Buy windows made locally. If they are made outside this area the low e might be put on the wrong surface or they might not use the low e best suited for our area.
Fine windows can be made elsewhere but you better know what you're doing when you order them. If you call me for windows I'll show you good windows. No cheap Atrium or lower end Pella or, God forbid, H&R.
Builders put the same junk in five million dollar homes as they do fifty thousand dollar ones. Really. They don't care. Imagine an arch top cheapie. Gonna fail. Gonna spend $200 getting it fixed and then you have a cheap window that has been repaired. You just won't lose as much money in utilities or HVAC repairs as you would have with a fogged up window and a nagging spouse.
Shoulda bought a V-8!
Bad windows are bad. Good windows close like a new car door and will for a long time. Cheap fog up. You can save some money on your bathroom window buy going cheap clear glass and letting it fog up. Just open and close it a few times and wallah: smoked. Yes you were.
We've put in Don Young, really nice folks that care, and Simonton, a large outfit, in Carrollton, Hackberry Creek, Las Colinas, Irving, Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Dallas, and Colleyville. That was for ye old SEO.
We use to sell a lot of aluminum thermal broken windows but vinyl has taken over. Cheap aluminum windows sweat but cheap vinyl windows sag out of shape. Don't even bother to change out your windows if you're not going to get thermal broke aluminum or vinyl with metal on all horizontal parts or vinyl without a sloped sill. Pocket vinyl windows where the sash sits in a pocket and little drains let the rain out can destroy your house and they're pretty gross after a while. Algae and mud fill up the pocket and if the weld breaks it will rot out your framing below the window.
Double hung windows lose about half an R but it's worth it for cleaning and for efficiency in the spring and fall. Plus in the winter, when it's nice late in the day, or in the morning in summer, when you're home, you can use the safety latches and crack the top of the window.
Leaving your home sealed up for three months or longer can mane you sick and make the house stink. Window is from wind hole. In Spanish ventana is from viento or wind.
Let the wind blow. You'll feel better.
Believe it or not the crossbars called lites or colonial lites can either make the window gain or lose efficiency. Be careful to look at all that and take into consideration the tax breaks available.
During installation the cavity around the window needs to be inspected and probably filled with batting. other times a foam dowel can be used. Be sure to use great caulk on the inside and out.
If you're going cheap don't beat around the bush. Just get storm windows. If you buy cheap you'll have to fix broken seals and then you might have just bought the better window.
You can't put in a good lifetime guaranteed window that meets building codes for $300.00. A 3'x4' good window costs that much. Then there's labor, insurance, disposal, and maybe some profit.
