thewindowdog

Replacement vs New Construction Windows

Folks ask us all the time if they should get replacement windows or new construction windows. Are the windows the builder uses when they build a new home really any better or worse than the replacement windows that are sold by companies all over town?

We’re going to get to the bottom of this great debate right here. Get ready!

Before you can understand which option is better for you, you’ll need to understand what the terms mean. Basically a new construction or new home window is designed to be installed before the siding or brick is installed on the exterior of the home. A replacement window is designed to be installed after the siding or brick is already on the home.

Take a look at this picture. Here you can see two Pella windows that I bought from Lowes. The two models are very similar, but one has a fin that goes around the perimeter. This is called a nail fin and it is the only real difference between replacement vs new construction windows.

new home vs builder grade vs replacement windows. — This nail fin around the edge of the window is the only difference between replacement vs new construction windows.

That’s the only difference. Now, some people of varying degrees of honesty may tell you there are other differences beyond the nail fin (also called a nail flange). Let’s take a look at what someone might say.

New constriction windows are builder grade windows. They’re cheap and flimsy.

This is often true and it’s something to watch out for, but it’s not always the case. You can see in our review of the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 new construction window that many of them are cheap.

Manufacturers build new construction windows with builders in mind. Believe it or not they’re more focused on the builder who buys thousands of windows than you, the guy looking to install 15 new windows in your home.

They know that builders want windows fast and cheap so that’s what they make. Builders know that when you’re buying a new home you’re looking at the fancy tub and the shiny kitchen. The windows are often an afterthought so they don’t spend any more money than they need to.

Here’s one way to think about it. When you’re buying a new home you’re buying a whole lot of things all at once. You’re less focused on each individual thing. When you’re buying replacement windows you’r just buying windows. You’re focused on the windows and you’re trying to get the best products you can.

Manufacturers of both new construction and replacement windows know this very well and they prioritize quality and costs based on the typical customer for each product.

If you’re buying new construction windows and you’re looking for quality be careful. It’s easy to go wrong here.

New construction windows will give me more light than replacement windows.

This may be true, but it may not. You’ll need to have a good idea of how the windows will actually go in before you can make that determination. Remember, the only real difference is the nail flange. The window itself is the same.

Often times replacement windows are installed inside the existing wood window frame. This is called a pocket installation because the window is placed in a pocket in the old frame.

There is nothing wrong with this installation method. In fact all new vinyl windows have a 3.25″ jamb depth because they’re designed to be installed in a wood frame.

Could you get more glass area by removing the existing wood frame? Maybe, but maybe not. If you remove the wood frame a new wood frame would typically need to be installed. Sometimes this comes with the windows, sometimes the installer will build it on site, but it is typically part of the installation. Is the new wood frame any thicker or thinner than the old wood frame you removed?

I have no idea, it depends on your house and you’re installer, but the difference is probably not dramatic. This is often used as a sales tactic, but it typically doesn’t make any noticeable difference.

New construction windows form a better seal than replacement windows.

I would expect this idea is spread by folks who are more familiar with new construction window installations. When installing a new construction window it’s easy to see how it’s sealed. Typically the nail flange is fastened to the sheathing then there is a moisture barrier (like a house wrap) and flashing tape applied in a specific manor around the window. When done properly it looks solid and it’s easy to see that it’s done.

In a replacement window installation it’s harder to see because you’re relying on the seal of the existing frame behind the siding. There are literally millions of replacement windows installed each and every year with no epidemic of leaks so it’s safe to assume that if they’re installed properly there is no greater risk of a leak from a new construction or new home windows compared to replacement windows.

So, which one is better?

Like most things in the window business there isn’t necessarily an easy answer. In general new construction windows are cheaper and of lower quality than replacement windows, but there are nice new construction and cheap replacement windows. The best strategy we can suggest is to find some local experts to take a look at your home and make a few suggestions.

We know the window business can be difficult to navigate and we applaud you for taking the time to do your research before making a decision. We would suggest doing the same thing when calling local window companies. We’ve done some of the work for you. For starters you can find our list of the best local window companies right here.

ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 Windows Reviews From Lowes

The ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 window is a new construction vinyl window and it offers a great way to illustrate the differences between new construction and replacement windows.

It’s not a fantastic window, but it is widely available. This model is distributed at Lowes stores all over the place. We bought one at a store in Northern Virginia and you can probably find one at a store new you too.

We’ll get deep into the physical and philosophical differences between a new construction window and a replacement window in a future post. For now, here’s what we mean by new construction.

new construction vinyl window — You can see the nail fin in this picture. The nail holes are circled in green.

If you can see past my poor artwork, the nail fin is the part that sticks out all the way around the perimeter of the window. This fin goes behind the siding or prick on your home. It’s easy to install a window like this when you’re building a home, harder when you’re remodeling an existing home.

You’ll also notice this is a single hung window. That means the bottom opens up and down, but the top is fixed. The top section does not move, it does not tilt in for easy cleaning, it doesn’t really do anything at all. That is common with new construction windows and it’s a way they keep the costs down.

What’s good about the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10?

Well, it’s not expensive and that’s good. We found a pretty good selection of sizes at our neighborhood Lowes store. I bought a smaller on for this example because I was going to put it in the trunk of my car. The size of this one is 23.5″ x 37.5″ and it cost me something like $115. It includes grids in between the panes of glass and a full screen. Bigger windows do cost a little more.

A window “expert” might tell you why they don’t like this window (I will too), but everyone will agree that it’s not expensive.

Ok, it’s inexpensive, what else is good about it?

Here’s one you may not have expected. It’s pretty energy efficient. This is the NFRC sticker from the window I bought.

Thermostat by Pella Series 10 — These are the efficiency ratings for the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 new construction window.

You can learn more about window efficiency ratings here, or you can take my word for it. These ratings are pretty solid. It has a decent U-Factor, good Solar Heat Gain Coefficient for the area and a reasonable Visible Transmittance rating. Overall, a solid performer, especially considering the price.

What’s not so good about the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10?

A cynic might say that everything is bad about a window like this, but I’m really trying to keep an open mind in dealing with products like this so I’ll be specific.

First, buying windows from stock sizes is risky. As you’d expect Lowes stocks a range of sizes, but they’re not likely to have every exact size you need. If you’re building a shed and you can cut the hole to match the window, but if you’re installing windows into an existing hole in y our house these might not fit right.

You can do your best to make them fit by modifying the opening, but you’re likely to end up with something that doesn’t look great or doesn’t seal as well as you might like. If you’re considering buying windows from Lowes you’re likely pretty handy, but the result might not be what you’re looking for.

Next, the finishing just doesn’t seem to be too great. As you can see in the picture here, the welds are HUGE.

Thermostat by Pella Series 10 quality — Notice the giant weld in the corner of the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 window.

The lack of attention to finishing touches like this is common on many inexpensive new construction windows. It is not specific to the ThermaStar by Pella Series 10 window. It is ugly and if you’re going to be living in this house for years to come details like this may be important to you.

Next, the screen is really flimsy. It comes with a half screen that is fixed in place. You may or may not prefer a screen that slides up and down, but this screen doesn’t move at it feels flimsy.

Thermostat by Pella Series 10 Screen — Here you can see the flimsy screen and the weep holes on this ThermaStar by Pella window.

We could go on and on about why this is a cheep screen, but we’ll spare yo the details. If you get these windows just be really careful with them.

In the above picture you’ll also see the weep holes in the bottom of the frame. It’s that rectangular hole in the bottom center of the picture. That is a channel for water to get out. It’s a bit of an older design, and they have the opportunity to get clogged or filled up with junk.

So what’s the bottom line?

Well, if you decide this morning that you want to install some new windows in the shed you’re building this afternoon these would be an easy and cheep way to get the project done.

If speed and price are your two driving factors you might want to go for it. If you’re looking for a great fit and great quality you can probably find a better value in a nicer custom made window without braking the bank.

For now, you can take a look through the rest of our window reviews here or if you have a great suggestion for a future Pella window review or window related article just post a comment right here.

Indianapolis Home Show – Special Offer Come Visit Us!

Hey all, we’ll be headed to the Indianapolis home show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the next few days. The show starts on Friday January 23rd and runs through Sunday February 1st. Right now it looks like I’ll be getting there on Monday the 26th.

I’ll be at the booth along with several of our other fantastic team members and we have a special offer for readers of TheWindowDog.

Every day after being on our feet for a long time we typically treat the other vendors in our row to a nice cold beer during the last hour of the home show. We call it home show happy hour and as you might expect we typically have a lot of friends in our row!

If you’re going to be coming by the Indianapolis Home Show between January 26 and January 31 come on by and say hi. If you come by for happy hour we’ll get you a FREE coozie. How’s that for a fantastic deal!

Of course we’ll be available all day long to answer any questions you may have about your replacement window or door project. Our team in Indy is a good as they come and I’ll be there too.

We don’t talk about our company much on this site as we’re typically just focued on helping people navigate this business. Home shows are such a fun thing to do so it’s hard for us to resist the chance to meet our fantastic readers.

The team is out at the fairgrounds setting up for the show today. We’re excited for the opportunity to show folks why we offer the absolute best value in Indy when it comes to new replacement windows.

We love meeting our readers in person. If you’re coming by the Indianapolis Home Show be sure to swing by our booth.

Have fun and we hope to see you at the show!

Chickens, Eggs & Online Reviews

We were recently contacted by the president of a window manufacturer with a concern about the way we were reviewing her products. We know running a business can be stressful and the thought of less than positive info about your company isn’t thrilling. We get that, but the point of the site is to provide our thoughts on various products to folks considering a replacement window project. It’s not our job to be nice.

We’re in touch with manufacturing folks all the time and we typically don’t write a post about each one. The reason we wanted to write about this one relates to this specific comment she made:

“I’m certain the manufacturers you carry enjoy the benefits of a favorable review on your site, while those of us you compete against mysteriously have less than stellar reviews.”

This misses a really important point and it occurs to us that other reasonable people might come to the same errant conclusion. For that reason we wanted to make sure we address it. While it’s a bit of a chicken an egg scenario, the ultimate answer is pretty clear. I hope.

Do we give favorable reviews to the products we carry as she suggests or do we carry products that compare well with the other offerings in the marketplace?

There is really nothing mysterious about it. Like most businesses our only goal is to grow the business. We work hard to earn more customers every day. In that effort we know we need to offer great products that will hold up over time from a manufacturer that is likely to be around for the long haul.

We don’t want to send our reps into a customer’s home with 25 window samples so we evaluate the options ahead of time and we make recommendations based on what they’re trying to accomplish.

There is a lot of effort that goes into deciding which products to offer. Much more than most customers probably realize. That’s ok. We’re supposed to be the window experts and we take our job pretty seriously. We routinely evaluate new window options to make sure we’re aware of what is going on in the marketplace.

I would bet we spend 50-100 hours per year evaluating window options to decide if we want to offer them through our business. Even after doing this for years we still routinely compare window options. We do it all the time; we’re crazy like that. Our customers are hiring a professional window company and they want our expert advice. We take that seriously.

At the end of the day we offer a rather expansive range of replacement windows. We have basic double pane single hung vinyl windows for a rental property, we have fancy triple pane options for the greenest of customers, we offer a complete line of historic wood and aluminum clad windows and we’re about to bring on a new composite window line. The shortest warranty we offer is 20 years and most everything we offer comes with a complete lifetime warranty.

There are quite a few windows that we don’t carry because we’re not thrilled with some aspect of the product, the company, the warranty, etc. Sometimes customers specifically ask us to install a model they want. We will do that when we can, but we often refuse those requests as we know we’re the ones that will be blamed if/when something doesn’t perform as expected. We stick with quality because we want happy customers. I would much rather lose an order than have an unhappy customer. That very scenario played out yesterday at our Alexandria, VA office.

We do carry some of the products that we’ve reviewed on the site and we’ve made note of that. We’re offering the best products we’re aware of and we’ll continue to do that as long as we’re in charge around here.

So what’s the bottom line?

We carry the best replacement windows that we know of. If we find better products we’ll carry those. If we knew of better products and didn’t at least offer them we’d be doing our customers a great disservice. That’s what you would want from any professional company, isn’t it?

NFRC Ratings Explained

As you’re shopping for new replacement windows you may have heard of NFRC ratings. It’s important to understand what these ratings are and what they mean about your new windows. First of all NFRC stands for the National Fenestration Rating Council. They’re based outside of Washington DC in Greenbelt Maryland. They are the national body that sets the standards for replacement window ratings.

Just about all new windows and doors offered today are NFRC rated as they need to be in order to qualify for the Energy Star program. The mice thing about NFRC ratings is that they are clear. Every new window will come with an NFRC sticker which clearly displays the ratings for that individual window or door. There is no room for salesperson trickery.

champion window prices — Despite claims of their salespeople and long heat lamp demonstrations, Champion windows have average efficiency ratings.

The NFRC stickers will look like the example above. As you can see they display the U-Factor and the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) on the top line and the Visible Transmittence (VT Rating) on the bottom left side. These are the ratings that MUST be on each window.

On the bottom line this window from Champion Windows also shows the Condensation Resistance which is optional. Some windows, like the Simonton window pictured below, will have a blank space in the lower right side. There is nothing wrong with this, but it does indicate that they don’t want to advertise their rating.

Simonton Reflections 5500 window ratings

Why are NFRC ratings important?

These ratings are important because they are solid. They are not up for interpretation or subject to change at a moments notice.

We hear stories about salespeople with all sorts of bogus info. We see R-Values getting thrown around and hear about promises made to customers that are just plain impossible. The NFRC ratings provide a way to really evaluate what you’re actually getting to make sure it meets the promises you were made.

What should you do it the sticker does not match what you were told?

Whatever claims the company makes about the energy efficiency of their windows make sure to get them in writing. Let them know you’ll be checking it agains the NFRC stickers. If they match you’re doing great and if they don’t somebody has some explaining to do.

If you feel like you’re getting fishy numbers during the sales phase ask them for the real NFRC ratings. If the ratings you get don’t match what you were previously told then you know they were being tricky with you. If they were I would suggest you find another company. There are plenty of fish in the sea as they say.

Hopefully you caught these shenanigans during the sales process. If they’re not caught until the products are installed it will be harder to figure out a solution.

What if the windows do not come with NFRC stickers?

This probably means that the company removed them prior to installation which is a huge red flag. it may mean that they’re trying to hide something from you and there may be very little you can do about it at this point.

What’s the bottom line?

NFRC ratings are a great way to evaluate the differences between various window products. We see customers struggling with these evaluations all the time.

In fact, just today I got a call from one of our reps who was out meeting with a customer. The customer had asked our guy how thick the gap between the 2 panes of glass is. Before we go answering that question it’s important for us to identify what the customer is actually asking.

Does the customer care if there is 1/2″ or 3″ of space in there? Nope. What they want is an energy efficient window and some other company probably told them that you need to have this much space or that much space in order to be efficient. Of course the simple way to tell how efficient one window is compared to another is to look at the U-Factors on the NFRC sticker. If one is lower than it’s better and if it’s higher than it’s worse.

Does the space in-between the glass make any difference? Who cares. Either the ratings are better or they’re not better. The measurement of this dimension or that dimension don’t matter one bit. This is how NFRC ratings make window shopping easier.

Find more info on replacement window ratings here and you can find the most comprehensive and detailed replacement window reviews on the internet right here.

Have fun!

If you’re looking for a window company right now, the best advice we have is to check out our list of the best window companies all over the country. You can find it right here.

Home Advisor vs Angie’s List

We get requests literally every day for recommendations for honest local window companies. While we have a pretty good amount of experience working all over the country we can’t recommend local companies in every area. We just don’t know who the best company is Tulsa is, but we know 2 great ways to find out.

If you’ve been reading through the site for a bit you’ve probably seen that we frequently recommend Angie’s List. We do think it’s a great way to get feedback from folks on the companies operating in your area.

Of course Angie’s List is a site that collected feedback from real customers. On the site you can find info on the companies, detailed reviews from real customers all over your area. They do charge a small membership fee .

We do know some folks just don’t want to pay to join a list like that. They want to find local window companies and they want to get a couple of free quotes.

Fortunately for you there is a company called Home Advisor that will put you in touch with screened and approved local contractors who will be happy to give you a free quote for your project.

Home Advisor verifies all of the licensing and insurance info of all of the contractors in their system so you can be sure you’re being connected with someone who is reputable in the area.

It’s important to keep in mind that you’ll likely be contacted by 3-4 companies regarding your project. It’s our suggestion to talk to all of them, but to still be skeptical. If they throw up any red flags, just move on to the next one. If they tell you that need both the husband and the wife to be present, I’d move on to the next company. If they sound helpful and like they know what they’re talking about I’d suggest scheduling a free quote to see what they have to offer.

It’s an easy way to get the ball rolling on your project and you can get started right here. Have fun!

R5 Windows Volume Purchase Program

You may have read about the R5 Volume Purchase Program that the US Department of Energy came out with several years ago. The idea was to encourage the manufacture of R5 windows which would drive down the cost.

It was a decent idea, but it hasn’t produced much in the way of results. In fact most windows that meet these ratings cost the same today as they did back then. We’re not aware of any R5 window products on the market that have come down in price since this program was established.

Which windows qualify for this program?

The Department of Energy decided that any windows with a U-Facotr of 0.22 or lower would qualify. Of course most if not all manufacturers already offer windows that meet this criteria. About the only reason the costs of these windows are sometimes high is that the manufacturers price the most efficient options to provide the highest margins.

There is no manufacturing difficulty in producing a product like this and about everyone already does it. Could any company sell these products for less? Sure, but the Department of Energy is not likely going to be able to help.

Does this mean the R5 Windows Volume Purchase Program was a failure?

Not necessarily, but it certainly hasn’t been the success the DOE hoped for. Most if not all window manufacturers offer windows that meet this criteria, but homeowners in the most of the country don’t pick them with much consistency. For example, many (if not all) windows will need to go to triple pane glass to get that rating. Triple pane glass costs about $100 additional per window. If you have 10 windows in your house that would add about $1,000 to a typical project.

Will you get much benefit from windows like this vs typical Energy Star rated windows?

Probably not. If you live in a harsh climate the impact of the more efficient windows will be greater. If you’re in Maine or Minnesota you may want to consider this option, but if you’re in the more temperate parts of the country the savings will be much smaller.

That isn’t to say triple pane windows are always a bad deal. If you’re going to be in the home for a while and are looking for the most efficient option they can represent a great value. The bang for the buck gets smaller as the windows get more efficient so just keep in mind that the increase in cost will be greater than the increase in efficiency.

You can find more info on replacement window ratings here and you’ll find the best replacement window reviews online right here.

Have fun!

If you’re looking for a window company right now, the best advice we have is to check out our list of the best window companies all over the country. You can find it right here.

Replacement Window U-Factor vs R-Value

Shopping for replacement windows can be a bit daunting and even comparing replacement window ratings can be much more difficult than you might expect. Why is this? Because companies don’t want you to make sense of it. The companies that offer the “best windows ever produced by mankind” know full well that their windows aren’t really any better than other windows offered by hundreds of other local companies.

How then can you sort through all of the nonsense to get to the real info? First you need to understand the ratings. U-Factor and R-Value are common ratings used to measure efficiency. You may be familiar with R-Values as they’re used in insulation.

Simply put the U-Factor is the inverse of the R-Value. For example a windows is an R-4 then the U-Factor is 1/4 or 0.25. Of course if it were that easy everyone would understand it and there would be no need for this post.

Here’s a little history. Back in the day (say before 2008) windows were commonly sold based on R-Values. These are nice round numbers that are easy for consumers to understand. A very common sales pitch included prices for windows with an R-4, R-7 and R-10. The higher the R-Value the better so the R-10 cost the most and the R-4 cost the least. That pitch was very effective due to its simplicity. It was easy to teach the salesperson and it was easy for the customer to digest. The problem was that it wasn’t very accurate.

In 2008 the federal government came out with expanded tax credits for replacement windows that were based on specific U-Factors and SHGC ratings. Intently the R4-7-10 pitch went out the window as folks were now concerned with the 0.30 U-Factor required to qualify for tax savings.

Why did the feds base the tax credits on U-Factors?

We know a lot of things the government does don’t make much sense, but this one did. U-Factors as determined by the National Fenestration Ratings Council (NFRC) are a measure of the entire window. They take into account the frame, the glass, any additional options and they provide a clear measure of the effectiveness of the product. This is why the U-Factor remains the best measure of efficiency of a window long after the federal tax credits have gone away.

Why do some companies still use R-Values?

Because they don’t want to offer you an easy comparison. R-Values as given out by window salespeople are often measures of just the center of the glass of the window. This is the most efficient part of any window as it doesn’t take into account any spacers or frames or other parts. Of course you’re buying an entire window not just the glass. Looking at just the glass measurements doesn’t do you any good.

We routinely see companies advertising R-10 windows as being special, which is just silly. To accurately describe this an R-10 window would have a U-Factor of 1/10 or 0.10. Do these windows have U-Factors of 0.10? They do not. Why don’t the numbers add up? Because they company was trying to be tricky with the ratings.

So know you know that just about any window company offering R-Values is not being clear about the ratings, it’s important to remember that the Department of Energy put out an R5 volume purchase program a few years back. The ratings in this case were accurate. This was setup to drive down the costs of windows that exceeded the previous standards. It hasn’t been much of a success just yet, and we’ll have another post on the subject.

So how do you sort through all of this to find a great deal?

The easy way is to look at the NFRC ratings for the products you’re considering. Don’t take some R-Value from the salesperson. Just ask them for the real NFRC ratings and don’t take any excuses as to why the company can’t or won’t provide them.

Once you have that, you’ll be able to compare the options directly and you’ll be on your way to cutting through all of the clutter to find yourself a great deal.

You can find more info on replacement window ratings here and you can find detailed replacement reviews here.

Have fun!

Replacement Window Trade-In Program

If you’ve been shopping for replacement windows you may have seen this ad running in your town. “Trade in your old windows and SAVE!”

I may not have told you much about my background, but I did sell cars in college and I think that’s an experience anyone who wants to work in business should have. You learn more about people in 6 months on a car lot than you will doing about anything else. This replacement window promo always reminds me of the old days selling cars in Lafayette, IN.

I guess it works because the idea of trading something in sounds a little nicer that throwing it out. It really does sound nicer. You wouldn’t throw out your old car, you trade it in for a nicer model. It’s pretty easy to see what happens to your old car after you traded it in. Just swing by the dealers lot a week later and you’ll see it looking all shine with balloons ties to it and a SALE sign in the windshield.

What happens to your old windows after you’ve traded them in? They go to the dump. It is completely impossible to reuse them for anything other than an art project and it’s pretty darn tough to recycle them (although we have an upcoming post on recycling building products). You can be sure they’ll never be used as windows again.

Why then do companies pay thousands of dollars to run ads referring to a window trade-in program? Generally it’s because the window business is pretty competitive and they’re looking for a way to attract your attention. Does that make them bad companies, no. This one is a little different than some of the other window sales tactics we’ve outlined.

It sure does make their ads silly and it might make them deceptive if they’re telling you that your old windows really are going somewhere other than the trash heap.

Some lucky highschooler might be thrilled to drive your old car, but there is nobody who wants your junky old windows.

Learn more about replacement window sales tricks here and find our in-depth reviews of all major replacement windows right here.

Have fun!

If you’re looking for a window company right now, the best advice we have is to check out our list of the best window companies all over the country. You can find it right here.

Buy 2 Get 1 Free Replacement Window Sale!

We see ads like this running all over the country. Sometimes it’s a buy 2 get 1, sometimes it’s buy 3 get 1 or even buy 5 get 1. Maybe some discount levels seem more plausible to folks which is why they would vary the amount. While that would be an interesting psychology experiment, it’s a silly way to shop for replacement windows.

If you remember anything from this site, remember that nothing in the window business changes every day or every week or every month. If the company charges prices that are high enough to allow them to run a buy 2 get 1 free sale then they were charging people way too much before that sale started. Do you want to work with a company that charges folks way more than they need to? I hope not.

Ads like this are designed to instill a sense of urgency. To reinforce the idea that you’d better buy now or you’ll miss the boat on this great deal. We know you’ll see ads like this for shoes or pizzas, but replacement windows are a different animal. Notice the great pizza ad at the top of the page, makes me hungry.

Consider that you’ll buy windows for your home once. They’ll likely last 30 years or more and the typical contract price will be $7,000 or so. That makes windows different than a pizza. The proprietor of the local pizza shop may offer a real sale that will eat into his profits on the order because he knows you’ll be impressed with his work and you’ll come back for more.

If the window company does a great job your windows will be done and you won’t be coming back for any more. Sure you may tell your friends or you may order something else in the future, but if you do you’ll just tell them about the great sale and they’ll never buy at full price.

Here’s how this really works. Many window companies will operate on hugely inflated starting prices. They call these list prices. For a typical vinyl window they’ll tell you the list price is around $2,500 – $3,000. Then when they come to give you your quote they’ll say, “sure if you buy 2 at list price you get one free.”

We’ll do the math for you. That’s 2 windows at $2,500 each so $5,000 and they’ll give you another free. They’ll be installing 3 windows for $5,000 or over $1,600 per window. That’s a horrible deal.

All of the sudden your fantastic savings has turned into a pretty bad deal, but they’re not done. You’ll soon hear about their appointment saver discounts or time management discounts which are designed to push you into signing up on the spot. Now if you don’t buy today you’ll lose the appointment saver discount and the buy 2 get 1 free sale ends tomorrow. You wouldn’t want to let those savings get away would you?

C’mon, this is one of the silliest tricks in the book, but companies use it every day. We know, you’re probably saying. “oh I would never fall for that”. We know, everyone says that, but these companies do millions of dollars in business every year. Someone is falling for it every single day. Don’t let it be you!

You can find more info on replacement window sales scams and our in-depth reviews of replacement windows here.

If you have a copy of an ad showing a discount like this we’d appreciate it if you can send it over. We’ll be posting them as example for folks.

Have fun!