replacement windows

[jp1]

I’d heard that about led lights as well. The technology must have improved over the last 20 years. Back then I was an avid bike rider and used those blinks led lights when riding. They typically lasted about a year or two before I had to replace them. Maybe it was all the jiggling and bumps from NYC’s potholed streets?

In our current house we have LED lights everywhere but they are mostly screw in bulbs for floor and table lamps since they didn’t build houses with many overhead lights back in the 70’s.

[ToomuchStuff]

Wait, what? (overhead lights in the 70's)

Ok, so my 1920's bungalow, which was the builders showplace for a while (had their daughter stay there, and had two outlets and one light, in the house, according to neighbor that was the second owner of their house in late 20's), but not in the 70's?

[SteveinMN]

We replaced ours in our old home - they were original from 1977 and very leaky. Yes, we did vinyl. It was better than what we had and what we could afford.

We've been replacing ours as they fail, slowly but surely (1974 house here). And we replaced the builder-grade wood windows with a "better" line of vinyl windows. Even at the price of the windows we bought wood windows would have been close to junk (and would require maintenance down the line); fiberglass was just a dream. When you start multiplying by 15 panes, it adds up in a hurry. They are better than what we had.

We stopped a full-scale replacement, however, when we learned the money was better spent insulating the tops of the walls (that's where we lose most of our heat and makes the place feel drafty). Alas, we haven't done that yet, either.

[Teacher Terry]

Our house in Kenosha had 30 windows and we were slowly replacing them with vinyl because my husband wasn’t a fan of changing storm to screens on a 3 story house twice a year. They also were much less drafty. I tried to change my slider and bedroom windows unsuccessfully here. A window company that will do it all for 5k can’t get the slider up the stairs and won’t pull it up over the balcony.

A glass company that can partially assemble it in the condo wants 10k. They think it will go up the stairs. That’s ridiculous. It’s bronze color and I wanted white so my son is painting it. Others have had the same issues if you are on the 3rd floor. If you are on the second companies will use a cherry picker to bring it up through the balcony. I don’t pay the heat anyways except for indirectly through my Hoa fees.

[jp1]

Wait, what? (overhead lights in the 70's)

Our bedrooms and living room don't have any overhead lights, just switches on the wall that turn on/off an outlet. We looked at a few other houses from the same era that all were the same way so I assume this was a thing back then. Maybe the only light fixtures available back then were ugly? The house I grew up in was built in the 20's and the overhead lights were all hideous circular florescent tubes so we rarely used them, opting for table lamps instead.

[sweetana3]

We got Marvin fiberglass replacement windows and love them. Instant quiet (we live 2 blocks from an interstate), no more drafts, clean on the inside easily, no painting required. Our house was cheaply built in 1997. We bought because of fabulous location and have been slowly upgrading. Cannot buy a lot for almost a mile around our house and none would have the walkability index.

But we have replaced the siding, windows, roof, furnace, water heater, masterbath, triple glass back door, counter and fixtures. Next is the potential kitchen.

ps: our city has its first container home. Fabulous house by Travis Price but on the most awful urban lot. Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.https://www.zillow.com/indianapolis-...oom%22%3A11%7D

[rosarugosa]

The Purist's Wooden Windows - A Cautionary Tale
Our house had annoying crappy wooden windows with aluminum storms, some of which we could not even open or close, when we moved here in 1985. We replaced them all in or around 1994, with Marvin wooden true divided light windows. (I can tell true divided light windows from the imposters just driving down the street). At the time, I did a lot of calling around and researching (no internet yet!). One guy told me I was crazy, and that vinyl replacement was the only way to go. We never spoke again. I was a purist and everything had to be wood. We put in 28 beautiful windows!
We are a bit older now than we were in 1994 (haha), and 28 wooden windows with true divided lights are not as much fun to prime, paint and scrape as they used to be. That would be OK because I'm actually pretty good with the Zen of relentless drudgery, but there has been a lot of deterioration and rot, much more than I would have expected from an allegedly premium product, and I almost - but only almost - kind of wish we had taken a closer look at those vinyl windows.

[rosarugosa]

We got Marvin fiberglass replacement windows and love them. Instant quiet (we live 2 blocks from an interstate), no more drafts, clean on the inside easily, no painting required. Our house was cheaply built in 1997. We bought because of fabulous location and have been slowly upgrading. Cannot buy a lot for almost a mile around our house and none would have the walkability index.

But we have replaced the siding, windows, roof, furnace, water heater, masterbath, triple glass back door, counter and fixtures. Next is the potential kitchen.

ps: our city has its first container home. Fabulous house by Travis Price but on the most awful urban lot. Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.https://www.zillow.com/indianapolis-...oom%22%3A11%7D

This really interests me because we have looked at some of the newer Marvin products. Would it be too rude for me to ask for a very rough ballpark on cost? Like $500 per window, or $1000 per window? I suppose that if we do decide to stay here forever, another round of lower maintenance windows may be in our future.

[sweetana3]

rosarugosa, we probably had it done 15 years ago and it was a part of the huge project. Was 7 windows and about $5,700 back then. Although that triple french door with built in blinds was around $7,000. There is a long back story to that big door but we are extremely happy with it.

The previous windows and door were a cheap wood Pella product. The door actually rotted out and it was only installed in 1997. A previous house we had that was built in 1939 had wood trim that was like concrete. Paint might peel but the wood did not rot. However, the windows were steel single pane. Had a combo of inside and outside storm windows. After we sold, the windows and doors were all replaced. Of course, they also took out the glass kitchen and bathroom.

[razz]

House maintenance is costly but upkeep is essential to maintain value and comfort.