Our house was built in the late 70's. Part of its 70's-fabulous look included a pair of windows that weren't even glass. (They were made from two thin sheets of decorative plastic.) But even the windows that were glass had issues: They were practically falling out of their ugly aluminum frames, and they allowed water to leak in and air conditioning to pour out. They actually shook visibly when it was windy out, and they were difficult to open & shut. So we had to do something.
We started the process with some research. Our goal was to determine what types of windows would be the most energy-efficient. The U.S. government's Energy Star web site has a nice primer on what makes a window energy efficient. The other sites that we read on the subject agreed, and we knew we wanted the most efficient windows possible, so we moved on to the next step.
Should we do it ourselves or have someone install them for us? That question was pretty much a no-brainer. Normally I'm a big DIY person, but I draw the line at doors and windows. I've helped install exterior doors in the past and did not enjoy the process one bit. I might have considered installing windows, if my Dad or Grandpa had been here to help, but...eh, not by ourselves. My husband does not enjoy DIY, and I drop things way too frequently to risk breaking expensive windows. We'd also learned that doing an excellent job on the installation plays a huge part in how efficient the windows actually end up being.
So we began researching window companies. We gave several of them a call and had them give us estimates. About two-thirds of them also did impressive demonstrations involving hair dryers, heat lamps, and BTU meters. There were hard sells, soft sells, and everything in between, but since we were just in the information gathering stage, we passed on them all. No was the magic word at that point. If I remember right, we got prices ranging from about $5000 to $26,000 for 7 windows plus one oversized sliding door.
That was a pretty big range. The most expensive company offered a lifetime warranty where “lifetime” meant “as long as you own your house”. The least expensive company just gave me a bad vibe. We eliminated both those companies. We checked references on the remaining companies, checked with the BBB, and checked against their state contractor's license for complaints. We checked for other discounts that might be available, but the only one we came up with was the energy credit that was in effect at the time from the federal government. (Although that was no longer in effect for the last stage of our project.)
I tried to do research on the different brands of windows available as well, but I have a hard time judging that because it seems like there are always both complaints and praise for each brand. I saw samples of each in person too, and they seemed about the same. In the end, we went with Milgard windows, which seem just fine. For ordering and installation, we chose a lower-priced local small company which had a great reputation, very few (or was it no?) complaints and good references. They also had no problems doing the job for us in stages, and they accepted my cash-back rewards card. Since we'd decided against replacing the sliding door, we paid just under $4000 for the 7 dual-paned, tinted, low e, argon-filled vinyl windows (including installation, gas surcharges, and taxes.) Two of our windows also included decorative rain glass, which is more expensive.
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