Replacing windows on Older Stone House

[Rob]

I finally decided to bite the bullet and get the windows replaced in my house. My house is not a standard job because the house was built around

1820 in stone and the windows are old and in poor condition generally. The windows themselves are currently 1 over 1 and were put in somewhere around the 1930s. The face boards and framing around the windows are original though and the outside exposed wood is in poor condition and does not hold paint well.

In replacing the windows I wanted them to be more correct for the period of the house compared to what is there now, and old pictures of the house show that it originally had 9 over 6 panes per window on the first floor and 6 over 6 panes per window on the second floor. There are 6 windows on the first floor, 9 on the second floor, along with 4 small attic windows. Anyway, when the contractor got back to me with just the price of the windows from the supplier, he said they were $11,500. That is before the labor that will be required to remove the old frames and replace them. I'm guessing that when the labor is added, the job will be a minimum of $15,000 but probably higher. Does this sound reasonable (windows quoted were from Marvin)? These windows quoted were wood windows with wood divides for the panes on both the inside and outside. Are there alternatives that would be less expensive but still look decent on an older house?

[No]

Marvin is a top of the line window and will be made for your house. I'm assuming the contractor made detailed measurements of each window opening (or will do it again before final ordering). Your install cost will often be

1 to 1.5 times the window cost. So, $15K is probably a fair number to have in your head when quoted for labor.

Yes, there are lower cost alternatives. Maybe even from Marvin. if you can make do with stock windows you may even be able to cut the window price in half. But, you want very specific things, 9 over 6, divided lights, match original trim details to period of house, etc. Get the Marvins, don't look back, you will not cuss yourself down the road.