Replacements for an old house? Help!

OK...we just bought a 150 year old house on Long Island, NY with 29 original (drafty) windows. Looking for replacements. I'm OK with a vinyl exterior but I need a wood interior. I also need interior and exterior grilles and would prefer the spacers between the glass, too. Pella just quoted me $38,000, Home Depot quoted me $46,000 for the Andersons and I'm in shock. The Anderson Renewals aren't selling yet in New York. Any suggestions? Help, please!

Your grille requirements help drive the price up. From what I've observed, metal grilles between the glass or removable wood grilles sell for about $3-$6 per lite depending on the brand, simulated divided lites with exterior & interior grilles are about $14-$18 per lite without spacers, and if they also have an internal spacer between the SDL's it pushes the price up to $20-$28/lite, again depending on the brand, markup, etc. So if you had a double hung with let's say 6 lites per sash, that could be 12 lites x $25 = $300 just for the upcharge for the grilles. Adds up pretty quickly. SDL with exterior/interior grilles with a wood interior sure would look great on a 150 yr old home, but it is a costlier way to go. There are other windows you could look at that meet your requirements of wood interior/clad exterior, but as far as wood goes Pella and Andersen both have decent performance and are well-respected manufacturers that will presumably be around. If there's any home shows in your area you could check out many windows at once; good luck with your shopping and research!

try Ideal they have a few showrooms out there