Take a look at my bathroom window! It's 4° outside ...

Yanche and John how did you guys get a hold of Anderson replacement windows? I tried to get them when I replaced my windows a few years back and I even tried to get them from anderson themselves and they wouldn't sell them to anyone other than one of their "network installers". So I put in some nice Marvin and some from a somewhat local manufacturer called 7D industries so no China made crap here.

I have 10 year old double pain windows and doors in my house. http://www.windows-doors-bonneville.com ... ta_ang.cfm The only time I may get just a minor ice build up, and I mean minor, is when it's -40* outside.

On another note, when you don't know if you have single, double or even tripple pane windows, there is a simple thing you can do to find out. Take a ordinary bic lighter, light it and hold it about 2 inches away from the glass. Then you look at the reflection of the flame, from an angle, in the glass. If the reflection shows 1 flame then you have a single pane window. If the reflection shows 2 flames then you have a double pane. 3 flames equals tripple pane.

jpen1 wrote:Yanche and John how did you guys get a hold of Anderson replacement windows? I tried to get them when I replaced my windows a few years back and I even tried to get them from anderson themselves and they wouldn't sell them to anyone other than one of their "network installers". So I put in some nice Marvin and some from a somewhat local manufacturer called 7D industries so no China made crap here.

My Anderson windows are new construction windows, standard catalog items bought at a large local Anderson dealer lumber yard. He gets, at least prior the current housing bust, a trailer load directly from Anderson weekly. Sometime more.

Just so others understand ... Replacement windows are the style that keeps your existing window frame and the molding that goes around it. The widow sashes our knocked out and junked. The opening is measured and a custom made window for that opening is installed. This new window has a frame, usually a narrow one. By necessity the glass area of the new window must be smaller than the window it replaces. I find that objectionable. That's why I removed my old windows down to the house framing. My new windows mount on the house framing not on the old window frame. I had to remove and replace all the interior trim molding. A big job, but something done from the inside and fairly easy to do.

Hey guys, all the manufacturers make replacement windows now. Pella is on the band wagon big time also. If you have to have a wood framed hybrid, they are readily available also.
It's not all about who manufactures the windows, but look at the performance side of each unit.
Some folks wouldn't touch anything but an Anderson....and they probably have a Maytag in the Laundry, a Frigidaire in the Kitchen, a Jen Aire cooking bacon....as we speak. Look beyond the hype, there are some innovative things going on in our world. Marvin, Pella, .....a note of caution, some manufacturers direct ship a 500 gallon skid tank of 'personal lubricant' with their order, to ease the ownership and installation costs. (Try to hide it, if you don't want everyone to know your business) If you burn coal, perhaps you are capable of reading between the lines....or maybe you parked the stokers and hand feds at the curb and have purchased 4 of those "Amish Hand Rubbed Quarter Sawn Cherry Cabinet 'Heaters"( a 5000 watt electric heater...come on!!!) Bob Villa has a wet spot in his shorts for.

Here in New England where everyone wants a "quaint bungalow" with original 16" wide hard pine floors,( is that an oxymoron or what...hard pine....) 4 panel hand carved doors, wood shingled roof ....and sidewalls...... and 8 over 12, or 12 over 12 individual pane windows, logic has failed them. (Did I forget the Indian Shutters...plank siding, balloon framing, active knob and tube wiring, 4 holer, lead water piping, yummy!)

They install spray foam insulation, air to air heat exchangers, solar panels, geo thermal, bi mass residential....and replace those original fish eye glass windows with a Pella Retro Line (that fortunately as slightly less than the cost of a B-2 Bomber each...but close...) A Budereous, Viessman or some other exotic zero start heating device that DID cost the price of a B-2....but they are now "green", saved 1500 in taxes, and reduced their carbon footprint!

...or you could placate all that 'stuff''; tighten your envelope, burn coal, and save the DRAMA...... but the greeie side of your brain just won't let you, will it?
PS: anyone have a Hand Rubbed Electrically Heated Amish Cabinet Furnace? Come on admit it, you were sucked weren't you? Twice? Thrice:? Quarto? Gawd, I miss Billy Mays enthusiasm...and dammit, he wasn't huped up on anything!! Lenny Bias told me that personally!
I haven't seen any "NEWS Flash" memo's on the Consumer Reports Web site......

No, no one 'crapped' in my oatmeal this AM, just been dealing with a herd of 'Well In-tensioned" folks this week...the kind that needs an exploratory readiness report, a pre-presentation round table...(a couple I think,) and the press...
Short answer to an age old question: The barn door was found open, the horse has not been found. Close the door, and take some grain, find the horse, return to barn....everyone goes home...cold, but relieved. Forget the inquisition, responsibility 'chain of custody' of said animal. It's over, move forward.

Hell no, lets have 1576 posts, 17232 reads...oh wait, that is another dilemma....

I've got a call in to Ty Pennigton's Luxury Mobil Land Yacht, so if you see a Cat 345, a couple Huge off Road trucks, a Dozen 100 cy yd trash trailers coming down your street, be forewarned, you are going on a trip to Disney World, and no more coal questions...and your old home will no longer pain yourself or the millions that will still be there to support you on your return!

Freddy can start breakfast...I'm too tired, back to bed. No NH Maple Grade A Fancy for ewe today!! Aunt Jemima's Golden Corn Syrup today! .....unless you have inside info on the Amish FURNACE, then we'll talk...
I knew the H1N1 would finally get me...I don't really enjoy this....but it is what it is.
Ty's forward team is in route to a destination in ....uh that's classified.....but in PA someplace...

SMITTY, go see my friends at A1 on main street in Worcester; they will sell you some replacements at a good price. You need the low E argon double pane to be “Energy Star” these days. Triple pane low E, krypton gas can get you somewhere around R7 or better and double your per window price. Burning coal you may recoup that investment in about 20 years, about the time they start to fall apart anyway.

Good replacements usually go for $200 more or less. Big ass windows will naturally be more. Installers usually get about $50 a window to install, less than that in many areas. If someone tries to sell you replacements for much more than that run away as fast as you can. If he is an in house sales person kick his ass out the door, lock it behind him and call the cops.

Vinyl windows among the major manufacturers are more alike than different. They are all PVC, most weld the frames and the welders are made by only a couple manufacturers. The glass comes out of the same factories, the insulating system for making the double or triple pane is from the same company, the weather stripping, locks, balances and other hardware all come from one or two major manufacturers. The main differences would be design, looks, and quality control of the window manufacturer. Don’t get too caught up in the name.

If doing major rehab to the outside I like the new construction route. If the siding is good and you don’t want to disturb things replacements are fine in my opinion. The installation will look as good or bad as the skill of the installer. Unfortunately many of these store front installed window sellers get anyone with a pickup and a trim brake to install their windows.


A word of caution about wood windows, a relative has modern double pane wood windows in his house and the condensation from the moisture in the house is rotting the wood. I don’t know what he will end up doing but he must control that moisture!

whistlenut wrote:Here in New England where everyone wants a "quaint bungalow" with original 16" wide hard pine floors,( is that an oxymoron or what...hard pine....) 4 panel hand carved doors, wood shingled roof ....and sidewalls...... and 8 over 12, or 12 over 12 individual pane windows, logic has failed them. (Did I forget the Indian Shutters...plank siding, balloon framing, active knob and tube wiring, 4 holer, lead water piping, yummy!)

This is what you get when you have more money than brains and have to beg your historical society for permission to paint your peeling clapboards but like most folks with diminished mental capacity they are perfectly happy with their pitiful existence.

Thanks for the info, Glenn.

The Andersons I installed here are new construction windows. The existing windows are so old and rotten that replacements are not an option, plus I don't care for the loss of glass area. All the windows are double-hung except 2 which are stationary and 6 pane, no storm windows. One was in the bathroom and badly rotted, the other is in a bedroom upstairs. When I replaced the one in the bathroom I discovered there was no rough opening, the window was kind of just stuck in the wall, so I had to frame the opening before I could install the Tilt-Wash Anderson.

In a Post And Beam building such as this one rough openings mean nothing!

Wood'nCoal wrote:In a Post And Beam building such as this one rough openings mean nothing!

I feel your pain! I have a similar house. Level, plumb, square, and inches have no meaning either. When you are finished rehabbing an old house like this you end up knowing things you never wanted to know.

Level, plumb, square, and inches have no meaning

Exactly.
I feel it is easier to learn how to plaster then to use drywall, that's the plan for the next room I gut, if I ever find the time.

Thats one reason you never put a window in a bathroom. Get rid of it and install a fan.

gaw wrote:SMITTY, go see my friends at A1 on main street in Worcester .......

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it.


Running low on funds, so that will be another year ............ or 6..... before I do any of that .... What this house really needs is a bulldozer ... would be sooooooo much easier!! I wish I had a tenth of the annual income of all the yuppies that took over my hometown. Wouldn't that be nice? Then the state can take even more money in property taxes .....

I hate the low e windows because you can't feel the heat of the sun. Makes it depressing to be inside. My parents house is like that now after their project a few years back. Plus, it won't warm the house up in the winter. I need all the heat I can get in this place! I would get more results by insulating the walls rather than replacing windows anyway ..... like I said ... NEEDS a bulldozer!

That pic was taken after I pulled the shade up -- I pulled the shade down the night before, then took a shower. The shade traps all the moisture in .... happens all the time. Grows mold in the summer! Those things don't bother me .... I've got 1000 other issues to deal with.

any building supply clearance places up there smitty?
those places beat the heck out of the big chain stores.......theres a place near my parents house called heebys surplus, and up here on teh coal theres a place not too far away called millers surplus (i got my kitchen cabinets there)
i built an addition onto my parents house and replaced the windows and siding on the existing structure in 1991
got new construction windows for the addition for 60 bucks each (they are around 100 a window now last i checked the place) and i framed in some vinyl replacement windows in the original house (got those at the time for 40 ea).......my parents house is a depression era bungalow that was built out of all used materials.....the original windows were huge with the big hollow spaces and the cast iron weights on ropes........one f these years i will get around to replacing some windows here at the shop, for now the plywood and 1" foam board do the trick......theres 4 windows in the garage and 5 windows in my room that need replacing......make that 3 in the garage.....one window has a 8" chimney pipe sticking thru it hehe.

vinyl replacement windows are fine if they are installed properly...........i did home improvements for a living for about 5 years.....one contractor i worked for didnt care how they were installed as long as it was fast (exterior only contractor)......the other guy i worked for (general contractor) was real particular, and they had to be insulated and installed and trimmed out properly
out of all the windows at my parents house (18) only the front bathroom window has given them any trouble....that window is a vinyl new construction single hung that i got from grossmans.......the two living room windows that we got from 84 lumber have been there since the mid 80's those and the windows in the addition are wenco double panes.....the vinyl replacements i used didnt have brand names on them but they are all fine after 18 yrs