Salt Lake City, UT area questions

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LittleWiggler
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:19 pm

Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#1 Post by LittleWiggler »

Long post, but it seems after reading this forum for a few years details are important <g>.

I need to replace some 25 year old vinyl windows that are failing. I want a quality window with low AI - we get a bit of wind here - mostly from the south. We don't seem to have Okna or SoftLite dealers here or I would call them to schedule a quote. There are a few local window builders with sketchy feedback.

I will probably do this in 2 steps since the northern facing windows seem to be holding up better than the southern windows. All of the windows let a lot of air through and the bedroom windows no longer open since the vinyl tracks have deteriorated. They are the draftiest, cheapest contractor windows they could find when they built the house.

My house is 2 story rectangular box that faces North. Most of my living areas are facing south. The house is all stucco, and all of the south side windows are flush mounted to the stucco - no pop-outs. I have 3 windows on the West side that are also not pop-outs. All the front windows have pop-outs. These windows are in the sun all day - very little trees or other houses to block the sun.

The south windows are large:
2 bedrooms with 3 panel slide 96"x59" single slide | pane | single slide (would like SH or DH instead of sliders if the AI and efficiency are the same)
The living room has 2 SH 35 3/4" x 71 3/4" and single picture 59 3/4" x 71 3/4"
Master bathroom Slider 47 1/4" x 46 3/4"
Kitchen Slider 47 1/4" x 47 1/4"
Laundry Slider 29 1/4" x 47"
Patio picture 11 1/2" x 71 1/4"

West side
3 DH 29 3/4" x 71 3/4"

I am looking for installer referrals and window/tech recommendations. I am a little worried about doing these with stucco with no pop-outs. In a perfect world I would have them pull the windows and cut the stucco to do a full new install rather than a replace, but this much stucco would probably add 10-20k to the install.

I want low AI, high efficiency and good sound blocking (not asking for much <g>).

Thanks

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

I do recall several threads on here about Utah and a poster that wound up using a Sunrise product.

Any pictures of the windows or exterior? Are you going to be a "stucco flange" or what we refer to as a "frame jump" type of install or are we going to be cutting back stucco here?

LittleWiggler
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:19 pm

Re: Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#3 Post by LittleWiggler »

Thanks for replying - pics attached.

My preference would be to do a full flange install and cut the stucco back. The concern I have is that the stucco is about the right age where they were applying it without the proper vapor barriers. Many houses here were done that way and I would hate to find that I have to do a full replacement on the stucco if we start cutting.

The large picture window shown on the main floor leaks enough that it can blow a candle out on really windy days in the corners. The SH on each side are actually better from a draft standpoint <sigh>.

The upstairs 3 panel slides howl with any wind. I have used putty rope to seal the sliders to the frames for now to stop it. I think they are really too big for sliders and will probably replace them with SH or DH on the sides.

The interior has no finish other than a lower sill. Drywall right up to the window everywhere else.

Does that help?
Attachments
IMG_0593.JPG
Exterior main
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IMG_0596.JPG
Exterior close up
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IMG_0597.JPG
Interior
(67.21 KiB) Downloaded 31 times
Last edited by LittleWiggler on Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

LittleWiggler
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:19 pm

Re: Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#4 Post by LittleWiggler »

Two more pics.
IMG_0592.JPG
Main floor
(81.38 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
IMG_0594.JPG
Right side
(83.88 KiB) Downloaded 35 times

TheWindowNerd
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Re: Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#5 Post by TheWindowNerd »

Good pictures.
My first concern is how you may react to the difference in appearance. The new frames are going to be much more wide than the narrow frames you have now. So in addition to looking for the best install method and the best performing product you may want to factor in the visible glass change.
On the install side I see 3 options:
Cut back the stucco and extract the flange and use a flange back in. This probably means trimming the exterior with some sort of flat casing( Boral, PVC, or capped wood). So the look would be much different, but done well could be nice.
The second would be a frame jump, to set the new units inside the existing frames. Potential the most visible glass lost. But keeps stucco issues from the install at bay.
The 3rd way is to cut out the units at just the frame size. Measure and install the new units to the same as old frame size. This method requires the most concern about workmanship to get water proof install. Things like retrofitting a mechanical head flashing and proper use of closed cell W&D foam.
Not sure of the product offerings in your area. But the smallest frame to glass that I have is Integrity by Marvin.
theWindowNerd

LittleWiggler
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:19 pm

Re: Salt Lake City, UT area questions

#6 Post by LittleWiggler »

Thanks for the response.

The aesthetics I know will change. The front is done with large 5" pop-outs around all of the windows.

These windows are so large that I doubt I would even notice a glass loss. Since they are so drafty now we have large curtains up and don't open them - mid-evil style <g>. This project should have been done years ago.

The gap between the SH | Picture | SH windows on the main floor is 4 1/2". That may limit the size of the outside frame.

It looks like I need to get an installer referral and go from there.

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