Every material argument in windows comes down to the same trade. Wood looks and feels like nothing else and asks to be maintained. Composites and vinyl ask for nothing and do not look like wood. Andersen’s answer on the 400 Series is to stop choosing: build the window from wood, then clad the outside face in rigid vinyl.
The result is the window most people picture when they picture an Andersen. It is their longest-running line, and in the pre-war houses we work in across New Jersey and New York it is usually the one that belongs.
Pine inside as standard, ready to stain or paint to match skirting, doors and the joinery already in the room. No composite reproduces the grain, and in a period house the difference is obvious from across the room. This is the reason people choose the 400 Series over everything else in the range.
This is the part worth understanding. Vinyl expands and contracts hard with temperature — that is what stresses seals through a freeze-and-thaw winter. Timber barely moves with heat at all; what moves timber is moisture. So the exterior is clad, keeping the weather off the wood entirely, and the wood carries the structure in the stable, conditioned air indoors. Each material is doing the job it is good at.
The rigid vinyl exterior is the maintenance answer. No scraping, no repainting, no rot at the sill — the failure that takes out most original wooden windows before anything else does. Inside, the wood is yours to finish once and leave.
It is Andersen’s longest-established line, and the options reflect that: grille patterns, hardware, finishes and sizes in a range the newer series do not match. If a window has to fit an opening and a period that were not designed around a catalog, this is usually the series that can.
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. That is a genuinely good material, and we will happily quote you the Andersen 100 Series, which is made of the same thing. But it is not wood, and Renewal by Andersen does not sell a wood window. If the inside face matters to you, this is not a question of price.
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 400 Series | RbA Acclaim | |
|---|---|---|
| Frame material | Wood, with a vinyl-clad exterior Different products, not two versions of one. This is the row that decides it. | Fibrex® composite |
| Interior finish | Real wood — stain or paint it to match the room No composite takes a stain like timber. In a period interior this is usually the whole argument. | Factory color on composite |
| Exterior maintenance | None. The cladding takes the weather | None |
| 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 Andersen Corporation builds the window either way. We will quote you; they will quote you. Compare them on the same opening. | A franchise’s own sales force, installation and warranty |
Warranty terms are Andersen’s and Renewal by Andersen’s own published terms and can change — check the current documents before you order. Renewal by Andersen® is a trademark 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 finishes, and quote the 400 Series properly — and tell you honestly when the 100 Series or the A-Series would serve the room better. No deposit, no pressure.
No obligation. No high-pressure sales. Just expert design advice.
