Installing windows in metal frames and some sticker shock.

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juliesmith
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 5:57 am

Installing windows in metal frames and some sticker shock.

#1 Post by juliesmith »

Hi, if anyone could give me some advice, it would be greatly appreciated!

For reference, I just bought a house in Northern Virginia. I got two quotes - one from LongFence (LongWindows) and one from Home Depot. I sat through a few hours of heat lamps, not too eager to do that again. I am replacing 9 windows, 7 of them are 36" wide by 50" tall, one is a slider that's about 102" wide by about 50" tall, and the other one is a small bathroom window. The house was built in 1950 and there are are replacement windows already - seals are broken. All of the window frames are metal all the way around the inside.

LongFence has their "own brand" of windows, and the quote for their cheapest window - double hung with an R value of 4 was $8800 dollars!!! I don't care if I can or can't feel the heat lamp through the window; 8800 bucks is NOT in the budget! They do the 12 month 50% energy saving guarantee (which I read about on this board yesterday, good tips!) but I would have to call the gas and electric companies to get the past 12 months of energy usage because I JUST BOUGHT THE HOUSE.

Home Depot said that they had to rip out the steel frames and replace them with wood. Their reasoning was that the metal is a good conductor of temperature and the varying temperatures cause the seals to break. So I understand this argument in a scientific sense, but there are a LOT of houses on my block that have vinyl replacement windows and the seals are not broken. Their price for double hung windows with a U .33 rating was $7000.

Any insight into these prices and the metal frames would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!
Julie

windowrep
Posts: 135
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:57 am
Location: ne ohio

#2 Post by windowrep »

JULIE
not sure about the metal frames without seeing the house or more info. but if the house already had replacement windows it does not sound as though the metal would need to be removed. that metal will have nothing to do with the seals on your new windows. of course cant say for sure without seeing how they look. as for the prices you received they seem to be on the higher end of the scale. not familiar with long windows but you can do better than home depot. in northern virginia look for argon fill, low e coating, metal reinforcement at meeting rail,at least a 20 year non pro-rated warranty on seals,if poosible avoid a division of liability{seperate contractors and manufacturers} if that is not possible check references bbb and visit previous installs and you should feel 100% comfortable with your purchase. look for value at a fair price. not the cheapest window and not a price that breaks your budget. good luck.

marc
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:23 am

#3 Post by marc »

I've got to agree with windowrep but I would think that if there are replacement window already there than my guess is that you could install new windows without ripping out the metal frames. As for prices. Who's to say what is a high price? I don't know what the overhead costs for either one of these companies is. Smaller companies can sell windows for $300 or $400 each and make more than my company selling them for $500 or $600. We all have different costs related to our businesses. The right price will be the one you feel comfortable with. I'm sure if you felt more trust and confidence in company A than in company B that you would pay more for the same window.

My 2 cents

Marc

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