The house has 32 windows total. 31 of them were drafty old windows that look like they haven’t been replaced since the 80s…the 1880s. When I got an energy audit a few weeks ago, one of the things the guys said was a major cause of lost energy were the old windows which had no insulation value whatsoever. Apparently back in the day, they didn’t care since they used coal stoves and stuff which would keep a house pretty warm, despite the lack of little things like insulation and energy efficient windows.

Anyway, 30 brand new Alside Energy Star Double Hung Northern Zone Vinyl Replacement Windows with Low E/Argon Glass cost me $7,700. That comes out to exactly $259 each. Apparently when you buy that many, you get a discount since the guy who installed them said any price under $300 for these types of windows is a bargain. Especially considering a lot of the windows here were difference sizes and were all custom made to fit. The only two windows I didn’t want replaced were the one in the bathroom, which looks like someone already replaced with an energy efficient window in the 80s (1980s) and another window that is actually in a small closet that I want to knock out and board up.

So the windows arrived on Friday February 25th, delivered by the local Alside manufacturer. The truck pulled up and it was just one guy. The look on his face when he read the sheet and it said 30 was priceless. He began the process of unloading the windows off of the truck and stacking them all up on the porch. Since two doors in the house are also going to be replaced, he had one of those with him too.

After a few hours, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving 30 windows and a door on the porch. It was snowing and I have some nosy neighbors. Plus people that walked by kept staring at them and made me wonder if anyone would really try to steal a window or two in the middle of the night. Anyway, I spent an hour Friday night bringing everything inside and was surrounded by everything all weekend, which I didn’t mind at all at $259 each and a few hundred for that door.

The installation began on Monday February 28th, by a local father and son team who specialize in Windows. I was expecting the guys who actually measured the windows, from the insulation company. I think they were apparently busy so these guys got the outsource from the company. They started with the four windows in the parlor and made their way around the entire house. These guys have done this so much that they worked pretty quick. In fact, they got just about all of them in on the first day alone.

The process was interesting to watch. Basically they used one of those rug cutter knives to cut the paint on the inside trim. Then they carefully removed it. The next step was to cut the ropes off the bottom window and remove it, since I had those old ones with the rope/iron weight pulley system. After that they dug a screw driver into the skinny pieces of wood that separate the bottom and top windows and ripped that out. This loosened the top window which they then yanked down and cut the ropes on. After that it looked like smooth sailing. They cleaned out the paint chips with a brush and bashed the pulley wheels until they were flat with a hammer. The new window that was custom measured to go in was located and unwrapped from all the protective plastic, cardboard and cable ties. Sometimes that actually took longer than ripping out the old windows since they really wrap those things up and they all had custom measurement stickers.

Anyway, the new double hung window slipped in like butter. It was just a matter of adjusting the expanders on the top to make it fit more snug, then stabilizing it with the built in screws on each side so it didn’t move. After that, they stuffed pieces of insulation into the cracks all around and created a seal by with weatherproof caulk on both the inside and outside. Since old window sills are slanted, each window came with an adjustable piece of plastic which was cut and snapped into place to cover that bottom gap on the outside. When this was finished, it was just a matter of nailing the indoor trim back up around it and sealing that with a thin bead of caulk. This process was done on just about every window, except 10 of them which were a little tricky. The 9 patio windows needed to have new trim placed all around the windows to help hold it in place, since they didn’t have any, and oversize living room window needed trim outside to help hold it into place. The old one didn’t open at all and there was really nothing left behind after removing it to help hold the new one in place.

The tricky oversize living room window.

They started the Patio windows on Tuesday morning, day 2. Since these weren’t traditional windows that opened up and down (these swung in), they had to make custom trim for all of these. One guy headed to Lowes to see what selection of trim they had and apparently thought it was all crap. He said he couldn’t believe how bad the selection was and he wouldn’t put that on his doghouse. So he bought 1×6 pieces of lumber instead and they cut that into pieces to make the trim, which he said would look a lot better once it was painted. We’ll see.

Old patio windows

New patio windows

I have to say, one thing I’ll miss is the style of the old windows. I liked those smaller panes of glass or “lights” as they’re technically called. The patio ones were a pain in the ass to open though. The wood was splitting in the middle and they were leaking in a lot of water that was ruined the cheap old fiberboard (cardboard) walls and started effecting the wood floor. That I will not miss. Speaking of the walls, I’ve already started ripping those down. I plan on putting up sheetrock and some nice paneling. Insulation would be nice as well, considering there was none. Naturally, that project will be covered here soon.

Wednesday, March 2nd was the last day. They finished up the caulking on the windows and got started on the new back door, which will be covered in another post.

Even though all the windows weren’t fully sealed when they left the first day, I could still feel a big difference in how much heat the house kept indoors, which was the main reason I wanted them replaced to begin with. Another thing I like is how easy they are to clean. They all have little latches which let you unhook them and lean them back. That function can be seen on this image that I looted from the Alside web site.

Also the ugly old storm windows and screens are gone. Apparently you don’t need them with these, which all come with their own screen. Nice.

Bye bye crappy storm windows.

All in all, I’m happy with how they came out and think these things were definitely worth the ridiculous total price that I’ll still be paying in the next few years (they were financed). I’m pretty sure they’ll pay for themselves over time in energy savings. If anything, I’ve increased the resale value of the place which should also pay off nicely one day.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 5th, 2005 at 11:59 am and is filed under Exterior, Interior, Projects (completed). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.