We need new windows :(

[dahrjo]

Our windows are about 20 years old, and wood. the springs keep breaking. The type they used are not lasting at all. I have a little sticky note on some of them, saying "Do not Open".
Does any one have any window experience?
What should we look for? Prices? Recommendations?

Thank you!

 

[LizinSTL]

Our windows are about 20 years old, and wood. the springs keep breaking. The type they used are not lasting at all. I have a little sticky note on some of them, saying "Do not Open".
Does any one have any window experience?
What should we look for? Prices? Recommendations?

Thank you!

http://www.windowworld.com/

We used window world. They were terrific. We ordered them and they were manufactured and installed within a month. We have odd sized windows and they were all still the quoted price (we did the ww 2000 series.) We've had them for 6 years now and absolutely no problems. We will use them when we replace the other 6 windows in the house that still need it.

 

[DisneyScraps]

I had some experience with this I owned a 118 year old home with the original windows. I talked to 5 different companies. A few of then were offering prices if I signed right now....avoid them. Most refused to come out unless both my husband and myself was present. That was a problem. He sat through one presentation and said NEVER AGAIN.....I was the one handling it and he trusted my judgement.

I found some of the companies to be like bad used car salesman. was really turned off by it all.

I agree that Window World is the one to deal with. They did not service my area at the time or I would have just used them.

We never ended up putting the windows in. While I was in the process of deciding I got a knock at the door with someone offering to buy my house. Of course that was 6 years ago before the economy went to hell.

 

[LaDonna]

We did WindowWorld a few years back and have been VERY happy with our windows

 

[riley2008]

We replaced 19 windows last spring ourselves. Our house was only 11-12 years old, but the original builders used single pane windows and did VERY poor installation.


We replaced them with Jeldwen windows. (I think that was the brand - I really thought I'd never forget. I can go look it up.)

We had a friend give us some pointers on one window and we did the rest ourselves. (We did all our upstairs windows and downstairs across the front and sides. We will do the back next spring - they're covered by a patio.)

It wasn't complicated, but took some muscle and time. All 19 windows took two weekends with my DH, my mom and myself. We stopped at 2:00 all 4 days. (We did do some on Friday nights on the garage windows.)

By doing it ourselves we saved just over $4000.

There are lots of good You-Tube videos out there too.

ETA: I just re-read your post. If you've got good windows and it's just the springs giving you problems, I likely wouldn't replaced them with vinyl. Maybe talk to someone who specializes in window repairs. There is one company around here called the "glass doctor" and they can create new sliders and energy efficient glass panels for your windows. (We couldn't go that route due to the poor conditrion of the frames.) Anyway, you may not need to go to the expense of replacing the whole window. Wood windows are the most energy efficient and most costly.

 

[Judique]

Our windows are about 20 years old, and wood. the springs keep breaking. The type they used are not lasting at all. I have a little sticky note on some of them, saying "Do not Open".
Does any one have any window experience?
What should we look for? Prices? Recommendations?

Thank you!

I've never seen a windowworld window and don't know what their quality is.

But, I shopped for replacement and new construction windows in the past year and there are tons of choices.

I purchased Silverline windows for one project and I like them.

For another project I went up a grade and I also like those.

There are higher energy ratings on some versus others.

I used a contractor who gave me choices. The contractor gave me basic info and sources where I could go to view different products.

Prior to this I had a Home Depot rep come to my home and measure and give me an estimate. I did not feel informed after that meeting, just had a price. The contractor was much more thorough.

I have an older house and the window job included replacement windows and new windows for an addition.

Take your time and look around. All windows are not equal these days.

 

[rock_doctor]

We replaced 19 windows last spring ourselves.

What i was going to say. Our house was build in 92 and the windows were alum clad and totally rotten. I changed them out myself. It is a long process, about an hour or two for each window but i am insane about perfection so you will be able to do it much faster. As long as the window case is sound, measure the exact width and height and take the measurements to Lowes and order the vinyl replacement windows. Sometimes you can get money off if you get their credit card. I recommend lowes because their windows are made by Pella but if you prefer, home depot's windows are made by Anderson so pick which ever you prefer and go with it. It really is a do it yourself kind of thing. Just reason though it and once you have done one the rest are basically the same. Just get the best caulk the store has, 50 yr or better... Don't cheap out on any of the items and don't over foam them... That stuff sticks to everything!!!!

 

[mtblujeans]

We're in the position where we need to replace a whole house of windows, too. Is everyone doing vinyl windows? A contractor we know said not to go with vinyl. Might have to do with our cold climate? I was thinking vinyl clad wood....but we have wood windows now and not crazy about the way they have 'aged'.

I hate having to do this type of thing. I'd lose my mind if I actually had to build a house!

 

[shellcruiser]

another vote for windowworld. After "shopping" for weeks (maybe months) we chose window world and have been very pleased with the windows for several years now. Beware of the door to door pressure sale from some other companies. I despise the "today only pricing" and "let me call my district manager" sales tactic. We basically had to ask one guy to leave because he wouldn't accept no thank you as an answer. Window world has basically a flat pricing guide. Your cost is dependent on the number of windows you need to replace (not on a randomly inflated price/commission). Before I get flames from salespersons world wide, my husband has worked retail for many years and was owner operator of his own retail sales company. I realize that many (hubby included) know how to sell items on commission while still providing value and service to the customer. I actually believe commission is the best way to motivate anyone to sell -- just don't try to make a monthly income on one house.

 

[niccikatie]

I used this website: http://www.replacement-windows.com/ and found a highly rated brand of windows that was available in our area (in the forums there). Then, I contacted the manufacturer and found out who they recommended for installation. We met him and got a very fair quote. They will be replacing our windows in the fall. We chose Sunrise windows, based on the recommendations of that website.

 

[angwill]

We're in the position where we need to replace a whole house of windows, too. Is everyone doing vinyl windows? A contractor we know said not to go with vinyl. Might have to do with our cold climate? I was thinking vinyl clad wood....but we have wood windows now and not crazy about the way they have 'aged'.

I hate having to do this type of thing. I'd lose my mind if I actually had to build a house!

I have a friend who is a window contractor/owns the company and he always said vinyl last longer. The wood cost more though so the contractor putting in the windows make more money off them.

 

[StephMK]

We replaced 19 windows last spring ourselves. Our house was only 11-12 years old, but the original builders used single pane windows and did VERY poor installation.


We replaced them with Jeldwen windows. (I think that was the brand - I really thought I'd never forget. I can go look it up.)

We had a friend give us some pointers on one window and we did the rest ourselves. (We did all our upstairs windows and downstairs across the front and sides. We will do the back next spring - they're covered by a patio.)

It wasn't complicated, but took some muscle and time. All 19 windows took two weekends with my DH, my mom and myself. We stopped at 2:00 all 4 days. (We did do some on Friday nights on the garage windows.)

By doing it ourselves we saved just over $4000.

There are lots of good You-Tube videos out there too.

ETA: I just re-read your post. If you've got good windows and it's just the springs giving you problems, I likely wouldn't replaced them with vinyl. Maybe talk to someone who specializes in window repairs. There is one company around here called the "glass doctor" and they can create new sliders and energy efficient glass panels for your windows. (We couldn't go that route due to the poor conditrion of the frames.) Anyway, you may not need to go to the expense of replacing the whole window. Wood windows are the most energy efficient and most costly.

Was it hard to do the upstairs windows? Can you do them from just the inside or is a ladder necessary? We really need to replace some of ours but I'm hesitant to do them ourselves (and I know DH will complain if we do!) But if it can be done in a weekend or two, I'd love to save all the installation money.

 

[rock_doctor]

We're in the position where we need to replace a whole house of windows, too. Is everyone doing vinyl windows? A contractor we know said not to go with vinyl. Might have to do with our cold climate? I was thinking vinyl clad wood....but we have wood windows now and not crazy about the way they have 'aged'.

I hate having to do this type of thing. I'd lose my mind if I actually had to build a house!

I guess it depends on what you mean by "building a house". Are you building it with your own hands or acting as General Contractor. If you are building it with your hands it can be very fun (although inspectors can be very demanding) but acting as General Contractor (i.e. you are scheduling each trade and dealing with their problems) can be a real nightmare and you should spend the extra money to have somebody do it for you.

I would ask around. If your local home improvement store sells vinyl then i would say it is his personal preference. Plastic expands and contracts much more then wood plus it does get brittle in extreme cold so there is a chance of issues in extreme cold environments. But i would expect that it would have to be very cold. As far as i know vinyl is ok to be used any place in the US and in most cases will give you an energy tax credit. I don't see a difference between vinyl/wood and just vinyl. The vinyl is what is exposed to the cold temps so a vinyl used to clad the wood will crack just as readily as a vinyl only window. I don't see a difference.????. You could contact the manufacture and ask what temperature range is ok for their products. Lowes uses pella and home depot uses anderson manufactured replacement windows.

 

[rock_doctor]

Was it hard to do the upstairs windows? Can you do them from just the inside or is a ladder necessary? We really need to replace some of ours but I'm hesitant to do them ourselves (and I know DH will complain if we do!) But if it can be done in a weekend or two, I'd love to save all the installation money.

You didn't ask me but i will answer my 2 cents... you remove your old window sashes, remove the parting beads leaving the exterior window beads in place. The replacement just slides in place of your removed windows. Everything is done from the inside. The only hard part is, you have to lean out the open window to caulk the outside. Big windows you can just lean out but small windows you will have to remove the sashes. It only gets complicated if your replacements are too large or too small. Small ones need to be shimmed and too large you will need to cut off a small piece of trim from the vinyl window. I used a Dremmel and a small circular cut off wheel from Harbor Freight. My original windows used springs that were behind plastic slides that held the windows in place. So in my case i just removed my plastic slides after removing the windows and installed the vinyl as normal. Take a look on utube i bet you will find tons of videos. Not a big deal. No ladders unless you want to be fancy when you caulk. Your choice but not necessary in any way.

 

[CeCe]

What part of Michigan are you in? We had builders windows that were 12 years old, and we couldn't take it anymore. We used Wallside Windows, and had a great experience, as have many of our friends. Prices we comparable to other companies, but they are made locally. They have a great warranty.

 

[adventure_woman]

We're in MI also. We went w/ Jack's Wholesale Windows and have been very happy. We only replaced 2-3/yr until we were done. If u PM me, I can send u the name of our salesperson...I like him a lot. Lifetime warranty, etc

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

We out in Bristol Windows a few years ago. They are triple paned, vinyl replacement windows with a steel frame in them. We had them installed. They were custom build to the size specifications of our house, which includes a LARGE window in our living room with 2 sliders. The total was about $13K. It made a HUGE difference in our heating and cooling costs and they have a 50 year fully transferable warranty. They replace everything for free including screens. Even if our daughter hits a baseball through the window or our cats claw the screens, they replace everything for free.

 

[bear_mom]

We replaced our windows last summer and before we decided on a brand/contractor we got 4 or 5 different quotes. Then we narrowed the choices down to two and then met with contractors in their showroom so they could show us the different windows they we suggesting.

When looking at the quotes sometimes it was hard to compare them as one would quote "with this" and the other "with that". Once we narrowed it down to the two, we had them re-write their quoted to the specifications we wanted (based off reading all the quotes) so we were comparing the exact same service.

In the end we with the contractor I didn't like so we could get the windows we wanted (he was talking down to me, addressed most of the technical stuff to dh and was talking down to both of us about the new lead based paint requirements - hmmm, I was a certified lead based paint inspector and attened a 4 days worth of training on it, way more than his 4 hour class.)

Emily

 

[jennyf2]

I just had 12 windows replaced in October of last year & I also used Window World. I rec'd MANY quotes & they were by far the cheapest & good reviews. I would use them again in a heartbeat!

 

[mtblujeans]

Thanks for the info!