We're getting new windows installed in our house, ask me anything!!

[Shine]

Never thought I'd do one of these ask-me-anything posts, but I am just so damn excited about this vast improvement to our home.

:woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo:

[Shine]

1. I guess nobody is as thrilled as I am. Sigh.

:eyes:

[Debbi801]

20. Good for you! We did it last winter...

The difference between the single pane 30+ yr old windows and the modern thermal windows has been huge! I love not having ice on the inside of the windows during the winter. :-)

[Shine]

24. I'm so glad to hear your good report, Debbi!

We live in CA, central coast, so we don't have to deal with the ice factor as much as general condensation that collects on the windows. In fact, the other day, as the guy was removing all the window treatments to prepare for the window people coming in, he pulled off one in our window that was basically RUINED (a Hunter Douglas "Silhouette" roll-up blind, NOT cheap)from all the MOLD that had grown on it.

Ewwww...nasty.

Anyway, yes, I'm soo looking forward to this improvement.

:hi:
Have a great day!

[Burma Jones]

2. Why not Linux?

Barbarian.......

[Shine]

4. yuk, yuk, yuk

;)
cute.

[Truebrit71sbruv]

3. Ooooooohhhhhhh.....

WINDOWS windows... and there was I trying to figure out if this was some kind of new release of WinXP.... :evilgrin:

[Shine]

5. I guess I shouldn't be surprised this would happen.

buncha computer nerds!!

;)

[Truebrit71sbruv]

7. Hey... that's...

... MR Nerd to you! ;)

[Shine]

9. Yes, SIR Nerd.

:hi:

[Truebrit71sbruv]

10. ~grins~

more like it ;)

:hi:

And grats on the new windows btw :)

[Shine]

12. Thank, friend.

I mean, "Sir".

Have a great day.
:pals:

[Mizmoon]

6. I know how it feels

we got a new oil burner and no one on DU was interested in that either :)

Congrats - you should save lots on your utility bills!

[Truebrit71sbruv]

8. ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh......

.... I missed out on a new oil burner????

:woohoo::applause::toast::applause::woohoo::nuke:

:evilgrin:

[Mizmoon]

15. We could have partied!

It would have been .... warm! :P

[Truebrit71sbruv]

39. ~grins~

yup... if not positively HOT! ;)

[Shine]

11. Yeah, it's funny what captures the lounge's attention....

;)

I'm looking forward to saving some money on energy bills this winter, esp since they're supposed to skyrocket this winter.

We're doing this at just the right time....although it's taken us forever to actually make it happen.
:eyes:

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Oooh, do I have questions for you.

What brand?
Low -e?
Vinyl or vinyl clad wood?
How many bids did you get?

I'm just starting the process now for my own house. I can't wait to get rid of these single pane aluminum sliders. Even in the 1960s-70s these were crappy windows.

[Shine]

17. Here are some answers...

Brand: Milgard

No low-e

Vinyl in the 3 bedrooms/bathrooms and 3 wood clads in the main living room, to match the wood Andersons we had installed in the kitchen five years ago. Those wood clads are expensive, but hopefully will be worth it.

We got 4 different bids. Hopefully, we chose well.

Yeah, I hear ya on the crappy single-pane 70's shit. Our house was built in '78. Plus, you could actually feel the draft coming through them.

These new ones will be MUCH better, plus help us save money. We had four of the 10 put in yesterday, in the bedrooms. 6 more to go, over the next couple o' days...Can't wait to see how the wood clads turn out!

:hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

22. Thanks for the info.

I've been thinking of mixing up the vinyls and wood clads too. I'd rather have wood everywhere but I live in a plain vanilla tract house and it just doesn't make sense. It would be nice for the kitchen slider and large windows in the living/dining area. Wood is just prettier and looks more substantial. I'm thinking of low-e for those too because that's the side with the strongest sunlight.

The Milgard brand seems to be very popular in my area. Our neighbors who have had them for a few years are still praising the quality.

Good for you for getting this done before winter. I'd love to get rid of the drafts in my house!
:applause:

[Shine]

26. Yeah, the window people didn't seem to think it was a big deal to mix

the vinyls and wood clads. I guess people DO do that. We went with the more expensive wood clads in the common space living room b/c they'll match the kitchen and dining room. In our home, it's all one big open, single-level ranch-style house, so it'll look really nice when it's done. The back bedrooms, down the hall, are for the vinyls and we're fine with that.

Glad to hear the good report from your neighbors about Milgard. Thanks. :thumbsup:

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with Gormy Cuss! Have a great day!

:hi:

[Lex]

14. It's great isn't it?

We got new storm windows and screens a couple of years ago and it was fantastic!

To be able to easily raise and lower the screens and the storm windows is great. The old ones were not working properly and kind of rusty.

[Shine]

18. Yeah, it's funny you should mention the screens because that's

one of the main reasons we were motivated to just bite the bullet, dip into the equity line and get this project handled, after many many years of wanting this done: Our cats consistently would push OUT the screens to jump out of the house, if they were open and they wanted out. Keep in mind these are 70's crappy single-pane aluminum frames, with crappy flimsy screens, too. The screens would fall out onto the ground and then get all bent up in the fall, which would only make them worse. :grr:

After enough times of this happening and getting thoroughly annoyed with my cats, we finally decided to get more substantial windows.

There's NO way they'll be able to do that habit with these new ones. It'll be amusing to see their frustration. I'm looking forward to that.
:evilgrin:

[Midlodemocrat]

16. I'm thinking about doing the same thing.

Can you describe them a little bit? and would you be willing to disclose the price?

Thanks.

[Shine]

19. Hopefully, it'll be a worthwhile investment, esp with our energy bills.

It remains to be seen exactly how much it'll end up costing us. We're having the windows installed by the window company and then all the exterior and trim work done by a contractor friend of ours. The windows themselves and installation costs about $7,700. 10 Milgards: 7 vinyl and 3 wood clads, which are a bit more expensive than the vinyl. The finish work bid came in about $7,000, but it might not be that high, depending on how much of the exterior wood can be reused.

We had to dip into the equity line to pay for it, but this is exactly the sort of thing it exists for, right?

Like I said, I think it'll be worth it, in the long run. :thumbsup:

[Midlodemocrat]

21. That is the sort of price I am getting as well.

About $750 per window.

I want the screens to remain in the window 24/7, not the kind like I have where you have the ability to remove the screens. They always make the windows look dirty. The ones in the front of the house are out permanently, but it doesn't allow for a breeze, especially on a day like today.

[SoCalDem]

30. I want new ones too, but am too cheap. We want smaller ones

and the amount of structural/stucco work is what's keeping us from doing it:(..

I would even like my greenhouse window in the kitchen taken out, but my husband say.."You're crazy..we'd have to have half the back wall of the house redone"..so I will have to live with the crappols windows for now:cry:

Enjoy your new windows :) Color me envious :P

[Shine]

31. Can you say "home equity line"?

That's the only way we're able to afford this, but that's is why such things exist, right? Hopefully, they'll be worth going into debt for.

I'm trusting it'll all work out. O8)

Have a great day, SoCalDem! :hi:

[SoCalDem]

33. We finally did a re-fi, but we had bigger fish to fy

a new roof..concrete work..paint inside & out..new kitchen remodel..new floors in 3 rooms..interior wall moved..new stainless applianes :loveya:..and a bunch of other stuff we put off for 30 years :)

The windows just have to wait :)

[Shine]

35. OK, gotcha. I get the picture. I can totally relate, friend.

We did the same thing over 5 yrs ago and now we're finally at the point we can get these damn windows.

Yahooo!!

:bounce:

[Shine]

34. I don't get it. You want screens in "24/7" ??

You want the screens in permenently? How would you clean the windows, then? :shrug: Maybe I'm misunderstanding you...

The new ones have screens in all the time, but they can be taken out for the occasional cleanings.

Glad to know you're getting the same sort of price as we did. :thumbsup:

[Midlodemocrat]

36. I really want the old fashioned types

where you can move the screen out of the way to the top of the window, but I don't think they make them any more.

I can clean my windows with the screens in, because they tilt inward.

[Shine]

37. Oh, I gotcha. I don't think I've seen those lately.

Good luck on finding them. :)

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. Good morning my dear Shine!

Congrats on the new windows! This is just the sort of project that your money is well spent on......

Milgard makes very good windows...We chose Kolbe and Kolbe for our house based on what our architect recommended.....and we love them!

They all have wood trim, which makes for more maintenance, but oh baby they are beautiful.....

Enjoy! And I know you will.......


:loveya: :hug:

[Shine]

27. Thanks, Peggy!

Yeah, I'm already loving them and those are just the first 4 vinyls they've put in. We don't even have the fancier wood-clads in yet. I'm trusting this will be a worthy investment for our home. We're lucky to be in a place that we NEVER plan to move from, so this is definitely money well-spent.

I'm soooo grateful. :loveya:

Because I am one to look for the deeper meanings of things, I also love my metaphoric interpretation of the new windows in our home: A clearer and more enhanced outlook on our world. :) Sounds good to me!! I'm all for Clear Vision. :thumbsup:

Have a lovely, Beauty-Full day, my dear!

[Heidi]

25. Did they shell your walls and floors, like they did ours?

We just got a new window installed in our bathroom, and the installers (who made the huge hole in the wall, as well as installing the window) trashed the bathroom tiles and floor, and we had to hire a tile guy and a floor guy to repair the damage.

The new window is really nice, though. :eyes:

[Shine]

28. That sucks, Heidi! I'm sorry you had to deal with that and I wonder

if the window installers could've been made liable for that damage.

We've got a bathroom window that's right next to some tile, and a slider that's right next to a beautiful limestone pad. I'm hoping they do a good job, without creating any damage.

I guess time will tell, since they haven't done them yet. In fact, WHERE ARE those guys? It's almost 10am and they're not even here yet! They've got 6 more windows to install.

Should I be worried? Hmmmm...maybe I'll call.....

I've only paid a deposit so far.... :evilgrin:

[LSK]

29. how come your ask my anything thread is so popular

and mine is sinking like a rock?

[Shine]

32. Because Life is a Mystery, young Grasshopper.

Think on these things.........


;)

PS. Check your thread, I posted on it. :thumbsup:

[RayOfHope]

38. Ooo, I'm jealous!

We live in a house that was built in 1948 and two rooms still have original windows--one is a sunroom full of windows and the other is a corner room with 4 giant windows. Brrr. No money to replace them, though.

Are the installers done yet? How do they look? How many new windows did you get?