Keeping up with the...heating bill.
After deliberating for the last few months, Rosie and I have finally broke down and will be replacing all the windows in the Condo. The time to replace windows is a little off, as I was prepared to replace them next spring, hopefully after a large tax return.
But the windows are shot. The condo is about twenty-five years old and like much of the condo, the windows are the original windows and were hastily put in when the condo was built; and they show their age. The wood is cracked and bowed, the springs in the windows were shot, the window caulking comes off in your hand, and they do very little to keep the cold out and the heat inside in the winter months; even with the storm windows down. This makes the entire place very drafty and the heating bill enormous.
Unfortunately, I knew this when I bought the condo, and I also knew that it would not be inexpensive. I clung to the idea that like some condo associations, the cost of replacing the windows would be picked up by the association. Sadly, this was not the case.
We have seven colonial windows that will need replacing, and after making some difficult choices on style, form, and functionality; we ended up paying the equivalent to purchasing a brand new 58' inch plasma TV. Owch. We could have taken some shortcuts but we only would have saved a few hundred dollars or so. Even though the Condo Association is not paying, we still needed to adhere to the Condo guidelines in regards to style and color.
But the new windows are a nice upgrade. They are double pained glass, and have a Xenon Gas filling the space between them. For those of you who need a brush-up on your chemistry, this is a dense inert gas that makes it very difficult for oxygen to pass thru. Meaning the house retains heat/cold and resists the outside elements. The windows can snap out of the frame which makes it very easy to clean, and finally the windows all come with a lifetime guarantee, which covers accidental breakage.
But this was a difficult decision to make for Rosie and I. It was clear to both of us that the windows needed to be done; and frankly neither of us was looking forward to another winter in a drafty condo. But we also both know that we are not going to be in the condo for more then another year or two. And with the market value of houses coming back down; we are really concerned that we will not get the money we invested in the new windows back.
Anywho, I will be posting some before and after pictures as soon as they finish so you all can see our investment!!!
But the windows are shot. The condo is about twenty-five years old and like much of the condo, the windows are the original windows and were hastily put in when the condo was built; and they show their age. The wood is cracked and bowed, the springs in the windows were shot, the window caulking comes off in your hand, and they do very little to keep the cold out and the heat inside in the winter months; even with the storm windows down. This makes the entire place very drafty and the heating bill enormous.
Unfortunately, I knew this when I bought the condo, and I also knew that it would not be inexpensive. I clung to the idea that like some condo associations, the cost of replacing the windows would be picked up by the association. Sadly, this was not the case.
We have seven colonial windows that will need replacing, and after making some difficult choices on style, form, and functionality; we ended up paying the equivalent to purchasing a brand new 58' inch plasma TV. Owch. We could have taken some shortcuts but we only would have saved a few hundred dollars or so. Even though the Condo Association is not paying, we still needed to adhere to the Condo guidelines in regards to style and color.
But the new windows are a nice upgrade. They are double pained glass, and have a Xenon Gas filling the space between them. For those of you who need a brush-up on your chemistry, this is a dense inert gas that makes it very difficult for oxygen to pass thru. Meaning the house retains heat/cold and resists the outside elements. The windows can snap out of the frame which makes it very easy to clean, and finally the windows all come with a lifetime guarantee, which covers accidental breakage.
But this was a difficult decision to make for Rosie and I. It was clear to both of us that the windows needed to be done; and frankly neither of us was looking forward to another winter in a drafty condo. But we also both know that we are not going to be in the condo for more then another year or two. And with the market value of houses coming back down; we are really concerned that we will not get the money we invested in the new windows back.
Anywho, I will be posting some before and after pictures as soon as they finish so you all can see our investment!!!