You make a better window than... the old window.

In an ongoing trend, yet one more thing that was replaced badly was the windows. When we first looked at this place, we thought that the windows were a plus, as they're newer and fairly energy efficient. We knew that there were water problems around at least one of the windows, but it wasn't until we truly started demo-ing that we realized just how bad it was. Around the windows on the outside of the house, there is no siding cap. The siding just ends, leaving a lovely space for water and wildlife of various kinds to wander right in. (That conjures up images of moose waltzing through the cracks. Okay, they're not quite that big. Wildlife of the insectish variety.) Also, all of the windows were crooked. 

We were at the point where we were going to be taking them out to reframe and fix anyway, and when we ascertained that 3 of the 4 upstairs windows were broken too (they either don't stay up, or the bottom pane falls out, or both) we decided that it was definitely worth it to replace them.

We were actually fairly pleasantly surprised by the fact that it wasn't all that expensive. We found very nice windows for about $100 each at Home Depot which were good quality, bigger than the ones we'd had, had grids (which I love but thought would be more expensive) and they're tax credit eligible. We found out later that they've apparently been discontinued, and we seemed to get the last ones in the district. Nothing else is anywhere near that price. Praise God! :)


We're really happy with the prettiness difference, and they are quite a bit more energy efficient than the old ones. Something about Low-E glass. Lets in less light, better utility bills. (Kind of ironic, it seems to me in my more contrary moments. Isn't the point of windows to let in light? I mean, know what would be really energy efficient? No windows! You know, I bet a bunker would have very low utility bills.) Okay, tirade over. We really do love them. :)
  

Old: 

Out:

Prepping the siding took forever, because it had to be sawzalled and hammered to be ready for the capping we're getting done.

 Props to my fantastic bro-in-law Dan for helping!

New in plastic:

New in:

The Great Stuff is so so funny - you put it in all nice and even and then it goes nuts and looks like something out a horror film:

As usual,  there will be much prettier pics  when everything is trimmed. I think the second half of the summer's portion of the blog will be must easier on our readers' eyes. :)

Cost:
4 windows: $360 (retail $400, 10% off coupon)
Great stuff to insulate: 5 cans: $20
Silicone to seal outside: 4 tubes: $22