New windows.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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Its time to put new windows in the house, as these are the original ones the builder put in back in 1981.

It been interesting to have the salesmen come out and make thier pitch, and getting a wide variety of quotes from 5,000 to 16,000 dollars for the same job. All the windows seen to be all the same thing, sometimes with a few gimicks tossed in. Some of them have been okay in the presentation, but one or two have been insulting of ones intellegence, acting like a car salesmen.

Anyone replace the windows in thier home, and what kind of experiance did you have?
 
Mine are the original 1955 that were put in when the house was built. I looked into replacement a few years ago. Since they all work fine and they are still snug, I decided to hold off a while longer:o
 
I don't know if they are in your area, but I used Champion windows just recently. They are mid range pricey but come with a lifetime warranty that includes people throwing something through them. They seem to be well made as well. :thumbup:
 
Mine are the original windows from 1904. With the prices of new wood frame windows, I won't be upgrading any time soon, nor would I want to anyway.

I have been pricing new storm windows to replace the POS 1960's aluminum (none of the original storm windows are left). It's about $160 per window for decent enamel-coated aluminum.

-Bob
 
hmm, hard to tell since we don't know how many windows you have or the replacements you're considering.

We had two windows that were not salvageable. We looked at vinyl Certainteed for about $125, Aluminum clad wood for around $250 and finally wood for around $500. I was all for the certainteed, but the wife wanted wood with geegaws for about $650 each.

I winced heavily at the price, but now that they're in and finshed, damn they look nice.

Anyway just as important is how they are installed I thin we payed about $250 per window for installation.
 
My daughter got the same wild swings in estimates, with the "car salesman" being way higher. She ended up with a company that built the new windows in place and installed all 9 in one day. They didn't have a salesman, either. The owner came out and did the estimate. That saves money right there, not paying a shill. It would be nice if you could ask around the area if any of your neighbors had good work done.
 
We're doing the same thing. Anderson seemed to be the best quality, but at $1600 a window, forget it. Champion is a local company here in Denver, they're around $600 each. Bristol was another good one, but around $1000. I'm checking out Sierra Pacific tomorrow, but will probably go with Champion. Anderson wasn't local, but the other 3 were.
 
sodak said:
We're doing the same thing. Anderson seemed to be the best quality, but at $1600 a window, forget it. Champion is a local company here in Denver, they're around $600 each. Bristol was another good one, but around $1000. I'm checking out Sierra Pacific tomorrow, but will probably go with Champion. Anderson wasn't local, but the other 3 were.
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Hey sodak- I just had the Champion guy here the other day. WOW!

Aside from being arragent and knocking the competion, his bid was over twice what the other two guys were, for thier own no brand window! I got a print out of a Consumers Guide article about windows, and they named Pella, Certainteed, Anderson, and some others as very good windows. No mention of Champion in spite of him bragging that they are the biggest maker of windows abd have been around 50 years. Plus the Champion guy could not leave me with printed references I could call to check thier work, but the guy he was knocking left me a small phone book size list of references hes done in the area.

I did not like the Champion guy at all, or thier way of doing buisness. Way too expencive for a product that has no rating by Consumers. The local contractor with a long history in the area can put in Certainteed Bryn Mawr 2 for less tha half the price of the Champion. I guess someone has to pay for all those showrooms they are opening up nationwide.

Check out Consumer Guide issue October 2000, and also their article in june 2004 on buying windows. In the 2004 article again they said the major brands were Anderson, American Craftsman, Certainteed, Marvin, Pella, and also Simonton. Again in 2004 no mention of Champion. Strange!
 
i put pellas in my house 8 years ago-great windows

when i was younger i built custom windows for 5 years or so,i always thought anderson were over priced garbage-imho

check into the pella replacement windows and install them yourself
 
At my age and with a 50% disability, I'm in no shape to climb up ladders to the second floor and replace windows. Plus I've never done it before, and I don't mind paying a proffesional who's done it a zillion times, for his expertise.
 
you do it from the inside-:)

when you watch him do it -i guarantee you say to yourself-dam i could have done that-lol

you might be amazed at how much you save next year on heating your house-
 
jackknife said:
Hey sodak- I just had the Champion guy here the other day. WOW!

Aside from being arragent and knocking the competion, his bid was over twice what the other two guys were, for thier own no brand window! I got a print out of a Consumers Guide article about windows, and they named Pella, Certainteed, Anderson, and some others as very good windows. No mention of Champion in spite of him bragging that they are the biggest maker of windows abd have been around 50 years. Plus the Champion guy could not leave me with printed references I could call to check thier work, but the guy he was knocking left me a small phone book size list of references hes done in the area.

I did not like the Champion guy at all, or thier way of doing buisness. Way too expencive for a product that has no rating by Consumers. The local contractor with a long history in the area can put in Certainteed Bryn Mawr 2 for less tha half the price of the Champion. I guess someone has to pay for all those showrooms they are opening up nationwide.

Check out Consumer Guide issue October 2000, and also their article in june 2004 on buying windows. In the 2004 article again they said the major brands were Anderson, American Craftsman, Certainteed, Marvin, Pella, and also Simonton. Again in 2004 no mention of Champion. Strange!
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Thanks for the heads up, jackknife! I'll check into the Consumer Guide, always willing to do more research. When you have to replace 20 at a time, it adds up!
 
I was a project manager/estimator/general superintendent for a commercial building company. We did a number of projects requiring window replacements as well as a number of design/build projects. I like both Pella and Marvin aluminum clad wood. I found that Marvin was usually less expensive than Pella - really depends on how hard you shop and whether the outlet you are buying Marvins from has access to a good installer. Would recommend really looking at design specifications - as always, the manufacturers can make numbers say anything they want, but if you look hard enough and wade through the b.s., you can generally get a feel for what will work and what won't. You will find that there are alot of small regional window companys that put out a good product for a good price - it was always easier for me to deal with Pella and Marvin on architectually specified projects, especially on historical remodels.
 
look in Yellow Pages for your local window _manufacturer_. You will get them for a a fraction of the price that window replacers charge. Then get a local jobbing builder to fit them.
 
A lot of window replacement depends on what your goals are.

As mentioned above, does you wife want some architectural change for eye and curb appeal?

Do you just want to keep the wind and rain out?

How about energy efficiency?

My house has Andersen Low-E windows and high wall insulation values so, heating and cooling bills offset the cost of the windows.
 
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