I am putting on an addition. I am putting new windows in all of my old house as well. I am putting in Anderson 400 series. In old house, I have several large picture windows. The plan calls to replace it with a smaller picture window in center flanked by two small casement windows on ends. This would allow us to open the casement windows to let air in. When speaking to my parents, I was told not to get casement and instead get double-hung. I was getting double-hung elsewhere in the house, but I think the casements were put here because the look would be better with the internal grids in this situation. A double hung has the thick sash in center where the casement would just have uniform grids. Given that there is not going to be grid in the center picture window, the thought was that the casements would look better. My parents said that the casements always have troube with the cranks and often don't open. Thoughts on casements? I don't even know if Anderson makes double hung in the width I would need but I will check.

Thanks

 

Andersen makes a quality product, you should not have any problems with casements. IMHO, casements makes more sense, from an air infiltration standpoint, they seal tighter than DH. But they also look better, for the reasons you stated.

 

IMO, Andersen's casement windows back in the 70's were, to put it nicely, problematic. Their cranks frequently stripped, making it impossible to crank their windows shut and lock them without going on the outside to push them shut.

However, that problem is not unique to Andersen- other companies also had trouble with their cranks stripping due to years of use. I don't frequently use Andersens, so I can't speak of their current quality- but it does explain where your parents' argument is coming from.

If you want the grids the same size in the picture window and in the flanking windows, go with casements. If you don't mind them being smaller, but still symetrical, go with double hungs. And keep in mind that you can always omit the grids in the picture window, which gives you a clearer view and doesn't look bad. Often, all those grids can be overwhelming, so it's often nice to omit the grids in the center.