are you doing the work yourself?
Hell no. Not that I couldn't, but if something goes wrong later I'd rather pick up the phone than pick up a hammer.
#1 don't get sold on argon gas. it dissipates over time.
Interesting. The Milgard has a upgrade to the argon which qualifies it for a $1500 tax credit. Without the argon, no tax credit. Simonton has a promotion where the tax credit upgrade is free until today. It's about a $900 upgrade on the Milgard Tuscany. The Simonton line is called Impressions, not sure how much the upgrade is after today
#2 the overall energy efficiency of the window is dependant on two things lo-e glass (the brand of lo-e does not matter), and the overall thickness of the insulated glass unit. The thicker the air gap between the two panes of glass, the better. Also...the thicker the panes of glass the better. So ask the sales person that stuff.
The two we looked at both come standard with the Lo-E, but no idea about the glass thickness.
#3 I don't know about the Simonton brand, but Milgard has different grades or model lines. Some are cheaply made and cheesy, but because they say Milgard people think they are getting the quality line.
The Simonton is considerably less expensive and my first thought was "if it's less, it must not be as good." Maybe not the case.
#4 Retro fit windows are easy to install, but a pain in the butt to measure correctly, if you are not doing the work yourself, make sure the person doing the install shows you work he's done in the past. The are lots of fly by night guys out there who think they can do the work but screw shit up by not measuring things right. also...make sure their bid includes everything including old window glass disposal, sealants, screws, interior trim and caulk. lots of guys add that shit on after the fact. Also ask what type of sealants they are using and make sure it made for sealing windows.
This shop has been in the same location for a long while. I used to drive by the place every day going to work in college.. 15 years?
#5 ask about warranty specifics. most are all the same, but some cover more than others. If they say "lifetime" ask if it really says "limited lifetime" . Typical problems are broken locks and seal failures.
I'll check.
#6 after the install.... check all the frames inside and out, vinyl will crack when stressed, and sometimes the installer will screw a unit in a lil too deep, and crack the frame. It usually will happen at a corner. so check all inside and outside corners to see if they have hidden a crack with caulk. If the do/did...don't let them sell you on a vinyl repair.... demand a new window.
good to know.
#7 expect shit to be broken and have to be reordered. it happens to the best of installers. lots of stuff gets shipped damaged and the install get delayed because of things having to be reordered.
Yeah, I've been through that with ceramic tile.
#8 retro fit windows make the old window openings a lil smaller than when they started out, and old window building codes have changed.... make sure any windows being replace in bedroom meet the current building codes. If they don't, if the job is being inspected, they may fail you or, if you ever sell the house, you may get hit with it later when the home gets inspected then.
The Simonton has a smaller profile frame which turned me onto it first. But being an unknown company, I didn't want to jump at it. The glass area on the Milgard is about 1" smaller all the way around. I didn't realize it was a building code thing.
