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| Marvin Ultimate Casements |
It’s hard to say why it happens, but time
and again, homeowners make the big
mistake when replacing their
windows. After spending untold hours researching window brands they buy their
windows without any knowledge about installation and they make the big mistake.
The big mistake is signing a sales
order for your new windows and afterwards, beginning the installation
discussion.
At Woodland Windows and Doors, we think
window and door installations done improperly may not be immediately obvious,
but can lead to serious long-term problems. There are some things that as a
business, you just have to invest in, in order to ensure the job is done right.
We at Woodland think that installation is one of those things.
The big mistake happens because
homeowners don’t realize all the things that can go wrong with window
installations if performed by an inexperienced installer. It’s important to
purchase your windows from a window dealer with their own installation
team. Windows can be ordered wrong,
arrive defective or the opening needs modifying. We know the pitfalls and we
know that the surest way to deliver an expert job is to control every aspect of
it, with trained people who are committed to the perfect outcome.
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| Marvin Integrity Casements |
In a previous post, “Installation and Why Our Installers are Woodland Windows and Doors Employees”, we relayed several customer
stories about botched installations and poor customer service. There is no shortage of stories from customers
who make the big mistake and here are
a few more that we’ve come across.
We thought we’d save a fortune if we
install the replacement windows on our own.
We watched videos and the process was straightforward.
We’re DYIs and figured that we didn’t need to spend around $300-$400. per installed vinyl replacement window,
when we could save at least $100. per window by doing the installation
ourselves. What we didn’t count on is how long it would take. We’d been told
that professional installers could completely install 10-20 windows in a day,
but it took us six weekends to do the job. After spending money on insulation
and caulk, and our time, we didn’t save much money by doing the job ourselves.
We were remodeling our home and the
contractor found someone to install our new replacement windows.
We didn’t know anything about windows, so
we let our contractor determine what windows to order and who would install
them. Shortly after the job was complete we noticed that we heard more freeway
noise with the new replacement windows than we had with the old windows. Our
general contractor finally determined that the subcontractor hadn’t properly
insulated or shimmed, and the windows were ordered without the correct glazing
or for the proper wall width. Our contractor is fixing the problems and we see
some improvement, however we won’t have the results we were expecting. Our
mistake was not bothering to ask our contractor what type of window was going
in the house and who would be installing them.
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| Andersen 100 Series French Doors |
We bought our replacement windows from Home
Depot and contracted with them to do the installation.
We regularly shop at Home Depot for our
needs, so we assumed they would also have good brands and the best value for
our replacement windows. The installers botched the job, including reusing our
25 year old fiber insulation for example. Home Depot has sent out contractors
to correct the problems, but they can’t seem to get it done correctly. Only
after making this mistake did we learn what others already know, that many
subcontractors working for the big box places are transient and are working for
less than the going because they need the work, but don’t necessarily have the
knowledge or experience.
Installation, whether you are replacing
your old windows or having new windows added to your home, requires careful
planning, flawless execution, and superior response times to address those
unforeseen problems. It’s a process that must be owned from the beginning to
the end. Did the person who measured your job, check their measurements before
the order was placed? Or did that person walk through the job with the
installers? The best way, the only way, to achieve a flawless level of
performance is to build a professional team of skilled people who don’t just
show up, but who own the work down to the last keeper – if it doesn’t lock the
job’s not done.
We don’t use sub-contractors for window and door
installation and we hope you won’t either. Don’t make the big
mistake.
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