Affordable replacement windows

[Shagley]

I need to replace 14 windows in my older house. Does anyone have any experience with affordable but decent quality windows? I see that I can buy windows for around $150 through Lowes or Home Depot (of course I would have to pay extra for installation), but I kind of want a step up from that. I also see that many of the window companies charge about $800 or more per window, but that is more than I am willing to spend. Does anyone have any experience with a mid range window ($300-$400, not including installation) that is decent quality and will last more than 5 years or so?

 

[pumpkinmomma]

I can only speak to my local area, but my parents recently had to replace a bunch of windows. They used a local company, not sure exactly what they paid, but they were happy with it. They said that the locally owned companies were cheaper and better quality than the big chain stores like Lowes, Home Depot, Sears.

I would start asking around locally.

 

[Cindy B]

Check to see if your current brand has a guarantee. We bought a home that had old Andersen windows in them. We contacted Andersen because we saw some fogging in between the two glass panes in a few of our windows and a few more were getting pretty bad.

It took some phone calls and persistence, but Andersen replaced all 17 of our Andersen windows for FREE. Now it was just the window. We did have to paint them and install them ourselves. -the free ones were natural wood- and the previous ones were white. Some of the free windows didn't have hardware- so we ordered them separately as well from Home Depot. (we used the old hardware in the meantime).

Even though we had a little bit of project work, we got a house full of windows for little cost (cost of paint/hardware). Since we did the install ourselves, it was so much cheaper.

We also replaced the three windows that aren't Andersen. We would up finding a local installer that used BF Rich windows. These are bathroom windows and two small kitchen windows that look similar to the Andersen but not the Andersen price. The windows were also made locally.

If you are in S. New Jersey, I can give you a name.

 

[auralia]

I used window world 3 years ago and my windows look nice. They are not the best. I won them in a charity auction some paid about 1700 for 10 windows installed double pain with argon. They have held up well... Are there better, yes but the quote for those windows was 5500$ since this isnt our forever home I just wanted it to look nice!

 

[Shagley]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will check around with some local places, and I will also check to see if we have a Window World around here.

Cindy B - that is great advice about checking to see if our old windows have a guarantee. Unfortunately our house is about 70 years old, and it still has the original, custom built windows.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We are in the process of replacing our almost 50 yr old, original to the house windows, with Anderson windows. (The glass in our old windows is ok but the wood and screens are showing their age and the "insides", i.e. the lines that hold the squares in place (forget what they're called) are crumbly when you even shut a window, making them drafty; we fixed them all but they're crumbly again, etc. (With new windows this isn't an issue as the grates are either inside or removable and the second "storm window" isn't needed).

The builder we use showed my DH how to install the first one and DH is doing the rest. We've done two so far and still have a bunch to go as money and time allows. They're more energy efficient than the old ones so it should help with heating bills and such.

My in laws hired a local company to put in (cheap) replacement windows and within a few years the seals were broken in most of them and the glass was foggy. Unfortunately the business went under and they were stuck with them with no recourse. Bad for them, but we learned from their experience.

We also know people who built a new house about 15 years ago and just took out a home equity loan to replace the windows, foregoing other improvements they really wanted to make. Not sure what happened there but I gather quality windows weren't used the first time around.

We built a sunroom two years ago and the builder used Harvey windows. I actually like them better than the Andersons (grates are inside, not removable like our Andersons; absolutely gorgeous windows and simple to operate even with one hand) but we'll probably stick with Andersons for the rest of our house since we started with them already. But had we not, we might have gone with Harveys. Either one is good quality. They are not too difficult to put in if you know how.

HTH. Good luck!

 

[adventure_woman]

We went with Jack's Wholesale Windows. I'm not sure if they are in Central IL or not (I think they are in IN and maybe towards Chicago too?). They were about $400 window, installed. That comes with a lifetime guarantee. We also didn't do all the windows at once - a couple at a time. We were very happy with them.

(If you go with Jack's, tell them I sent you! =) ).