The Joys of Homeownership

[indysteel]

When my DH and I bought our home, we knew it needed new windows. Twenty-five of them. The house was built in 1928 and few of the windows are even functional anymore in that they don't open. We got our first estimate today.

$19,000.



I anticipated $15k, so while the number isn't a total shock, it's still a lot to swallow. I'll be interested to see what our other estimates look like and, of course, what the final bill will be.

I keep thinking how nice it will be to have windows that look nice, actually open and are energy efficient. I doubt it'll be $19k worth of nice, however.

[Roadtrip]

Ouch.. I have an older, about that same age, with old windows... just not as many of them. What kind of windows are they replacing with? Wood or vinyl?

Good luck with other bids. Hopefully it will be less then the 19k.

[Becky]

Sounds about right... We did half as many 3 years ago, to the tune of $7k. Our heating oil bill plummeted and the whole house is so much quieter now, so it's been well worth it.

Don't forget about the tax credits that are available this year... The tax credit made our bill a lot easier to swallow.

[indysteel]

Roadtrip, I think we're considering windows that are vinyl on their exterior side and wood on the interior side. Our existing windows are a "Prairie" style, and we'd really like to retain that look, which I assume costs a bit more.

Oh well; I'm trying to be Zen about this (the state of mind, not the TE member ). I learned with my first home that while things like a new roof aren't "fun," they provide a tremendous peace of mind. We're very aggressive savers, so we have that going for us, too.

[Selkie]

We had our windows replaced in April and paid about that much (house was built in 1940 and the old windows were vinyl "gas company" specials). The new windows are wood -- aluminum clad outside and pre-treated wood inside, so we had to only paint the inside. We got casement style, with I love, but no grids so it's just clear glass. Two windows are art glass in a mission style (were extra) and they are functioning casement windows. Bathroom window is awning style with frosted glass for privacy. It was worth every penny, not only in terms of energy savings but also noise reduction. And don't forget the TAX CREDIT!!! Don't go cheap on the windows---they are an investment and good windows will increase the resale value of your home. One tip: make sure whoever installs them is experienced and skilled.

[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!

[Irulan]

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!

If he has done all that, windows should be easy. It's just basic carpentry, making sure the new one fits in the hole of the old one, or making adjustments. Once you pull off the trim, there's usually just a few nails holding them in under any weather sealing. Put the new one in, level it, nail it in, weather seal it, put the trim back on and ta-da! Of course there's a little more to it than that but that is the jist of it.

There's always the time/money equation too, that is certainly a factor.

[Becky]

Energy efficiency upgrades tax credit info: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...edits.tx_index

We've claimed 2 of these so far in the past ~3 years- the windows, and a replacement door. We're hoping to claim a biomass stove credit as well this year.