The A-Series is what Andersen builds when the brief is “no compromises”. Its own description of it is short and worth quoting: “Choose from a variety of beautiful and durable interior wood species, with fiberglass and composite exteriors that won’t peel, blister, fade or corrode.”
That is two different materials doing two different jobs, and the split is the whole design. Wood is what you want to see and touch. Fiberglass is what you want facing a January in New Jersey.
Not a wood-look finish — timber, in a range of species, ready to stain or paint to match the floors, doors and joinery already in the room. In a pre-war house that is the difference you notice from across the room, and no composite reproduces it.
This is the part that matters through a freeze-and-thaw winter. Every frame expands in heat and contracts in cold; the question is how much, and what that does to the seal around the glass. Fiberglass moves very little with temperature — close to the rate glass itself moves — so the frame and the sealed unit inside it stay roughly in step instead of working against each other.
The other half of the same idea. Timber barely responds to temperature at all; what moves timber is moisture. So the wood lives indoors in conditioned air, and the fiberglass and composite exterior keeps the weather off it entirely. Each material is doing the job it is actually good at.
Andersen’s claim for the exterior is that it “won’t peel, blister, fade or corrode”. Their Stormwatch® specification takes the same idea to the coast, where salt air ends most window finishes early. Inside, the wood is yours to finish once and leave.
Renewal by Andersen is Andersen’s own replacement business, sold and fitted through local franchises. The window itself is built by Andersen Corporation and supplied to them: Acclaim, made of Fibrex® composite. It is a good material — we will happily quote you the Andersen 100 Series, which is the same thing. But Acclaim has no wood interior, and Renewal by Andersen does not sell a window that does. Against the A-Series this is not a comparison of price. It is a comparison of what is on the market.
We know that comparison from the inside. Our founder spent seven years selling for Renewal by Andersen, finishing as one of their top salespeople, before starting this company — so the rows below are not guesswork about a competitor, and they are not a grievance either. They are what we would want a homeowner to know before signing anything, from either of us.
| Andersen A-Series | RbA Acclaim | |
|---|---|---|
| Interior | Real wood, in a choice of species — stain or paint it The row that decides it. No composite takes a stain like timber, and Acclaim is not offered with a wood interior at any price. | Factory color on composite |
| Exterior | Fiberglass and composite Andersen’s words for the A-Series exterior: it “won’t peel, blister, fade or corrode”. Stormwatch® is the coastal specification of the same thing. | Fibrex® composite |
| Movement through the seasons | Fiberglass moves very little with temperature Both are a long way ahead of vinyl here. Fiberglass is the more stable of the two, moving at close to the rate glass itself does, which is what keeps a sealed unit under less stress through a hard winter. | Fibrex® is far more stable than vinyl |
| Glass warranty | 20 years Both limited, both transferable to the next owner. | 20 years |
| Other components | 10 years | 10 years (hardware) |
| Installation warranty | 5 years, from Window District Ours is five years, in writing. Andersen’s product warranty has never covered installation, because Andersen does not do the installing — so on any Andersen window the installation is warranted by whoever fitted it. Renewal by Andersen warrants its own, on a term each local franchise sets rather than a national one. Ask them for the figure in writing, as you should ask us. | From Renewal by Andersen — term set locally |
| What drives the price | The window, and our labour The A-Series is Andersen’s premium line and we will not pretend it is the cheap option. What we will say is that you are paying for the window rather than for a sales operation. We will quote you; they will quote you. Compare them on the same opening. | A franchise’s own sales force, installation and warranty |
Material descriptions in quotation marks are Andersen’s own. Warranty terms are Andersen’s and Renewal by Andersen’s own published terms and can change — check the current documents before you order. Andersen®, Fibrex®, Stormwatch® and Renewal by Andersen® are trademarks of Andersen Corporation, and Window District is not affiliated with, authorized by or endorsed by either.
No deposit · No pressure
We will measure the opening, bring the species and the finishes, and quote the A-Series properly — and tell you honestly when the 400 Series or the 100 Series would serve the room better. No deposit, no pressure.
No obligation. No high-pressure sales. Just expert design advice.
