Oct
10
Winders Are Expensive
October 10, 2007 |
Still haven’t heard back from Promising Contractor. Which doesn’t exactly surprise me, but still leaves me slightly “meh”, as I was definitely hoping against hope that he’d promptly get me an estimate, it’d be reasonable, and things would be set in motion.
I did get some estimates for window replacement at House #2, which were pretty painful, but not too out of whack from what I expected. I was hoping to be able to do it for $3,500-$3,750 but I also knew that was probably overly optimistic as far as replacing 17 windows throughout the house.
One of the estimates was for $3,750, but it was for the rock-bottom cheapest aluminum windows from Lowes, with no frills or additional selling points. I’m leaning towards the mid-range option, which is for just shy of $4,500, but includes much nicer vinyl windows with all the snazzy selling points (low E, argon filled, swing out design for easy cleaning) as well as a transferable lifetime warranty on both installation and glass breakage. And they can be installed in 2-3 weeks, which was the shortest estimate I got as far as a timeframe for installation.
Pains me to go over-budget right out of the box, but I think it’s worth it, and this wasn’t something I dealt with before so more a matter of inexperienced, unrealstic budgeting than anything else. Going with the nicer windows likely isn’t going to boost my profits any, but it very likely might speed up the turnaround time as far as selling the house, as it is a feature that many buyers like to fixate on.
I tend to be bad about responding to comments here, but many thanks to recent commenters who have chimed in with encouraging words of support, and for letting me know people are following along at home. It’s definitely motivating to know there’s an audience out there, and I’m glad people get even a tiny amount of enjoyment from reading my silly meanderings here.
I won’t say my current enthusiasm is exactly at low tide, but it’s not anywhere near peaks of the past. Selling House #1 would definitely help in the enthusiasm category, as I keep second-guessing myself about taking on House #2 when I did. No mortgage payment on House #2 is due until November, but I’m really not looking forward to the prospect of making three mortgage payments again, plus money flying out the door for repairs to House #2.
I’m also honestly a bit worn out, as I’ve been hitting things hard on the work front since April of this year. It’s more difficult this go-around to drag myself over to House #2 after work, so I’ve mainly been working there on the weekends. Which isn’t going to get it finished by November 15th (my soft deadline at the moment), so I’m going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel and get moving, if I’m going to get it done. While in general I like working alone, times like these are a struggle, when 95% of the work that needs to be done lies ahead, with no one in the wings to either kick me in the butt or grab a crowbar or paint brush.
But then again, the woe is me song and dance gets pretty tiresome. I definitely put myself in this spot and, honestly, 90% of the time I enjoy the spot very much. It still remains to be seen if I’ll make a penny from my recent REI efforts, but it’s been fun, and I’m learning a lot as I go, so I’m not really regretful or remorseful. Just sorta tired, and struggling to get fired up to knock out this last project before the end of the year.
Comments
2 Comments so far
If you want to save some money on windows here’s a couple of tips. I learned from Pete Youngs that I could go to a local wholesale window distributer and show him my business license and he would give me wholesale pricing. I bought 24 vinyl double pane windows for $2600. I had never installed replacement windows but found a web site that showed how to do it. My first window took 3 hours but by the end I was doing it in 30 minutes.
Paul,
Thanks for the tip as far as picking up the windows for wholesale, as that’s good to know.
As far as installing them myself to save cash, yeah, I did consider that. I’m trying hard on this project to let some things go, though, in the interest of getting the house finished quickly and back on the market. I’m already tackling all of the flooring, painting (exterior and interior), and tiling in the kitchen and bathroom, and who knows what else. So I’m trying hard to not let more things like windows creep onto my plate, even if I have to spend a little more than I’d like.