Keep Cool

It's almost July and we still haven't turned on our air conditioner (except a couple times here and there on rogue hot days).

Our southeast (I think) facing house tends to stay cool and this year hasn't been as hot as last year so far.

But I think these are a big contributing factor as well:

Not the guy, but the window he is standing next to. And 8 others windows like them. We've been using our heater less this winter and less this spring and summer as well. And saving on average about $10 each month on our gas bill.

Keeping this up for several decades and the windows would have paid for themselves!

Smooth as Glass - part 3

(continued from here and here)

Here is the finished product, with windows screw into place, vinyl trim on the inside installed, and aluminum coil wrap on the outside.

Some caulking they used.

Expanding foam they used.

And the empty bottles of caulk they went through.

There you have it. In depth documentation of our window installation. Is it as interesting to you as it is to me living with them?

Smooth as Glass - part 2

(Continued from here)

More windows screwed into place.

The second crew arrives in the black truck, consisting of 4 guys.

They fill in the gaps between the new windows and the opening (what is this called?) with spray expanding foam.

Here is what they used to cover up the foam around the windows. It's called "coil wrap" which had us totally confused when we signed up for this. I thought coil meant twirled metal like a spring or a slinky. And felt too silly to ask such a naive question. Anyway, I get it now, it's just a big sheet of aluminum that comes in a giant coil.

The older crew guy (that dad I believe) took the measurements for the coil wrap.

Behold! Our old windows. Sayonara suckers.

Trimming the coil wrap. Some cool contraption attached to the side of the truck. I learned that this is not sold to the public, only to contractors. So glad we did NOT DIY this!

Installing coil wrap. This is by far, the most time consuming aspect of the entire installtion.

Stay tuned for part 3!

Smooth as Glass - part 1

On black Friday, we stayed home. Gladly. Because I hate shopping. So could you imagine a better day to stay in? Especially when said gifts are new windows for your entire house?

The first crew were a father/son duo. Here they are prepping the old windows for removal.

One window gone. See ya!

The window openings look huge when there are no windows in them! Especially ugly old aluminum ones.

Another empty window hole. This alone is a big improvement.

New windows set by their final destinations.

Screwing the windows into place.

Stay tuned for more!

Window Opportunity - Before and After

We woke up bright and early on Black Friday to spend the most on a project on our house to date. And we did it from the comfort of home. Sans internet. By now you've probably guessed from the post title, that it was new windows for the entire house.

Before:

After:

And we got them just in time. They are awesome and we couldn't be happier. So glad we didn't DIY this project...

Painting himself in a Corner

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Wanna know how ours was? This is how we spent Thanksgiving day (and into the night as you see):

Here's the 'before' shot:

And here's a view of the rest of the house all festively decked out:

We had home work on Thanksgiving (removing all window treatments and clearing all the areas in front of the windows). I guess it serves us right for leaving it to the last minute. Photos of the new windows soon!

Window Opportunity

We came to a decision regarding our windows...

Here was our list of pros and cons to help us come to this decision:

Pros of DIY:

1. all money goes towards the windows, which means we can get top of the line windows
2. top of the line windows would obviously qualify for the energy efficiency tax credit
3. after this project, we'd know how to install windows
4. $400 off right off the bat by opening 2 new Home Depot credit cards
5. rental of truck is pretty cheap (we get first hour free with the Home Depot credit card)
6. rental of scaffolding is pretty cheap (like $70 a week)

Cons of DIY:

1. rental of a vehicle to pick up the windows
2. rental of extra tall ladders and scaffolding
3. need tons of caulk to seal around the windows, and other finishing touches
4. disposing old windows
5. we have a 2 story house
6. I'm not very big or strong
7. if we broke or dropped a window, that's a lot of money wasted
8. if we broke or dropped a window, that's several weeks until a replacement arrives (and see #1 of this list)
9. we're going into rainy season

Pros of pros (professionals):

1. the windows they offer qualify for the energy efficiency tax credit
2. we sign the dotted line and they do everything in 1 day
3. we instantly free up a lot of time by not having to study up on this and making several hundred trips to the hardware store
4. we instantly free up a lot of time by not planning to do this on nights and weekends
5. they guarantee their labor
6. they have all the proper permits and know all the current city codes and laws
7. we don't have to source tools or ladders
8. we don't have to worry about how to get the new windows here
9. we don't have to worry about how to get rid of the old windows

Cons of pros (professionals):

1. it costs a lot more
2. they will see our messy house

So as you can see by my lists above (or by the photo), we decided to get 'er done by the pros.

When they came to give us a free quote, they informed us that our city's new laws require all windows to be tempered glass, and they have all the appropriate permits that are apparently required to do this job. We didn't know about any of this.

We got a quote and it seemed reasonable, at less than double the price of DIY, for better windows (rated #1 by J.D. Power and Associates), with an awesome warranty - a double lifetime warranty. What's that? It means that the warranty carries over to the next homeowners as well. And it covers accidental breakage. And we can use our Home Depot credit card to finance this super blingy job.

This was all music to my ears.

So we offered him leftover Halloween candy, signed on the dotted lines, and handed over our plastic.

Hallelujah.