We are replacing our aluminum windows and 3 exterior doors. First step is picking some! I heard the in-home sales pitch from 3 different window companies (Champion, Window World, and a local company- Hullco). The sales pitches took 8 hours total; I was not expecting that
We have two steel doors and one fogged-up sliding patio door to replace.
Garage Door
Patio door with cracked seal
All three companies had astronomical door prices. On to plan B; decent special order doors from Home Depot or Lowe’s.
Big box stores won this round 🙂
To save some money, we’re going to paint the dining room door (below) and move the slab to the garage entry door (pictured above). No offence to the garage, but it doesn’t need swanky new doors 😉
On to Windows…
Current aluminum things:
We’re looking for pretty standard windows; white vinyl double-hung windows, no grids, with good glass in the front windows and better glass in the back (western exposure). We’re replacing 11 of our 12 windows (one will be enlarged… eventually).
The tiny middle window in the picture above will be centered and re-sized to match the other two.
Champion pitched first. They sell one window line; the super nice one. As in, way-too-expensive for a house we’re selling in a decade. They were out of the running quickly.
Hullco vs. Window World… They each have 3 window lines; we chose the mid-range frame with the best quality glass. Both had a hefty warranty that will be transferred with the property. Both companies had similar products; nothing substantially worse or better than the other.
Note my Christmas coffee-cup in the background of the picture. You’ll be learning all about desiccant in the window seal, acrylic vs. wool seals, bulb seals, and weeping methods. Coffee is 100% necessary during these sales pitches.
The differences were in price and installation.
Window World had the cheapest quote; 35% less than what Hullco bid, and close to 1/3 the Champion price. We weren’t ready to just jump for the cheapest bid, though. We’ve worked with Hullco before, and they do an outstanding job on install; period. I reviewed both companies’ customer comments on Angieslist, the BBB, and some forums. I didn’t get the warm fuzzies from Window World’s complaint history and their installation practices.
In the end, we’re using both companies.
Most of the window prices were close between the two companies; but our massive living room window was $1000 more at Hullco – gah.
That window is larger than any of our doors.
We’re going to cross our fingers and have Window World do that one. If they do a perfect job, we may be bummed at spending so much more at Hullco. If they don’t do a perfect job, we’ll only have to hound them to fix one. Hullco’s taking care of the other 10 for us. It’s more expensive, but it’s worth the savings in stress to me 🙂
I do recommend getting multiple quotes, if only for the entertainment. They all bad-mouth each other like competitive siblings 😀
What we got;
Doors:
2 Masonite 30×80 steel full-lite doors. E-star rated, rot resistant jamb
drilled for deadbolt: $420
drilled for knob only: $397
6 ft Jeld-Wen Slider with blinds in glass: $769
Door cost: $1586 @ Home Depot
After asking for the 5% discount I get at Lowes… $1506.
Windows:
Tempered 3 light slider, mid-range frame, 8 layer glass, installed: $727 @ Window World
10 replacement windows, mid/high-range frame,8 layer glass in 6 windows, 12 layer glass in 4 windows, installed: $5435 @ Hullco
Window cost: $6127
Our average window is 42 by 49 inches, so bear that in mind while comparing.
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