What I find interesting is that I said "ask for early spring" and a number of you have come back saying you'd rather work in the cold than in humid, 90 degree weather. You'd get no argument out of me on that one! :-)
However, if I understand the OP's post correctly, she's has some questions (concerns?) about her choice of a mid-winter installation, and has already taken a considerable amount of time scheduling the job, so I still see no reason not to ask for a delay until spring if it will eliminate her concerns.
I mean no disrepect to any one who works outside in the winter. Heck, I spent a year in AK and replaced many a runway light and repaired cables cut by the snowplows during the dead of winter. That said, given the choice, I would have rather done the work in April instead of February.
I just re-read the original post, and all she wants to know is if replacing windows in the wintertime is a reasonable thing - if there are any special concerns.
I think the answer is - no.
I asked if the siding job would be delayed until the spring, but that was based on the kind of attitude marson was talking about. I just didnt' know it was no big deal to do this in the winter weather (I'm in upstate New York, by the way).
My contractor said it was no big deal; after some years and quite a few jobs I trust him; the siding job got done.
Sure. But no reason for her to wait. If *she* had a reason to wait, it would be different. But it's not that - she just wants to know if the job can really be done well in the wintertime.
We have roofs (rooves?) done in western New York through December routinely, but I do agree with DerbyDad that for a job like that, warmer weather is preferable for reasons of product performance. I can't think of any other jobs besides painting that can't be done in winter, worker comfort notwithstanding. We had our back porch closed in during March, when the temps were pretty cold and snow was coming down, and it has worked out well, including the four windows that were installed. The contractor was suppose to do it in December, but got delayed. Now I just gotta get my gutter shields (box rescued from the neighbor's trash!) installed in the next couple of weeks, before the weather really turns bitter.
If you get a contractor that will hack the job in the winter, there's absolutely no guarantee, they will not hack it on more pleasant days. A good installer will be a good installer, no matter the weather. Your assumption that everyone does things like you do, is way off base.
That would be absurd, considering she could start saving energy and money this winter.
No offense, but you have some crazy ideas running around in your head.
Why is everyone going to extremes with their responses?
I say a spring day, it turns into 90 degrees. I mention letting little things go because it's cold, you turn it into a hack job.
There's a big difference between doing a "good enough" job and taking it to the next level. I'm sure you will agree that there are contractors out there that will do a "good enough" job in the best of weather and those that will go above and beyond. Neither of them is a hack. All I'm saying is that in inclement weather, a worker may decide to let some little things go that he might not otherwise. For example, they might decide not to reposition that piece of trim that's covered with ice when they just might have done it on a sunny day. That certainly wouldn't be a hack job, merely "good enough".
As far as "doing things the way I do", you are right, most people don't. When I told the guy that I bought my windows from (a contractors supply house) what I did with the external trim after I removed the storms, he told me that if I had hired the job out, few, if any, contractors would have taken the time to do what I did. What they would have done instead would have been "good enough" (i.e. perfectly acceptable) but I took it to the next level. If I was doing my windows in January, I too might have stopped at "good enough", because there would have been nothing wrong with that method. There was, however, a *better* way which I was willing to spend the time, in nice weather, doing. That's all I'm saying. I'm not calling anybody a hack, I'm simply saying that they just might want to get each window closed up a little sooner in January than in April.
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- True...and it's up to the OP to decide if the savings is worth the worry, whether that worry is justified or not. That's a point I've been trying to make all along: If the OP is at all worried about whether the job should be done in the winter, then the money spent on heating the house for a few extra months might be a price she's willing to pay for piece of mind.
-- No offense, but you have some crazy ideas running around in your head.
No offense taken...unless, of course, you meant to offend.
The Quad caulking that will most likely be used can be used down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It will take 7 or more days to cure depending on weather conditions.
My experience from being around contractors is the winter is the slow season and they do a better job because they appreciate all work they get. Plus they take there time because that may be the only day they work in a week or two. Once the weather get back to the 40's and 50's contractors get busy and they are more like to rush if they have another contract to get too.
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