Windows Replacement - Are You Sure??

The latest business strategy that the Window makers adopt to promote their product is to make windows replacement looks like a very simple process. For this, they have are promoting the readily available windows replacement kit in the market. But then, before getting carried away by the magic words of these people, think twice if you can replace the window yourself? Are you sure??

And if you didn’t know, replacement windows Kansas City were a concept that was designed to replace any window assembly that was installed to replace a rope and pulley window. They can consist of just two new duplicate sashes and a set of spring-loaded jamb liners or a complete assembly including casing, and exterior trim cladding. All of them depend on suspension systems consisting of various combinations of springs, strings and plastic things.

Ask a carpenter or an Architect and he would tell you the procedure on windows replacement and what are the skills required to perfect the art of windows replacement. You do not want to start up the work of replacing the windows yourself and end up thinking that you could have stuck to your good old window!!

What could possibly be the problem? Let us take a typical example where you need to replace or fix a double insulated glass window. This means there are two panes of glass in each sash. Since glass accounts for most of the weight of your Kansas City windows, you have now doubled the weight of each component. If any of the springs, strings and plastic things should fail, you have a window twice as dangerous as an old one! And, the insulated seals are subject to failure, and when they do they "fog" (develops a white residue which makes the window opaque).

Another classic example could be the Spring loaded windows. A spring loaded suspension system has a serious flaw. All the time the window is closed, the springs are at full extension, such as all winter! How long it will take those springs to lose most of their tension depends on the quality of their construction, and the weight of the sash. But lose it they will, sooner or later, and when they do, you'll have a top sash that won't stay up and a bottom that won't open very far. This is not a fun window to live with!

And then there are the claims of "energy efficiency" and big savings on your heating bills... what they don't tell you is that this same efficiency and these same savings could usually be obtained with exterior caulking, or new storms, or weather-stripping. The fact is that "R-Value" is based on the assumption that each pane of glass is worth one R. Therefore, two panes of glass equal two "R's" whether they are in an old window or a new one! So, if you have a good storm window, and your original windows close and lock, they are worth just as much in "R-Value" as a brand new, double insulated tilt sash window!

When replacement windows people claim substantial energy savings, they may be basing them on comparing their window to yours without a storm (an unfair comparison), or on the reduction of infiltration by "cladding" the exterior trim, which could be duplicated with a tube of caulking!