Installation and The Big Mistake

It’s hard to say why it happens, but time and again, homeowners make the big mistake when replacing their windows. After spending untold hours researching window brands they buy their windows without any knowledge about installation and they make the big mistake.

The big mistake is signing a sales order for your new windows and afterwards, beginning the installation discussion.

At Woodland Windows and Doors, we think window and door installations done improperly may not be immediately obvious, but can lead to serious long-term problems. There are some things that as a business, you just have to invest in, in order to ensure the job is done right. We at Woodland think that installation is one of those things.

The big mistake happens because homeowners don’t realize all the things that can go wrong with window installations if performed by an inexperienced installer. It’s important to purchase your windows from a window dealer with their own installation team. Windows can be ordered wrong, arrive defective or the opening needs modifying. We know the pitfalls and we know that the surest way to deliver an expert job is to control every aspect of it, with trained people who are committed to the perfect outcome.

In a previous post, “Installation and Why Our Installers are Woodland Windows and Doors Employees”, we relayed several customer stories about botched installations and poor customer service. There is no shortage of stories from customers who make the big mistake and here are a few more that we’ve come across.

We thought we’d save a fortune if we install the replacement windows on our own.

We watched videos and the process was straightforward. We’re DYIs and figured that we didn’t need to spend around $300-$400. per installed vinyl replacement window, when we could save at least $100. per window by doing the installation ourselves. What we didn’t count on is how long it would take. We’d been told that professional installers could completely install 10-20 windows in a day, but it took us six weekends to do the job. After spending money on insulation and caulk, and our time, we didn’t save much money by doing the job ourselves.

We were remodeling our home and the contractor found someone to install our new replacement windows.

We didn’t know anything about windows, so we let our contractor determine what windows to order and who would install them. Shortly after the job was complete we noticed that we heard more freeway noise with the new replacement windows than we had with the old windows. Our general contractor finally determined that the subcontractor hadn’t properly insulated or shimmed, and the windows were ordered without the correct glazing or for the proper wall width. Our contractor is fixing the problems and we see some improvement, however we won’t have the results we were expecting. Our mistake was not bothering to ask our contractor what type of window was going in the house and who would be installing them.

We bought our replacement windows from Home Depot and contracted with them to do the installation.

We regularly shop at Home Depot for our needs, so we assumed they would also have good brands and the best value for our replacement windows. The installers botched the job, including reusing our 25 year old fiber insulation for example. Home Depot has sent out contractors to correct the problems, but they can’t seem to get it done correctly. Only after making this mistake did we learn what others already know, that many subcontractors working for the big box places are transient and are working for less than the going because they need the work, but don’t necessarily have the knowledge or experience.

Installation, whether you are replacing your old windows or having new windows added to your home, requires careful planning, flawless execution, and superior response times to address those unforeseen problems. It’s a process that must be owned from the beginning to the end. Did the person who measured your job, check their measurements before the order was placed? Or did that person walk through the job with the installers? The best way, the only way, to achieve a flawless level of performance is to build a professional team of skilled people who don’t just show up, but who own the work down to the last keeper – if it doesn’t lock the job’s not done.

We don’t use sub-contractors for window and door installation and we hope you won’t either. Don’t make the big mistake.