Our strange 1959 house and windows: are we being smart?

[mirrorrim]

Hello! So my husband and I are a bit tired of feeling like we're getting played by contractors. We've had very bad luck finding good companies for our past house projects. For whatever reason our experience is: call 8-10 people, get 3 to call back, get 2 to show up for meeting, and get 1 to actually send a quote afterwards. So as you can image it's a huge battle to do our "due diligence." Any advice you have would make us feel so much better.

We have 2 quotes: one for Simonton 5500 and the other for Harvey Classic.

We're replacing 7 cheap wood windows with:

2 single double hungs (large, pretty much the widest you can get)
1 double awning
1 single awning
1 opening w/ 2 equal double hungs (opening is too large for a single double hung)
2 "3-wide" windows: large picture window flanked by 24" casement windows (spans 8 ft; one of these involves widening the existing opening from 4ft to 8ft)

Simonton 5500: $7751
Harvey Classic: $7640

Both contractors were very professional and took their time measuring things and talking about issues. Good reviews online. Simonton guy uses spray foam, Harvey guy doesn't. Harvey guy says he is a special dealer for Harvey in the area, so he can offer a longer-than-normal warranty (I can't remember specifics). Harvey guy also takes no payment upfront; he will only accept it once we feel comfortable with the work completed (but does that mean he'll take forever to do the job?).

Both contractors talked about how tricky our window installation will be. Something about smaller depth than normal for our house frame, measurements being different on inside vs outside, every original window is installed differently which makes them worry about what they'll see once they're removed, etc. They're also going to add trim work to finish the windows.

So, my question is: does this sound right? Price makes sense for the windows and labor? Any opinion on the window brand?

[Windows on Washington]

There is quite a bit of work there in terms of outside the normal scope of just a replacement project.

To that extent, the pricing certainly seems like it could be in the normal range and if you are comfortable with the contractor, he sounds like a pretty straight forward person.

[mirrorrim]

There is quite a bit of work there in terms of outside the normal scope of just a replacement project.

To that extent, the pricing certainly seems like it could be in the normal range and if you are comfortable with the contractor, he sounds like a pretty straight forward person.

Thanks, that makes me feel better. We actually got 2 quotes for this project. A guy who installs Harvey Classic and a guy who does Simonton 5500. Both swear by their window brand. Any opinions?

[Windows on Washington]

I would say they are probably in about the same class of product. Good, solid windows.

[HomeSealed]

+1. If I count correctly, that would actually be 13 windows even if they are in 7 openings. Pricing is in the fair range even without a bunch of extra carpentry which it sounds like there is... The one thing that I'd suggest is to make sure that you feel comfortable with whomever you choose. If you aren't in love with either of these guys, have a couple more out.

[mirrorrim]

Ok, I'm leaning toward the Harvey Classic guy. The one downside is he does regular insulation and not spray foam. I see this topic repeated a lot... if in all other areas it seems like he knows what he's doing, we don't need to worry about him not using spray foam, right? Is there a huge difference between the two if they are both installed by competent contractors?

[Windows on Washington]

I certainly prefer foam, however, if he is using a combination of caulking and/or backer rod, that provides sufficient air seal still.

The application that I would take issue with is just either using the foam collar on the window with no additional seal or worse yet, relying on fiberglass.