Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

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Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#16 Post by Runabout »

Soft-lite Barringtons came in at $561 (installed) with full bettervue screens.

Nice simple looking window. Specs are not as good as Thermalweld Plus, but I don't have a price for those yet. Doesn't seem like as good a quality window as the Thermalweld Plus and I can see why folks are like "meh" on it.

uncle eddie
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#17 Post by uncle eddie »

Runabout wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:38 am When I moved back here from SF it was an adjustment to the low pricing structure and how many people who should have had solid middle class livings that were scraping by because they undercharged and did not mark up stuff... just passed it through... this pump cost me $134 so I will charge you $134. No accounting for administrative expenses, overhead, nothing. My parents plumber was so poor his van frequently had mechanical problems. Several times we had to help him get it started up... he did not charge me for snaking a drain across my driveway - he and his grown son were there for 2 hours. He didn't charge me because he did not get it open... the drain pipe was crushed. I had to call his daughter and give her my credit card and tell her what happened, she was smart enough to take the payment...lol... folks grind themselves down sometimes... I need to shop in the space of you are making enough to have a solid middle class life but I cannot afford to pay for private school for your kid or your Porsche. lol.

I think lots of folks who have always lived in bigger cities and more expensive locales cannot fathom that lower prices can be real.

Thanks again all!
Seems contradictory. $500 windows are not making money no matter where you are, that will be the grinding that you are talking about if not plain old losing. Maybe labor prices are depressed in your town, but window prices are the same. Caulk prices are the same. Aluminum trim coil prices are the same. All building supply costs are up exponentially. I'm all for going local, but there are some great points given so far by the pros. Even the small guys aren't paying rent on that type of money these days. Prepare to help him jumpstart his el camino and clean the oil stains off your driveway when he's done. If you just want a super supremo cheapo price and you are willing to risk it that's cool, but just don't worry about quality if thats the case.
Low Price
Good product
Good install/stable company

You may get lucky and get two, you aren't getting all 3.

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toddinmn
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#18 Post by toddinmn »

With the median income of 32k vs 68k nation average and Average house price of 92k vs 270k national average maybe you can get all 3 .

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#19 Post by Runabout »

Installer in business for 29 years... 32 reviews on Angie at 4.8, 24 fb reviews, 4 yelp reviews at 4 and porch (culling service??) 47 reviews at 4.6


Pretty happy with my options.

This is the section of the quote with the actual window prices... no extra charge for clean up, small plaster repair, debris haul away... they have been mentioned about how well they clean up after themselves. Friends brother has used them for many houses and is thrilled.

Barringtons came in at $515 from another worthy installer hitting really close to my target, but not as good of a window. I am going to do fewer windows in the first round. Really loved the way the thermalwelds handled. Went to a different showroom in Cincinnati today and played with their thermalwelds (waiting on a friend getting heart tests). Love that window!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supply and Install White Vinyl Polaris® ThermalWeld™ Double Hung Replacement Windows, Glazed with Double Pane R4 Insulated Glass Units containing Low E and Argon Gas, and including Standard Screens:

• Family Room – 4 Windows (in 2 openings) $ 2,713.00
• Mom’s Room – 2 Windows $ 678.00 per …… $ 1,356.00
• Bathroom – 1 Window $ 731.00 $ 731.00
• Back Right Bedroom – 2 Windows $ 678.00 per ……. $ 1,356.00
• Dining Room – 1 Window $ 678.00 $ 678.00
• Kitchen – 2 Windows $ 609.00 per ……. $ 1,218.00
• Front Foyer – 1 Window $ 678.00 $ 678.00
• Upstairs – 3 Windows $ 609.00 per …… $ 1,827.00 $ 10,557.00

I am going to add in a tempered in the foyer, front door and closet door are both in the strike zone.

If anyone sees anything I should definitely upgrade being in Dayton, OH, please feel free to pipe up with that. I recall reading something about spacers... I need to read u on what those are for... many many thanks for the support and guidance. you all are awesome.

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toddinmn
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#20 Post by toddinmn »

The Thermalwelds will come with a basic tin spacer and low-E on surface 2 as default.Upgrades to consider are Stainless Steel spacers, foam enhancement, sash reinforcement, different glass packs , maybe full vs 1/2 screens , screen material upgrades. I like the Thermalweld Plus but I am a biased Polaris dealer. I think the Barrington is pretty solid entry level window as long as the widths don’t go to wide. It is way better then what most builders are using here. I am seeing 600k houses around me getting MI junk windows all the time . I would also put some focus. On the aluminum work ( assuming they’re are wrapping you windows) as this often an area which separates the hacks from the pros.

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#21 Post by Runabout »

ToddinMN - thanks very much for the input. The brochure is kinda sneaky. I thought it had the foam but now I see that little asterisk meaning "optional"

I am getting the full screens with the bettervue - that is what I asked for.. so I am waiting for clarification to see if he cut and pasted the description (he is pretty old school with all the pc stuff) and the price is right, or if he missed it all together and the price is going to be higher.

Thanks for the spacer and sash reminder. The back of the Thermalweld Plus brochure says
ENERGY EFFICIENT GLASS
energySMART®glass is standard in every Polaris®window. These insulated glass (IG)
units are panes of glass sealed onto the Intercept® U-shaped steel spacer. Together,
the spacer and sealant block temperature transfer and reduce condensation.

Is this what you are talking about as far as the "tin spacers" goes? They say it is steel.

the foam enhancement is simply just that, foam filled, no fancy names or anything?

Is the Innergy the sash reinforcement.

It is at this point I realize how very little I know about windows now... lol...

Being in Dayton is there a glass package that is better than the one quoted?
Our winters are getting milder over time and the summers a tad hotter. I don't have much in the way of wind... woods around me... kinda stuffy sometimes.

Feeling sheepish because I don't know what aluminum wrapping means... heading to google. They have stellar reputation so my guess is they will be doing it right, but I will investigate.

I will say I am very glad I went out into a showroom with full sized mounted windows that I could engage with, it was a very different experience than one sitting on a table being held up. I highly recommend shoppers to find a showroom where they can get hands on a more realistic experience of the window, even if they need to set aside a few hours to get there and back. The Endure was my front runner until I spent some time with a showroom demo. Underwhelmed by the way it operated and looked.

Given the choice between the Dynaweld and the Barrington, which would you go with? I did not spend much time with the Dynaweld. I have a pretty big crush on the Thermalweld...lol. I like the thinner frames giving more viewing and I don't want the glass to dark... when mom transitions the curtains are coming down... give me unobscured views and lots a light!!!

I was a window cleaner for a while and for a short time we did (thankless job) construction cleans. You really can't charge enough for all the drama of construction cleans... so many trips to get it all done and waiting on others who are waiting on someone or something or just incompetent or druggies... but man was I shocked at how poorly built these "custom" homes were. wow. I also won't buy a flipped house because well, talk about your bargain basement remodel supplies... I'll just dig in here and slowly turn this sows ear into a silk purse...

Many thanks for the time you and the others donate here to help us hapless homeowners!

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TheWindowNerd
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#22 Post by TheWindowNerd »

Your process is encouraging and will pay off big time.

IG spacers: at minimum up grade from steel to stainless steel or non metallic.

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toddinmn
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#23 Post by toddinmn »

I’d give the edge to the Barrington.
I do believe the steel spacers are tin plated steel.
Foam enhancement is term done used to prevent lawsuits, Not all chambers are filled nor can they be 100% , 100 % percent of the time.
looking at my data the foam enhancement does not always improve listed thermal numbers, the stainless spacer can drop the U value down from from 0.28 to 0.27 and condensation resistance from 0.59 to 0.57 (higher is better). The gains are marginal.
The Innergy is the sash reinforcement, These are pretty stout windows and not as needed as it is on some other windows. Would definitely add these to the Barrington .
The wrapping / capping Is Aluminum coil applied over the exterior trim. It is quite often done when replacing windows but doesn’t have to be.
I think the standard Low-E option would be fine for your location.
You can also have options on the thickness of the glass, 2.5 mm vs 3mm.

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#24 Post by Runabout »

You all really are awesome. I am not sure if you realize what a great and appreciated service you offer us and your patience with our questions upon questions!

I really appreciate it. Did not realize steel would not be stainless, but again.. duh... lol... I'll probably skip the foam if it doesn't really add much. Would it impact noise at all? If it is a low cost add on and would help with noise that would be great... state highway out front.

I will definitely have some condensation issues, so want to keep as much advantage as I can on that front-- it seems like I might want to actually skip the stainless spacer? would a non stainless non steel spacer keep my CR number higher?

So I will stick to the standard low e with full better vue screens, no reinforcement, foam if it will help with sound reduction or has some other significant improvement and ask about the aluminum wrapping/capping.

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#25 Post by Runabout »

On another front... just found my mom's replacement window paperwork. Nusash NWD2. Installed Nov 98 and except for one with fogging, they are still holding their own! They don't get heavy use of opening/closing but probably average. I think I just saw lifetime warranty. Tring to figure out who to call to see if we can get that one fixed. Jarar Windows Cincinnati seems to be no longer...

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toddinmn
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#26 Post by toddinmn »

Most companies, at least today only have 20 year warranties on the glass

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#27 Post by Runabout »

WindowNerd.... thanks... I am the person that might get lost in the weeds. I used to organize group camping trips with friends... like about 30 people... I was one with the excel sheet planning who was bringing what ingredients for the meals and making sure we had each item split between 2 different people/carpools... figured at least we'd have half the eggs or bacon etc instead of none when someone forgot or failed to show up... it is kinda fun. a little overwhelming on the tech stuff but I have little brain power after mustering 24/7 patience for alz parent with no respite care for me... which is why I am so extra grateful for the pro support. Today I saw a commercial for a window company who needs to hire sales staff and I thought maybe one day when I can work again, if I can find a reputable company that won't push hard on upselling to people who clearly don't have the budget or sliding fast stuff by folks, I might even become a window salesperson!

Thanks again!

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#28 Post by Runabout »

Todd, I think it said lifetime but not sure. I called a nusash place in Michigan asking for their input. No big deal if it doesn't happen though. If we sell the house I will probably replace it, if it ends up going to Medicaid it will be someone else's problem.

Runabout
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#29 Post by Runabout »

Questions related to sound transmission.

Are there any upgrades that impact the sound transmission? I have read that synthetic spacers do, is that true and if so, is that on option on the Thermalwelds?

Are there other upgrades that are fairly inexpensive that would help with sound? I have a tall skinny double hung and then twin double hungs that face the highway and then another set of twin doublehungs that face the drive and also get heavy noise. Wondering if there is anything I should be doing to help minimize the noise without it being some of the high dollar sound proofing options I have read about.

5 windows would be prime candidates for the upgraded sound. I have been unable to find STC ratings for Polaris windows. Thinking maybe they don't test them?

Glass package questions
Does it make sense to get different glass packages for the _____ (direction) facing windows? or just pick one package for all windows?

4 windows face north, 5 face east, 4 face south and 3 face west.

None of the windows have awnings or tree shade, except the twin doublehungs that face east... they are on a covered porch and get a brief sliver of sunlight part of the year. The highway noise affects the east windows (1 is kitchen and I don't care about the noise there) and the twin doublehungs that face south.

many thanks... hoping to get these ordered this week and just maybe get windows installed before 2022...

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toddinmn
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Re: Vinyl Double Hungs in Ohio for $500 ish??? Screen options? VT and glass surface area... mind numb!

#30 Post by toddinmn »

I’d just get the thicker glass on all as it is fairly cheap. No, they do not test for sound. Technically a synthetic spacer would but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference from what I remember. They do not offer a synthetic spacer.
I wouldn’t expect your installer to see these windows. Till the 2nd week of December.

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