Vinyl window replacement questions.

[TH]

I've gone through the process of getting bids, and am going to look at some examples of the installations, but I would like to get some of your opinions or exerience with the different type of installation methods.

First off, I have Cedar lap siding, and am concerned about the outside appearence of the windows.

I can get new construction windows put in. This will require them cutting back the siding, pulling out the old widow, and installing the new window with flanges, then adding some molding around the window.

I can also go the retrofit route where they leave the original aluminum frame in and slide the new window into it. The outside of the window has a vinyl flanged that goes over a little bit of the siding. This method is much cheaper and I can save $3000 doing it this way.

What do people think of either of these installation meothods. I'm worried that the retrofit widow will not look as good on the outside and look too plastic. I've also been told that the retrofit window is an inferior way of replacing the window and the new construction widow is a better way to go.

Any opinions?

Tom

[Charles Pisano]

You get what you pay for. It'll be worth the extra 3k if you sell; If you don't sell it will be worth it every time you have to look at it.. CP

[Charles Pisano]

Further I had all my doors and windows recently replaced in my home and did so piece meal as I came up with the money (using Lowes and HD, I wouldn't have saved much, if any, by doing it all at once anyway). Cost a small fortune, but was well worth it..

CP

[Art]

Visit

or the Andersen window site and review the installation instructions and warranties. Pay attention to the proper need for flashing. If the bids don't include flashing, save your money.

[Oren]

As you should be...

Use the "path of least damage" on the siding. Some retro windows have molding already, certainteed is one example.

The "nail fin" should be behind the siding, not over it. Moisture wrap..think water..

Cheap ain't cheap is you get a bad install.

Snoop around this link.

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[TH]

It's not a nail fin. Retrofit windows have no nail fin. they have what they call a Stucco fin,. The window slides into the existing aluminum frame and the stucco fin covers up the outside aluminum frame. I was wrong about it covering up the siding.

[Oren]

I understand, but I just call 'em nail fins.

" Nailing Fin - An extrusion either integral or attached to the main frame of a window used to install and secure the window into the rough opening."

"Stucco Fin (also referred to as a nail fin) - An integral or attached extension to the frame of a new construction window."

Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

[Larry Jaques]

On 15 Sep 2006 09:56:33 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "TH" quickly quoth:

12x1 Cedar lap is precisely what I chose for them to do for installation. They used 1x4 Trex which I painted.

"Save $3k"? Get another bid or three, Tom.

The total, all my windows -installed-, was only $2,300 in Oregon. 1700 s/f single-story house: six 3x6', one 6' sliding glass door, a 5x10' picture window with dual sliders, three 3x3', one 2x3', one 3x4', and one 4x4' JeldWen white vinyl. I love 'em. They replaced single-glazed aluminum monsters. i was going to do them myself but the guy wanted only $35 apiece to put them in. It was a no-brainer to let them do it rather than killing myself part-time for a month. I got a better INSTALLED price from the window guys than I could have bought the raw windows for at the local Home Improvement store!

Having looked at those options, I agree.

G'luck!

-- Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. -- Charles Lindbergh

[TH]

--

They're not the same at all. You do not nail a stucco fin. A stucco fin, in a retrofit window, covers the outside of the aluminum frame. You do not nail it. These are not new contruction windows.

They're used for retrofits were you keep the original aluminum frame and slide the new window into it. New construction windows have a nailing fin, and will require the outside sinding to be cut back to expose the old nail fin for replacement of the old window and intsallation of the new. With a retrofit window with stucco fin, no cutting back of the siding is needed as the new unit slides into the existing aluminum frame.

[TH]

Were in Oregon are you? I live in the Portland area. I did have Window World come out and they bid $4400 for the job. They seem like a good company, but I didn't like their windows, thought they looked cheap and screemed vinyl from the outside. I have a guy bidding LBL which seem like a top of the line window and his installations look great. That's were I'm leaning, and he's at $7400 13 windows and a slider. He aslo said he could do it for the same price as Window World if he used a lower grade window that was still better than the Window World Alpine.

If you're around the Portland area, may I ask who you used?

Tom

[Larry Jaques]

On 17 Sep 2006 12:34:50 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "TH" quickly quoth:

250 miles south in Grants Pass.

I didn't mind the vinyl look because they'll save me a lot of maintenance work in the future. Besides, they're much more attractive than the old single-glazed aluminum crap which was in there. I had wooden sash windows in the last home, an old 1939 farmhouse in San Diego County. Half were painted shut before I was born ('53), etc.

A local firm, Authorized Vinyl Window and Siding, in GP. They don't do Portland.

-- Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. -- Charles Lindbergh