When to Replace Windows?

         Replacing windows is not an easy decision. I do remember windows at my uncle's house, they were those old style single glass wood windows. So every time I stopped by at his place I was pressing him to replace these rusty windows, but he always said that windows are fine. His wife always was on my side, but he is a tough guy to persuade. One day I do remember, his wife was complaining that she can’t open the windows to refresh the room, but he said instead: "What are you talking about hun? Look!", he placed his hand next to the window, "I can feel the fresh air coming in to the house and the beauty of it you don’t even have to open the window". Yep, no doubt it was a lot of fresh air in the house, especially in winter time. 
    So, if you have too much uninvited fresh air in your house, it might be time to think about window replacement. 

     But lets not rush our horses and see when you don't have to replace your windows:

• First, you should see if you can repair or upgrade your existing windows. If you have old wood windows and you can't open them, inspect the window sashes top one and bottom one and see that there is no dry paint preventing you to open the window. When the wood window is hard to open, you can grease the sides of the sash with white candle, so it is gonna slide better, in case you have aluminum windows, spray a bit of WD-40 on the sides of the sashes. 
• If you are worried about energy efficiency of your existing wood or aluminum windows and you are tired of wearing that thick wool sweater, that my uncle did, you can stop by at Home Depot and buy some window weather stripping.  

     You have greased your windows and now you can open them, and made them more energy efficient with weather stripping, then you may decide to postpone your window project till some other time. 

 Now let's see when you definitely need to replace your windows and that is:

• when you open the window, but the window sash does not stay in place, it goes right away down. I saw some people use high tech inventions like a stick, that  holds the window sash, but I don't recommend this, because when kids or pets accidentally hit that stick, the window sash goes right away down like a guillotine. 
• when you tried everything to open the window, but still, you just can't make it happen. It happens a lot with aluminum type windows, after some time the spring inside the window fails and the sash is stuck. With wood windows the frame gets crooked after some time and makes it impossible to operate the window. 
• when you are tired of maintenance. Wood windows need to be repainted 3-5 years, otherwise moisture penetrates the wood and in the long run you might have problems with windows operation. 
• when you want substantially increase energy efficiency.Old aluminum windows have the worst energy efficiency due to thin window frame and single pane glass. When you install double hun, double pane windows you can have 17%-20% energy savings. When you go with tilt and turn windows, usually it is 65%-80% energy savings. 
• when you want to enhance the look and  the value of your house. Once the new windows installed, you are gonna enjoy them yourself and you can get back nearly 80%  of window replacement cost when you decide to sell your house, according to  Remodeling Magazine  2014 Cost vs. Value report.​

   
        All in all, whatever you decide to do, just remember that window replacement is not an expense, it is more of an investment. When your new windows are installed the value of the house goes right away up and stay there for many years to come. 

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