One of the many difficult and annoying things about owning your own home is that you will face a constant battle of attrition with nearly all of your home's parts. Everything from the siding, to the plumbing, to the heating and electrical will require your attention and a chunk of your finances for the rest of your life. One of the most often overlooked areas of your home that probably needs your attention but rarely ever demands it is your windows.
Over time, the sealant around your window fixtures deteriorates, allowing the temperature inside your home to be more susceptible to the elements, to waste your hard earned dollars allowing your heating and air conditioning to seep out more than they should, and in extreme cases water leaks can lead to serious damage to the interior of the walls in your home, to the flooring and to the electrical wiring. You cannot let your windows go too far. But finding replacement windows and, more importantly, finding a reputable service to install them for you may seem like more trouble than its worth.
Honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking to install replacement windows in your home, and some of the specific benefits new windows provide.
Free In-Home Consultation
Any new window installation service should provide their in-home consultation to you for free, with no obligations or strings attached. This gives you, the consumer, the option of not contracting their services if you do not like what they have to offer, or the costs they charge. Some window hanging services do not provide this, instead insisting that all consultations be performed at their own offices or, if an in-home consultation does take place, that either a fee is charged for the consultant's time or that the consultation implies a contract for performing the window replacement. Be careful when shopping for a window replacement service.
Windows Must Be Custom Made
Every home is different, with different specifications for different things. Pre-fabricated factory window replacements often are not a good idea since, even if they technically match the original dimensions of your previous windows, the area around the windows must also be reworked. The easiest and most cost-effective way to ensure that your new windows will be a perfect fit, and installed properly, is to contract a service that will build the windows and window frames on site and build them directly into the previous windows' cavities.
Energy Star-Rated
It is a great idea when looking for new windows to get ones that are Energy Star-rated, for two reasons. One, they save you a lot of money on your heating and air conditioning bills by keeping external heat and cold out, and internal heat and cold in your home. The second reason to have Energy Star windows installed is that by doing so, from a reputable service, you are in line for up to $1,500 in rebates from the U.S. Government from the economic stimulus package.
Posted by: valarieSuggested Reading For You
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