Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Anyone know anything about windows? My house was burglarized a few weeks ago, and they broke the window. Not the glass part, but the actual hinges so it can't be shut. It is a tall, narrow rectangular window that had a crank-type handle which made the window swing out to open, back in to shut.

It was a pretty drafty window to begin with that I always wanted to get replaced, so now I really need to just get a new window. But I don't know anything about them. How does one find a good person to install a new window?

we are in Northern NJ, but had someone local replace all our windows and they did a great job. Its probably too far north for you, but we found them by talking to neighbors and friends here who had a great experience with them (they were so fast and cheap - it took about half a day to pop out all our old windows and put in new ones).

You can also try Angies List.

Unfortunately I've already asked everyone I know locally with no luck. Don't you have to pay for Angie's list?
We've used service magic for some other things, but I'm hesitant to do it for something as important as windows.
I guess I also just want to know things like how to pick out a good window, do I buy them then just get someone to install them? Where do you buy good windows? Do you need to go with a name like Anderson or are there other good windows out there? So many questions.

I would go to the local home supply superstore and look at what they have there, and talk to the person who is in charge of the section (they usually know their stuff pretty well). You want to consider how drafty your house is, do you need a good double pane window with an insulating gas inside (probably), style, but especially size. There are other good brands of windows but unfortunately if you have some component you have to replace (my mother had to replace the counterweights in her andersen windows and you can get those parts, even if the windows are old) you might find yourself SOL down the road when it's time to replace parts.
Replacing windows, like doors, is easier than you probably think it is. It's easier to install them than to deinstall, but you should be able to pull out the side parts/faces and see the screws where the window was screwed into the frame. From there it's just a matter of unscrewing and pulling it out, then putting the new one in (this is why size is so important), shimming it to level and screwing it in, and insulating/covering any gaps.
As for installers, I think they might offer installation at places like Home Despot, and while it might cost you more, if they screw it up you at least have some recourse. Up in Bumpkinville, NJ, I would go to the Agway and ask them who they recommended....

They do installs through Lowes and Home Depot, just be aware they usually charge labor for a minimum of 3 windows (a lot of the big window places do). We had to replace a bathroom window (standard double hung) and ended up paying nearly $500 for the window and install due to the 3 window labor price. If you can find a local odd job/handyman type you might save some money.

If you consider yourself handy it might be worth just going to home depot or lowes and looking at their book section to check out the process for installing windows to see if it would be worth just doing yourself.

I heard that the windows from the big box stores are poor quality. Even if it is a good brand, supposedly they make cheaper quality for those stores. You guys don't think that matters?

I'm sure some of them are cheaper quality so they can beat the prices of the item-specific stores but my guess is if you want a high quality one you can get a high quality one.

We've replaced most of the windows in our house because the old ones were ancient drafty single pane ones that barely opened (and some didn't open at all). The windows that crank like that (and open left/right, rather than up/down) are called casement windows, and that's what a lot of our windows are too. We decided to go with Andersen windows because they seem to be good quality. To the best of my knowledge, there's no reason to expect the Andersen windows sold at a big box store are any different than those sold from a smaller store. We got cheapest windows that Andersen makes-- the Andersen 100 series. We got some of them from Home Depot, and some of them from a local construction supply store, and I haven't noticed any difference in quality. Home Depot was a wee bit cheaper. As for deciding which windows to get, I recommend going to a showroom with several brands of windows to see how the different brands/series look, and how they feel. Home Depot didn't have that many different windows in their store, so we had to go to a local place that only sold windows to look at them. I liked that the Andersen 100 series is made with part recycled materials, and I thought the opening mechanism felt solid. They do feel a bit "cheaper" than the 200 or 400 series, but c'est la vie. There was no way we could afford to get the fancier Andersen windows for all our windows.

Hope that helps!

I've worked for Pella Windows for 16 yrs, and I promise that the windows we make for the big box stores are the same quality as we sell out of our showrooms.
It really comes down to the quality of the installers. That's where people really get into trouble. :(