Quoting Replacement Windows & Sliding Doors

When I purchased my home a year ago I knew that eventually I would need my windows and sliding doors replaced. My townhouse has eight windows, many of which can’t stay open on their own, some have busted screens, one has clouded up because of a crack, and one has a diagonal crack running basically through the length of the window. They were in pretty sad shape. The sliding doors were better superficially thought each didn’t slide all that well (even when you WD-40′d them), the screens were either gone or all torn up (the former owners had three dogs). All the windows and doors were originally to the house when it was built in the mid 1980s. I knew that my former employer would be compensating me for my unused vacation, which was over a hundred hours worth, so I felt now was an excellent time to replace the windows and doors.

I had two companies give me free estimates on Saturday (always get at least two). The first was Premier Window & Building Inc. and the second was Castle Windows. Premier was first and the salesman was straightforward and didn’t waste my time. He took a look around at the windows and doors, gave me the quick spiel on the windows and his company, and told me that the price would be $12k, or $9.9k if I took their offer “today” (within a week). I knew that replacing my windows and doors would be a pricey affair, nearly ten grand was a little too high. Luckily, someone from Castle was coming over that afternoon so when he quoted me around $6500 for the job, I breathed a sigh of relief.

The windows from Castle weren’t as nice as the windows from Premier but they would be good enough for my needs. Both came with lifetime warranties (on basically everything, even broken windows) but I didn’t need Anderson-level quality windows because we don’t plan on staying in the house 25+ years so I don’t feel that paying the premium would be necessary. The only thing I have to clear up is I didn’t hear the spiel by Castle about the sliding doors, which can run close to two thousand bucks a piece if you get one from Home Depot, but I think I’m going to go with Castle.

Wow, windows and sliding doors are expensive.