On Aug 5, 7:29*am, "badgolferman"
wrote:

snip

Does anyone have any thoughts on the benefits of the foam-filled frames
vs. the other two?

Foam filling should reduce heat transmission, effect on strength
minimal, probably not that important in a well built house. Frankly,
it doesn't seem logical to have steel reinforcements in a vinyl
environment because of the radical difference in thermal expansion,
but I may be wrong.
Given your situation, I would consider Andersen and a local
contractor if their quote is reasonable, although one Andersen
franchise operation was grossly overpriced to friends of mine. Windows
World locally seems to have a similar problem of making their whole
annual profit from a few uninformed consumers. Bottom line, if you
feel uneasy, keep looking. Replacement windows are very profitable,
and most of the products are fairly decent. In the case of my friends
that passed on the Andersen franchise quote, they found a local
contractor that had specialized in window work for 30 odd years and
had a quality product for less than half the price. Good luck.

Joe