At the beginning of this “quest” our goals during the restoration process were to utilize as much of the original structure and its components as possible, but life and unfortunate events happen and as you know we’ve had to change course more than once.

However, even from the beginning we knew that because of age, weather and neglect that we would need to replace the majority of our windows as well as their jambs.  While not cheap we knew it was a necessity, even if for me it seemed hard to justify.

I guess it all stems from the question of “how often do we really USE windows”?  Don’t get me wrong, I love natural light; in fact I would love it if three sides of our house were glass but we rarely utilize them the way they were originally intended.  Sure, there will be nights when we’ll sleep with certain select windows open but being that we live pretty much in the heart of Atlanta the vast majority of the time they will remain closed – and locked.

So we researched.  I now know more about U-Factors, SHGC numbers, Low-E Coatings, double and triple glazing as well as the benefits of the panes being gas-filled than I ever cared to know. But of course there’s more, types of windows; wood, fiberglass or vinyl framed along with the style; awning, casement and hopper.  And to only add to the confusion the benefits of some of the above mentioned factors vary by region.

So armed with all of this “knowledge” we set out for bids. We looked at and heard all of the various advantages and benefits that the various manufacturers tout, however at the end of the process we went with a more local company.

The components were comparable to the more major manufacturers and fell within the recommendations for our region as well as their individual placement in our house, however what mostly sold us was the cost difference. I’ve bragged about him before but somehow, and without sacrificing quality, our GC, along with the window manufacturer, was able to reduce the cost by 32% over the original estimate.

Of course any time you can save money during construction it’s a win,  but for us this savings is beyond significant.  I’m not sure how they were able to do it but that 32 % savings is much needed in helping us make up lost ground/money – thanks guys!

A few pictures:

The manufacturer is Tucker Door and Trim in Tucker, GA.

In case you were wondering they’re double hung, wood framed windows, they have a U-Factor of 0.30, SHGC of 0.24, Low E Coating (0.037,S2),  double glazed, Argon filled and NFRC Certified.