Do it yourself replacement windows????

[reneehsm]

Hi we are hoping to replace all our old windows with new , AND are hoping to do it ourselves.
Not sure if we are crazy or not.

We would like to do it ourselves as hubby is a very good handy man- jack of all trades and me his loyal loving side kick do very well together on our projects, at least so far.

We are pretty confused about the replacement windows though.

We know that some you have to ripe out the old window and put a totally new which is what we really don't want to do.

But we are unsure of the replacement window that use your old frame.

First off this may sound stupid but is replacement windows and retrofitted windows the same thing?

Okay now that I have asked that let me tell you about our house.
We have a 21 year old well shall I say 22 cause we have lived in it a year now.
Anyway it is older has aluminum single paned windows that are AWFUL. Our house is stucco on a wood framed house no cider blocks like some around here.

We have been told that we have to cut the window out and replace so that we would have to replace or have the stucco redone around the windows which we would really like to avoid if at all possible.

We are looking to replace 5 bedroom windows, a double dinning room window and a two front room windows that make a corner. Plus later two sliding glass doors and a patio door but thats not for this disscussion.

Anyway we actually prices them at Homedepot and Lowes , Lowes had the better price for same window.
They were double hung, vinyl, full screen, LOE (I think that was it), double paned. I don't think I left anything out but might of.

Anyway we are just trying to find out if it is actually possible for us to do this ourselves. I have seen where a lot of people have but don't know their exact situation as far as type of house , windows etc.

If it would be possible for us to do this could you Please point us in the right direction for good reliable informative info on how to do it ourselves.
Books, tapes, DVD etc etc.

I look forward to your reply cause it seems the more I search for help the more confused we seem to get.

Oh did I forget to mention we are in the Panhandle of FL.
Thank you
renee

[wayside]

There used to be a how-to-install-windows DVD called "Replacement Windows Made Easy!" available through this web site, I don't know if it still is.

I briefly considered DIY, see this thread for all the reasons I ultimately decided against it:

viewtopic.php?t=479

[riddlewh]

I've done one window myself and wouldn't mind doing it myself again. However when we are looking at replacing 18 windows and the amount of time I can dedicate to installing them, we decided to have a contractor do it.