finished the run today. We are currently beta testing the products as the machinery has just been received and they work through the logistics of inter-factory streamlining. We currently have 4 SDL jobs on order. I have the corner sample in my possession which the initial SDL pictures were taken of. It is of Marvin quality. Within the next 45-60 days the orders will be taken routinely I expect. Although the premium line is manufactured nearby these units should last twice as long, 30-40 years or more. The Pella Impervia was designed to sway folks from vinyl and is a basically uninspiring product. Marvin is asethically pleasing with 110% customer satisfaction in our area. By the way the exterior SDL is not fiberglass like, it is pultruded fiberglass. The SDL is 7/8" in width and profiled to a wood profile unlike a Milgard SDL which is contempory in design.
Our first SDL shipment from Marvin for their Infinity product is due to us next Thursday or Friday. They finished the run today. We are currently beta testing the products as the machinery has just been received and they work through the logistics of inter-factory streamlining. We currently have 4 SDL jobs on order. I have the corner sample in my possession which the initial SDL pictures were taken of. It is of Marvin quality. Within the next 45-60 days the orders will be taken routinely I expect. Although the premium line is manufactured nearby these units should last twice as long, 30-40 years or more. The Pella Impervia was designed to sway folks from vinyl and is a basically uninspiring product. Marvin is asethically pleasing with 110% customer satisfaction in our area. By the way the exterior SDL is not fiberglass like, it is pultruded fiberglass. The SDL is 7/8" in width and profiled to a wood profile unlike a Milgard SDL which is contempory in design.
-
House Doctor
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:38 pm
The Pella Fiberglass is a pretty crude product. It appears to be 1950's-style "gel-set" fiberglass because you can see strands of glass fiber stuck to the surface. Not something intended for a home, but better suited for industrial sites and sewage treatment plants where only fiberglass can hold up, but looks are unimportant. The Infinity on the other hand looks like an architecturally correct real wood window with about 20 coats of hand-rubbed laquer buffed to a mirror-like luster. I believe the Infinity is also a Tectron "Six-Sigma" quality of pultrusion; which puts it in a quality and reliability rating on a par with Lexus automobiles -- way way ahead of most other products in the window industry. It may be a bit pricy, but well worth the cost, in my opinion. The aesthetics alone justify the price and the durability of pultruded fiberglass ( ULTREX fiberglasss -- no less!) combined with an energy-star rating are just frosting on the cake. Go for the Marvin Infinity; you won't be dissappointed. Consider the Pella as a super-cheap alternative for corrosive environments that require the durability of fiberglass but don't care about looks and need to do it on the cheap.
100% of all the people who purchased it, plus 10% of their neightbors?The Pella Impervia was designed to sway folks from vinyl and is a basically uninspiring product. Marvin is asethically pleasing with 110% customer satisfaction in our area. By the way the exterior SDL is not fiberglass like, it is pultruded fiberglass. The SDL is 7/8" in width and profiled to a wood profile unlike a Milgard SDL which is contempory in design.
WHo has 110% customer satisfaction? LOLMarvin Infinity SDLs
Update:
We had the Marvin Infinity SDLs installed last month and couldn't be happier. They look fantastic architecturally and our house is significantly warmer, which has been nice while we've had below-freezing temperatures a few days this week. I highly recommend them...they are indeed worth the money already (let's hope I still feel this way when my loan comes due next year!!!).
Thanks for your input!
We had the Marvin Infinity SDLs installed last month and couldn't be happier. They look fantastic architecturally and our house is significantly warmer, which has been nice while we've had below-freezing temperatures a few days this week. I highly recommend them...they are indeed worth the money already (let's hope I still feel this way when my loan comes due next year!!!).
Thanks for your input!
We've had the Marvin Infinity fiberglass windows in our home for over two years. They're fabulous! Ours, too, is an older home and we wanted windows that would closely resemble our old, heavy wood ones. Having painted many six over six windows through the years, I never in my life wanted to do this job again.
We looked at vinyl, but they just looked too flimsy and cheap. These look as close to wood as you can get, but without all the maintenance. They're heavy and have a nice solid feel.
We're extremely happy with them and highly recommend both the windows and the company.
We looked at vinyl, but they just looked too flimsy and cheap. These look as close to wood as you can get, but without all the maintenance. They're heavy and have a nice solid feel.
We're extremely happy with them and highly recommend both the windows and the company.