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Comment by mock-possum | Hacker News Reader

As a home owner - updating / improving my windows is a luxury I very much wish I could afford. It’s hard to imagine being able to mess with the windows unless it’s with a newly purchased empty property.

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Replacing windows is actually one of the easier DIY home jobs you can do. Hell of a lot easier than building a deck that a lot of people do. They are installed after framing and meant to be removed if they break. Removing the trim inside and outside will give you access to the fasteners holding the frame in.

Usually, the hardest part is finding windows that fit and match your taste.

That's true for relatively new construction, but for instance, I have a 100 year old house with stucco. Replacing my windows is a nightmare job. Whereas my back deck was a far simpler project

Same here. We removed trim inside the house and it wasnt that bad, but I was just replacing the trim— not the windows. I could see that removing the windows would be a pain the ass very quickly. And it has already been done once.

Yeah, for me my windows weren't standard sizes so had to be custom built, anyhow. At that point, you might as well get installation as well. Some stucco had to be chipped back to insert the new window but it's covered by the vinyl frame. Low-e windows are amazing though.

I have a stucco home, I've been doing replacement windows (I like milgard) and my stucco hasn't been touched. I have other people install them though.

100 year old windows were designed for easy maintenance and repair. Are the double hung windows? If they are, you can make sure to have storm windows on which effectively work as a double pane window. If this new glass were available, you could replace every pane in your window without removing a nail.

I seriously doubt they would provide the glass without frames, which requires removing the moulding around the existing window.

Selling panes of window glass that you then frame in is a common method for larger windows or odd shapes.

Here is a random product on Amazon, custom cut Low E insulated window panes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHD4F3HY

I see no reason why the company in this post wouldnt.

> window without removing a nail

There'd be brads to pull at least part-way out to release sashes, though. And the damned cords and all that.

Much easier to re-glaze a removed sash!

My home is 58 years old. last summer I had the original aluminum single-pane windows replaced with vinyl double-pane ones. I 'assisted' the installer and knew he would prob run into some settling of the window opening. I was right, there's no way I could done the replacements on my own, owing to proper tools alone.

My power company sent me an email the following December telling me my energy savings from the previous October, 2023 (that month only), for the same month in 2024, was 31%! When I called the installer and told him, he said a large part of that was prob from leakage around the old windows and the now double panes.

Where did you purchase your replacement windows from? Custom size? May I ask how much you paid for them?

The windows brand is "Ply Gem Windows". They were ordered from a local lumber yard, not a national chain like Lowe's. (Prices can vary wildly depending where you live. When the same installer put in my new patio door, he steered me to Lowe's as the best price, I went in and ordered that myself.) Since my house was built in 1967, they were for that era a standard size. The installer measured all 17 windows for Ply Gem to go by. For the windows and installation, not to mention my assistance (I mostly picked up trash!) the total cost was just under $8K.

Finding the right size windows without having to go custom has proven to be nearly impossible. It's not a hard project but unless you are fortunate with window dimensions it is far more expensive than building a deck.

naive question- couldn't you resize the hole in the wall to use a larger window pane?

It depends on how the home was constructed. With stick frames the window frame is built to take the load from the studs above it and direct it around the window and to the studs below. It can be done but it is not an easy job. Going smaller is easy though. Just build a smaller frame inside the existing one.

Generally, if you don't want to pull a permit, you can change a windows height but not its width

This is because of how the wood around it is framed to provide support to the wall above

You can, but you’d need to remove the siding and drywall and reframe the window opening, see a window framing diagram here, can’t cut the king studs or you lose structural integrity: https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/how-to-frame-a-new-windo...

What's wrong with a custom size? I replaced two small windows with triple glass ones, and just ordered the right size online. I don't think it's even possible to buy windows in a standard size (whichever that may be) here in the Netherlands. A professional glazier would order the windows from the factory just as the shop with a fancy website with a configurator did for my order.

> Replacing windows is actually one of the easier DIY home jobs you can do

I think you're assuming a baseline level of competence that many don't have. I'm comfortable with electrical work and some plumbing but I wouldn't do my own window installation.

Judging by home owners around me it looks to be quite a popular change. As far as I can tell they're pretty much changing like for like (upvc with double glazing) without the energy efficiency upgrade. Changing from white to black frames seems to be the driving factor.

Living in a suburb built in the 60s and 70s the two things I see after every sale is new windows and doors, and digging up and replacing the French drain.

I've replaced windows before, and I'm handy but not a professional.

Depending on the construction it's not super hard to pull them out and put new ones in, it takes about 20-30 min per window.

Depending on your heating and cooling bill it could be cost-effective. The new windows are so much more energy efficient that you start to payback the insulation costs pretty quick.

Mine are due to be replaced, and I’ll definitely keep my eye on this. But, if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t be running to replace windows before end of life.

> As a home owner - updating / improving my windows is a luxury I very much wish I could afford.

What has gone wrong in super capitalistic America that much poorer Romanians, for example, can afford average quality double glazed and triple glazed windows and Americans can't?

Labor costs. Work in the trades can pay VERY well in the wealthier parts of the US. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, tile journeyman can all make over six figures in the major metro areas.

That looks a lot like several inefficiencies:

1. Why aren't more people trying to get those jobs?

2. Why aren't locals trying to bring workers from low cost of labor areas?

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