When is it worth replacing windows
Buying Replacement Windows - Watch Before You Buy!
everybody Justin hal with the window
experts here just wanted to take a few
minutes to kind of cover some of the
things that come up in a lot of
conversations with my clients that kind
of questions they didn't know they were
supposed to ask when they're going
through the process of buying
replacement windows but there are a few
things that I think are pretty important
to the decision that not a lot of excuse
me I should say not all window companies
cover when they're making their
presentation to homeowners so today I'm
gonna kind of cover four things that I
think are important to homeowners when
they're making that window buying
decision and it's not so much the bells
and whistles of the window itself but
some of the other elements that are just
as important when you're doing
replacement windows so the first thing
that homeowners should be asking or
looking for when they're making that
decision is most of the windows are
gonna be covered by a limited lifetime
warranty or a full lifetime warranty
window salesmen will talk about how
great the warranty is and what it covers
and most good quality replacement
windows are going to have some sort of a
warranty on the product but one of the
big things to look at is what is the
warranty cover on the service aspect of
it the reality is you don't want
anything to go wrong with your
replacement windows but sometimes they
do so when you're looking at the
warranty it's important to check in
there and see who is servicing the
window if something should go wrong the
reason that's important is sometimes
window dealers are buying the window
product through a distributor not
getting it directly from the
manufacturer and if something goes wrong
with it it may not necessarily be the
company putting your windows in that's
going to take care of it it has to be
kicked back to the distributor and the
distributor may be handling the service
work or it may go back to the
manufacturer so when you're looking at
the easiest and least resistance path is
to be looking for a window that is
serviced directly by the manufacturer
itself and basically what this means is
if something were to break on the window
or you needed a new piece of glass or
something like that you can file a
warranty request for service and the
window manufacturer would actually send
out one of their service technicians
from the factory to get it taken care of
and if you can find a manufacturer where
you can do this directly with the
manufacturer it cuts out a lot of extra
steps in going back to the company that
installed it and if they have to go to
the distributor and then to the
manufacturer to get it done so really
look at that ask for it is as far as
whose services the warranty should
something go wrong number two and this
kind of ties back to the first so
hopefully I didn't jump the gun but is
the service labor covered into the
warranty and where that's important is
the idea that hey something may break on
the window and great the warranty covers
a broken part or fogged glass or
something of that nature but the
warranty doesn't cover the service labor
so what that basically means is you may
not have to pay eighty ninety dollars
for a piece of replacement glass on the
window but you are gonna have to pay two
hundred to two hundred fifty dollars to
get a technician to come out and fix it
for you so that again is kind of one
element that isn't often covered when
discussing warranties on the windows but
checking to see if the service labor is
included is a big key because that can
be costly over time if it's say a large
piece of glass that's not eighty or
ninety dollars it's more like five or
six hundred dollars for the glass I can
guarantee you the bigger the glass the
more people it's going to take the more
expensive it is going to be to get the
service work performed so when you're
looking for that window that you're
going to choose
check to see if the service labor is
included in that warranty because that
could be a big cost down the line if
it's not covered and again that ties
back to if it is included in the
warranty go back and check and see who's
doing the service work because that's
going to also determine how easy or hard
it is to get that done one of the big
big things that I always stress to
people when they're selecting
replacement windows is what is the
installation warranty itself now the
installation warranty is going to be
separate from the product warranty
itself the installation warranty is
going to cover more of the workmanship
the proper installation everything that
goes on around the actual window that
you're buying
who is warranting that and how long is
it warranty for that's one of those
things that isn't often discussed in the
sales process for the replacement
windows but it's an important aspect of
it why is it an important aspect of it
well because if there's improper
installation meaning there's a leak or
something around the window after the
installation is done you want to know
that you've got somebody available to
come back and fix it for you most
contractors will offer on average a
two-year installation warranty on
workmanship some do five I don't see
many beyond that but that's a reasonable
amount of time to expect a contractor to
warranty that installation work and
ensure that there's not a problem with
the installation over time but again
very important to dig into the weeds on
that one and make sure you're asking
that sales company that is trying to
sell you that window who is installing
it how long are they backing the
warranty on the installation of the
window itself and then that kind of
leads into the details of number four
that is extremely extremely important
but not often talked about is the
installation itself what is covered
under the installation
so most window companies are going to be
selling you a window package it's gonna
be a turnkey deal where they're gonna
supply you the windows they're gonna
supply the installation and get
everything done for you so that you've
got a one-stop shop but again not allow
the details are covered under the
installation portion of it most
salespeople are just gonna say here's
this fantastic wonderful window it's
gonna change your life and oh by the way
we're going to come out to your house
we're gonna take your old ones out we're
gonna put your new ones in and you're
gonna be so happy well there's a lot of
details that have to get covered in
between all of that so be sure to ask
the salesperson or the production
manager or somebody in the company
specifically what goes into the
installation the main thing being here
is a that you're getting a proper
installation on the windows and B that
you're getting everything covered of the
installation that you're expecting to
get and what I mean by this is ask them
about is the caulking included on the
inside and the outside do you put foam
around the frame when you're installing
the windows to seal the drafts those are
obviously things that are going to be
taken care of in a window installation
but you need to know for sure what's
getting done the big thing that I often
see that isn't talked about her cupboard
is not so much what's included in the
basic installation but the what is and
this is basically saying okay you take a
window out you put a window in what if
my sheetrock is damaged around the
window who's going to fix that is that
covered under the installation what if
there is a ding or a dent on the window
stool at the bottom of the window who's
going to take care of that if trim has
to be replaced on the outside is
painting included in the cost of the
install
again seemingly obvious things but
details that may not necessarily be
included in your basic installation
package so before you go and decide on a
company and decide on a window make sure
you have those details as far as what
exactly is going to be covered in that
installation because nothing can be more
frustrating than getting through a
project and you go outside and you look
at your house and you've got these
beautiful new windows that they had to
replace all the trim and none of the
trim is painted and the company is not
going to paint it for you because that
was not a part of the installation now
you got to get a painter involved one
more step in the process and while it's
not the end of the world it can just be
a little more frustrating than it needs
to be so again don't be afraid to ask
the questions don't be afraid to get the
details
choosing your replace your windows is a
pretty major home-improvement and
there's a lot of cost involved with it
so it is in your best interest to make
sure you ask all the little detail
questions because once things are
underway once you bought the window once
the installation process has started
it's a lot harder to turn the ship
around if you're not if you find out
that you're not getting exactly what you
want or not everything you were
expecting was being covered ie in the
service in the service labor in the
warranty or just the finer details of
the installation project so keep those
things in mind don't be afraid to get
out there and ask the questions the good
replacement companies out there will be
more than happy to answer them in fact
guys like myself like answering those
questions because it shows me that
there's a consumer that's paying
attention and in the long term
everybody the contractor the homeowner
the installers everybody involved is
going to win when we're asking the
questions and everybody's on the same
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