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Windows and Doors now in. Look great!

Posted by Jeffrey on Jan 5, 2009

When we started thinking about new windows and a front door the sun was still warm and the grass was still green. It seemed like a good idea to get everything done before the snow came so we might not repeat the drafty mornings we had the last few winters in the house.

After a recommendation from a friend who had all the windows done in the house, we called the Brock Windows and the salesman came to do an initial estimate. Maybe he didn’t think we were serious because he gave us a piece of paper with a few numbers on it and then left quickly.

We got a few other quotes and got the salesman back and at this point, he sat down with us for about an hour and spent some time explaining the options and wrote up the contract. Brock was the most competitive and the windows they install (Northstar Windows) are really great now that they are installed. The problem wasn’t however with the windows but the door.

No fault of Brock’s but when I called to inquire about the install date, they said that the door wasn’t in yet and to call back in a few weeks. When I did finally get a date we booked it for the Monday following the week the door was supposed to arrive.

Monday rolls around and I called the office to see when the crew would show up that day and they said that the bad news was the door wasn’t in. but the windows would be installed. So the crew of 3 came in and put down groundcloths and went to work with saws and crowbars to get the old windows out. The windows came out quite quickly, but since this was now December, the temperature in the house dropped to near freezing. I was working in the home office that day, so if I didn’t have my portable heater, I would have been forced out to look for a warmer space!

So by around 3 the two windows were in but they said that they had to come back for the door and do the trim so they would do the outside aluminum capping at that point. I thought that this should be done sooner rather than later, but thought that it might just be a few days to get them back. It turned out that after a week went by I called the office to find out the status and the door still wasn’t in. I don ‘t know about you, but through rain and snow and wind I didn’t want the area between the window frame and the siding exposed any more than necessary.

The office must have pulled some strings because they booked the door install and trim for the end of that week! The door was installed and most of the trim was done and the crew left at around 7:30 that night. The resulting insulation looks great and the exterior details look clean and I know they had to do some creative thinking to get them to look good in this non-standard installation. The windows are also really warm and because they are triple-glazed, we notice its far quieter than the old panes!

They are also really warm!

I found the crew did good work, but was a little messy. Given that they were working in pretty cold (and sometimes snowy conditions) I cut them some slack but will now have to find a way to get some of the debris from the installation off my roof and out of my gutters.

Windows and Door. What no door?!

Posted by Jeffrey on Dec 12, 2008

Months ago we decided to investigate putting in new windows and a front door after we decided that living with the drafty existing windows and door was not going to be much fun if the winter would be anything like the last one. So I went out and got some quotes from various manufacturers including Pella (who were, not surprisingly the most expensive of the lot.) I also checked out Homestars for reviews of the various vendors and this really helped out with the decision.

So as we were doing the windows and door on the front of the house, we went with operable triple glazed units (as the lower floor window was fixed. – Actually one of the vendors who came out to do an estimate told me that it wasn’t even a window, but just a pane of glass tilted up into place and fastened with wood stops!)

After what seemed a long time and a change of seasons, I called the vendor Brock Windows to find out what the schedule would be for the install. They mentioned that the windows were in but the door was still on order and to call back in a few weeks. OK, I thought, still not quite 8 weeks, so within the window for delivery.

I called again at the beginning of December and they said that the door would be in from the manufacturer at the end of the first week so they could come and do the whole install the following Monday. Sounded good so I booked it.

So the day arrived and the temperature fell to about -10 and snow was falling; not a great day to put in windows, but better late than never. But when I called the office to find out if they could tell me the status, they said “Good news/bad news. Take your pick.” You guessed it; the door was still not in. Ten weeks! It always seems that something is going on when we replace doors on this house.

But I wanted the windows in at least so I had the crew come in and put those in, which look great! The problem is that knowing they were going to have to come back and put in the door, they didn’t cap the outside so now I am left with some of the original frame for the window showing. They did foam around the window so there won’t (I hope) be any water coming in there, but still…

Hmm. Not quite the look I was going for.

I called yesterday and asked them to find out when the door would be coming and I guess they pulled some strings because the manufacturer said that it would be arriving so I booked the install for next week. We shall see!

Doors and locks

Posted by Jeffrey on Oct 31, 2007

A couple of weeks ago I had to install new locks/deadbolts on the house (don’t ask).
I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was compared to the original ones I installed when we bought the place 4 years ago.
At that time, I really had to move / jiggle the locks around to get one to fit our pretty standard metal front door. We kept the low security passage set on the back door (just changed the actual lock) because we knew eventually we’d be replacing that door as it was original to the house and looked like it might fall apart at any time. It just took a lot longer to get a new one as we went through a few options before we settled on the full glass door that we (the Home Depot installer) put in.
Now that I’ve been thinking about doors and locks, I’m looking at the front door and starting to hate the way it looks. It was put in by the previous owners and while it is a pretty run-of-the-mill metal door, it doesn’t let in much light, which is at a premium in the house. We did our best to make it look better by painting it inside and out because at the time we bought the house it just had primer on it on both sides, so you can imagine how bad it looked when we got it.
I wonder if getting a new one would be worth it?

Door Saga continues

Posted by Jeffrey on Mar 2, 2007

The new back door, which replaced the existing old screen and original wood door was giving us some problems. Mainly that the mechanism that controls the internal blind was sticking and binding. This mechanism is basically one powerful magnet on the external controller and one inside the sealed glass unit which raises and lowers the blind (which is completely inside the two sealed panes of glass).
When I looked closer at the track I realized that the track was held to the glass by a strip of double-sided tape (sort of like foam weather stripping). I think that given the fact that the door is south-facing, the heat of the sun melts the glue and the track comes loose.

You can see how the controller/track on the right side of the door has moved away from the proper alignment.

This however doesn’t help when you are trying to close the blind as the action of pulling the control lever up shifts the track off center which causes binding.
So back to the Home Depot with a call and they were great about calling the manufacturer Masonite and getting a warrantee repair scheduled. The installer then came over and popped in a complete new glass unit and took the old glass unit away.
So now we have the same system and we will see how it goes over the next few months…

Out with the old (door), in with the new

Posted by Jeffrey on Sep 26, 2006

As one of the things which has been on our to do list since we moved in 3 1/2 years ago, replacing the back door was pushed back for no other reason than I didn’t want to do it myself. I looked at what was needed and of course I could do the demolition as I have a Sawzall, but then putting everything back in was the tricky part.
Having never installed an entry door before, I wasn’t sure about what I could be possibly getting myself into. Given that this is a pretty old house, and the door had never been replaced, the original frame could be lacking (which it was) and could have to be rebuilt (which it did).

So thinking about the pitfalls of having no door for a while as I figured out what to do didn’t really appeal to us, so we went out in search of a solution. We drove out to the west end where there are a fairly large contingent of contractors and installers who have retail locations. The first one we stopped at was an Industrial Unit that looked ok from the outside but as we went in, looked somewhat in disarray. The reason for this became clear once we talked to the guy inside (who turned out to be the owner) and he was an abrasive older fellow who was looking at his cell phone in a somewhat perturbed manner. I think he was trying to figure out how to mute the thing and asked us if we could figure it out, which led to a bit of a tirade from him on cell phones, technology, the provider etc.

After this we started chatting abit about what we needed and he casually said that whatever we wanted he would be able to provide. Something about him was slightly irritating and I couldn’t figure out what it was. It became apparent when we told him the address of the house; when we gave him the closest intersection to the house he said, “You don’t live at XXY Avenue, do you?” I said, “Ummmm, actually yes that’s the house, how did you know?” He said, “I actually owned that house in the 70s, and renovated it.” My mouth nearly dropped open; this was the guy who did such a bad job renovating the place that everytime I do something, I have to fix the screw-ups and short cuts that were done before I can do anything. Did I want him coming back to the place to install a door? What would I have to fix after that?

So we said we’d be doing a bit of extra research before we confirmed and said that we’d be in touch and got out of there fast. As we were driving back, we passed by the Home Depot and decided to go in to see if they could provide a solution and to compare prices.

It seemed that the prices were pretty close and I knew that while it could be a bit of trouble to communicate with them (more on that later), they would be able to back up the job if anything went wrong. So we go them to do the install.

Seems that it would be a custom-sized door (of course) which would be more expensive and that once the installer came out for a measure, the entire frame would have to come out and be rebuilt. So I was right after all!

We ordered a half-window (because of the dog) with internal blinds and waited for the door to arrive. That was in May…

The door finally arrived sometime in late-June and after booking the install with the contractor waited for the day to finally get rid of the crappy old door we had put up with since we bought the place.

Turns out that when the installer removed the cardboard from the new door to prep for installation, there was a huge dent in the unit which prevented it from being installed. Needless to say we were annoyed, but at least the Depot ordered a new one pretty much right away so we wouldn’t have to wait that long before getting it in.

When the new door arrived, the installer made the appointment and wouldn’t you know it, it ended up being the hottest day of the year in late July. I really felt bad for him but he was in pretty good spirits and got it done in one day, including rebuilding the entire frame and caulking the exterior.

When I got home it looked pretty good from the inside (we intentionally left the trim off as we will be hopefully redoing the kitchen and will put in new trim throughout the main floor to match). When we looked at our invoice though, it appeared that they installed the whole glass window instead of the half glass, but we think it looks way better anyway, so no problem there!

The door from the inside looks good. You can raise and lower the blinds by a control on the right side of the door.

The only problem was from the outside as the sill sloped back in towards the house. Not good as water would likely eventually run back into the house, under the door.

So I proceeded to call the Depot and left many messages for the “Expediter” Mike, who I think is overworked, but doesn’t have voicemail. They rely on those little pink scraps of paper that get taken by the customer service desk and hopefully passed on to him. It took 3 weeks of calling, then him calling my voicemail before I could talk to him live and tell him what the problem was. The good part about it was that when he finally confirmed the problem, he gave the instructions to the contractor who came back (no, really!) and fixed the problem.

So now it looks great!

Looks great from the outside, much better than before (see some of the photos below for what the original door looked like.

All that’s left to do is prime and paint some of the new sections of the frame and paint the door. I wonder how long it will take me to get that done?