Window replacement is usually best left to professionals; it requires a good amount of carpentry skills and experience in home remodeling. It is possible, however, to install your own window replacements if the windows are on the ground floor, and accessible from the exterior of the house.
Consider Paul and Betty. They purchased a dream house, a turn-of-the-nineteenth-century beauty with its original wood panels, some gorgeous brass fixtures, stained-glass cornice windows and a cast-iron fireplace with exquisite iron-wrought designs. It was an astounding home for themall except for the windows.
The original windows were gone, taken out years before and replaced with low-quality sash kits. These were ugly, the source of constant drafts, and completely incongruous in their otherwise elegant home.
What Paul discovered, however, when he went to his local hardware store, is that entire glass window replacement units, consisting of window frames, molding and double layers of glass, were available for very little cash outlay on his part. Because his extant window frames were soundly built and securely set in the walls, he could literally slide these units, which had low-e (energy-saving) insulated glass, directly into the frames, which saved him a great deal of time, money and contractor hassle.
Not everyone is as lucky and Paul and Betty, and most people have to have contractor work done for window replacement. However, theres a simple feature at most hardware websites that makes it easy to see a remodeling bottom line before you hit it financiallythats the window replacement cost estimator.
The cost estimator is a marvelous device, very similar to the one that calculates your shipping fees for a package, or your probable cost for a flower bouquet, or maybe even the estimate of a car repair. But you dont need to get face to face with a contractornumerous websites have these. All you do is enter the number of replacement windows you need, and most websites will offer an immediate estimate.
The calculator naturally allows for different window types, such as vinyl (economy), fiberglass, new construction and top-end priced; it will also show an industry average cost, as well as a low and high range for possible prices.
As always with any sort of contractor service, you should obtain multiple estimates for replacement windows, comparing installation, prices of materials and labor. The range is hugeif you check the Home Depot website, they clock in at a low-end $100 for their least expensive model; a Pella (definitely the higher end of the spectrum) can come in at $1000. On average, a single unit inserted into an existing frame (the same deal Paul and Betty had) will run $300-$700.
Incidentally, you should know that window replacement comes with a nice benefit from the tax manreplacement windows qualify for a tax credit from the Federal Government, up to $1500 per piece, depending on how high-end you decided to get with your contractor.
So if you want a better, brighter outlook on the world, look into window replacementits a clear advantage for your home.
