Update on windows
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| Wed, 08-25-2004 - 9:11am |
I posted last week about how we have a home equity line
of credit open and we are considering new windows.
But I started having second thoughts about racking up
more debt when we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
We had the first company come in last night and the
estimate was about twice what we expected! There's a
home improvement estimator online that told us
it would be about $3500 at the high end (for similar
glass and frame). The company quoted us $7000!
We have a very small house with only 8 small windows
and one larger one. This was the "economy" quote, getting
some of the things we really wanted (bay window for example)
would have been $10,000! Ouch.
But of course there was a "first visit incentive" of 10%
off. We were very firm (not at all like us!). We told
him we appreciated it but we had some homework to do
and that we were expecting a few more quotes. He asked
about financing and when we told him it was all in place
his eyes LIT UP! But finally he left us with the literature
and offered to extend the 10% until tonight.
We both agreed we should wait. In fact,
the more we read, the more we're convinced we might be able
to do it ourselves. My husband has done a fair amount of
carpentry work around the house (a large fish tank mounted in the wall
in between two rooms and a woodstove, which involved cutting our roof!),
so I reallly think he can do it. That would give us the flexibility to do
one window at a time and save us a lot of money.
Plus, then we could afford to save up for the patio door I want too.
Sooo, at least for the moment we resisted more debt!!

Good for you!
All my best,
Danni
tactic! We told him that there was NO WAY
we were making a $7000 decision on the spot.
So of course he "found" a way to extend the discount
for 24 hours. He had all the standard lines
like "I'll do whatever I can to save you folks some
money". Arrghh, he had all the classic saleman pitches down.
Its encouraging to hear that your dad did his windows himself.
The more I read the less intimidating it seems.
My only concern is that both DH and tend to jump
into projects and then have a hard time completing them.
It'll be an awfully cold winter if the windows aren't sealed
and trimmed correctly! THAT'S when I would call a professional!
Edited 8/25/2004 2:07 pm ET ET by zaboz
However, when you are doing with cash, you have unlimited walk-away power. You can do the whole "That's not good enough" line when you have the cash to back you up.
Good for you to wait!
Lisa