The Joys of Homeownership

[Irulan]

See if you can get any energy credits from your local utility... we got 30% back on the cost of our windows. If we had paid for the install, it would have been a credit on both materials AND labor.

We are doing vinyl double panes with high E glass. It does make a huge difference in certain rooms. The funny thing is, the more energy efficiency improvements we do, the more we realize that the house has so many leaks, poorly insulated areas and so on. DH says that no house can be airtight.

More and more, I am grateful that DH is a pretty handy dude. We do all our own remodeling, one project at a time. Our only costs are materials. Mostly, we are just too cheap to choke down contractor costs on things we have the skills to do. The time frame is different of course. We've done the windows three or four at a time, usually over a weekend, and then a season or year later we do some more. We only have the two that require renting scaffolding to do. Granted, it's not all done at once, but the thousands of dollars we aren't paying someone else we get to use for fun stuff.

While some home projects require a lot of skill, a whole lot don't, they just require some time. As for know how, there's a lot of info online.

[Irulan]

One tip: make sure whoever installs them is experienced and skilled.

this made me laugh as I just wrote up this big thing about how we do everything ourselves. There are a lot of lousy contractors out there so be sure to get good referrals. I know for a fact that DH pays way more attention to detail and doing things right than some guys so I have no doubts that he's doing the job right. I do know how lucky I am, though!***


***I never realized how lucky until I found out that a relative won't even do any painting for fear of screwing things up.

[ACG]

Sadly 19k sounds about right. My house built was built in 1937 the previous owners bought it and upgraded it. Luckily the did it the right way and kept the style and integrity of the house in tact. Double paned windows will keep the noise out and keep your house warm/cold.

As a side not I had to have a new sewer put in. Mine was clay and had been comprimised by 50 plus years of tree roots. Now the sewer is made of some kind of high end material that will outlast me.

I love owning a home, it's a nice hobby when you can't bike!

[jessmarimba]

I'll trade my new windows for your old ones...my house was built in 1906 and I have the new high energy vinyl ones. They don't make much difference in the heat bill, since my house isn't insulated anyway. Plus they don't open down from the top, which would allow the hot air upstairs in the summer to escape along the ceiling line. And they put the new casing inside the old wooden casing and cold air leaks around the sides of the windows in the winter. At least they are really easy to open and close.

I think they were installed to improve the appeal of the house when it was put on the market.

I guess the grass is always greener, hmm?

[Irulan]

I'll trade my new windows for your old ones...my house was built in 1906 and I have the new high energy vinyl ones. They don't make much difference in the heat bill, since my house isn't insulated anyway. Plus they don't open down from the top, which would allow the hot air upstairs in the summer to escape along the ceiling line. And they put the new casing inside the old wooden casing and cold air leaks around the sides of the windows in the winter. At least they are really easy to open and close.

I think they were installed to improve the appeal of the house when it was put on the market.

I guess the grass is always greener, hmm?

I wonder about the quality of the window and or the installation. I have seen so much crappy "upgrade" work done just for market. Naturally the sellers don't have long term value in mind for the nature of the product or installation, just whether it looks good for the sale.

[ny biker]

One of the benefits of living in a small 1BR condo is that I only had 5 windows to replace. I was able to get them all done for $2500. No real impact on my heating bill due to poor insulation and an old inefficient heat pump, but it's so nice to be able to (a) actually open the windows and (b) not have to use a stick to keep them open.

And the whole tilt-in-to-clean thing is genius.

[Eden]

I'm glad I live in Seattle... It rarely gets too cold here, so I'm not worried so much about the windows keeping too much cold out....

I love my old original windows (1912 craftsman), even though some of them are painted shut. If I were really enterprising I could probably un-stick all of them.

We did have to replace 4 windows upstairs, because a previous owner's remodeling efforts left some very ugly vinyl windows that were installed upside down... To get architecturally appropriate ones was expensive....we had them semi custom made though so that we could get real divided lights and wood throughout.

[indysteel]

We're getting quotes from contractors we vetted through Angie's List. That's no guarantee, but it helps. I'll look into any local credits; that could certainly take the sting out of it.

On the upside, DH is really handy (he's an electrical engineer). He does most of our electrical, plumbing and carpentry, plus most of our car repairs. So, we save a lot of money that way. I don't think he feels comfortable with the windows though, although in truth, I'm not sure he even considered it.

Assuming the windows are done right, I do trust it'll be worth it in the long run. Every big ticket on a house is difficult to stomach. Like I said, we're aggressive savers, and we specifically saved for this. It's just the way it goes. Next year, it's the furnace and A/C. Yay!

[soprano]

One of the benefits of living in a small 1BR condo is that I only had 5 windows to replace. I was able to get them all done for $2500.

My husband and I bought a 720 sq ft house last year, thinking about stuff like this. There's so much to love about a small house.

[jessmarimba]

I wonder about the quality of the window and or the installation. I have seen so much crappy "upgrade" work done just for market. Naturally the sellers don't have long term value in mind for the nature of the product or installation, just whether it looks good for the sale.

Yeah, I wonder about both too. Good example as to why you should make sure a contractor comes well-recommended! I had forgotten about Angie's List so I'm glad it was brought up again.

But I think the biggest issue with my house is that with no insulation, it doesn't matter what the windows are made of. I kind of wish I had found the old ones on the property so at least the house could be authentically cold.