A: Yes and no. You could do it and watch a couple videos, right? Get your buddies, wear gloves, safety glasses, maybe a little hat because you’re moving glass. You have to have an impact drill gun and some silicone, as well. That has to be a commercial grade 600 silicone piece. You have to get some installation foam with a low low expansion fund. You can’t even buy that at Home Depot. So there’s some things that will probably take you a while. Can you do it? Possibly. Will you get a leak? Maybe. Is it going to take you all day to do one window? Oh yeah. Probably take you a month to do your whole house. And if you mismeasure, you have to start the process over again and most likely begin new construction. It’s going to cost you more to do it yourself than if you hire a professional installer.
A: Having furniture out of the way would be a good starting point. You’d want to make sure that nothing’s in the way of the window frame. No plants, no muddy areas. In terms of the person installing them, you’d want to make sure that they’re with a certified contractor. That’s your best bet to make sure there’s no installation errors. Anlin Windows requires all installers to take a class with them to better understand how to handle and install their special products in order to prevent any installation errors.
A: I would say they would need at least five years of experience. They would of course need a contractor’s license and make sure they’re classified in glazing. You always want to check their quality of work, as well, and another tip would be to see how they handle communication. If they don’t answer their phone the first time you call, that’s a red flag. We’re currently working on ahouse in Pasadena, a complete remodel, and the homeowner wanted 5 references from us from our past work. We communicated well, we were very transparent, and she ultimately signed us to begin remodeling her home.
A: That’s the very first thing you’re going to do is call D-Mac or Renzo. That’s number one. And then what would you do after that? You’d request an appointment. We would come to you and show you a demonstration of the product. We’d tell you about our company, our licenses, our reviews, and our videos to show them the installation process and how it works because a lot of people need to see it. There are other companies that do this and I ask them, have you seen the window? And they say “no”. A lot of companies don’t even show you the actual window that they’re going to be installing. They have no idea what they’re even getting, which is weird to me. If you’re paying thousands of dollars, it should be totally transparent. Then we write a contract and go over that with you in great detail. Once that’s been approved, we order the windows and once we get them, we’ll be in touch with you on when would be a good time to install them.
A: We recognize that some people can’t afford the time to take off of work. That’s why we have a member of our office staff always at the job site. That means you, the homeowner, can go to work knowing that your home is in safe hands. This is only if you’re not able to stay. We have a liability of $15,000 so we’ll be onsite. We’ll sit there all day, if we have to. We also document everything through our videos. We make sure the guys are always doing their job and we’re documenting that. That includes weekends, as well. We try to accommodate as best as we can but again, that’s all part of the communication process, of which we’re experts at.
A: It depends on what type of installation we’re doing. For example, if we’re installing retro-fit windows, there will be zero damage to the surrounding wall. But if we add a Block frame, there might be a possibility that we’ll have to paint the interior wall because we’ll have to add a new trim in there. However, don’t think that by adding a replacement window, your walls will crack or break or come down. That’s not true. Even in a worst-case scenario, the damage is very minimal and we’ll take care of it in no time.
A: The installation of replacement windows could be done both inside and outside. For example, if we need to work on second floor windows, sometimes we do them from the inside. It’ll be a two man job. One will install from the inside while the other hangs onto it from a ladder outside. It really depends on if there’s way too much furniture inside or if there’s some unsafe conditions outside.
A: I’d let people know that they should move the furniture, except that you don’t want damage and stuff broken. If you break, you buy. So generally, you’d want it two feet away from the window. As far as covering furniture, we generally take care of that. We put plastic on everything. We cut costs on the floor and nothing too much more than that. I’ll tell the guys beforehand so it’s not a surprise. One time I had a fish tank that the guys had to move, but I told them beforehand, there’s a fish tank and they were ready to move in. Typically there’s no charge, but we have worked on places where there’s just so much in the way that we had to charge extra because the guys literally spent half a day moving furniture out of the way. But in most cases, we move it as a courtesy to our clients.
A: No. When we install replacement windows, we clean and vacuum everything ourselves. We even clean the windows before and after installation. The replacement windows comes with a film on the outside – like armor. It’s scratch resistant, as well. We make sure that your windows look like a brand-new car. But during installation, we have plastic and cotton tarps on the ground in order to avoid any and all mess.
A: We take care of that. We take care of everything. After installing the replacement windows, our trained and professional crew will safely dismantle the old windows and take it back to the truck and away from your property. We have a special dump permit where we unload it, afterward. Depending on the material of the old windows, we prefer to recycle. We’re an energy-efficient company and we highly prioritize recycling old material, however, in the case of rotting wood, there’s nothing you can do with that except dump it.
A: The best way to do it is to do it all at once. That’s why we have a quantity discount. Also, it’s done properly and faster when you order at once because they do the same thing over and over again. They just get better and faster. Now with that being said, I would want to never, ever discourage somebody from doing partial windows because we have many clients. That’s the way they do it. Any windows? We just worked on a house where the homeowner wanted to order replacement windows for his whole house but he couldn’t afford it. So he did four windows at a time.
A: You know, generally speaking, our openings are unique. A lot of people ask “what’s a standard cost of a standard window?”, but I don’t think there is a standard window. If you go to Home Depot, they’ll sell average windows but you’re going to run into the same problems that you’re having now in a few years. If you want quality, energy-efficient, custom-sized windows specifically designed to meet your needs and your homes’ color, you can’t get that at Home Depot or Lowe’s. You’ll want to go the custom route. If you don’t want to break your house up, you should order them custom, which means you’ll get a custom measurement. Don’t get scared by the word “custom”, however. That doesn’t mean you’ll be getting something that costs $5,000. The custom part is just so we don’t have to break up your wall and your stucco. The stucco fits properly to drywall and you seal it in your house. It looks beautiful.
A: Generally about two to three weeks. Sometimes four. If it’s patio doors or french doors, those take about a week extra because the glass is tempered. The temper glass takes longer to manufacture than laminated glass. However, if you want windows that are not tempered, that should be quicker unless there’s a special feature like sunshade. For regular Catalina windows with little to no accessories, it would mostly be two weeks.
A: A lot of times some parts do go bad, like screens or dogs running through screens, locks, broken glass, the glass breaks. It depends on the current state of your window. What you can do is take apart your window and find a line item number. With that line item number, you could go to Anlin’s website and order what’s needed. And they’ll send you the part. A lot of times we take those tickets off and stick them on a piece of paper. Every window has it and we keep a record of it.
A: It’s a combination of, for example, a cold piece of glass and you have air in there. Air has moisture and when it rains, that moisture can get inside your windows and it turns to water. That’s why replacement windows from Anlin are filled with argon gas. It’s an inert gas that doesn’t have any oxygen in it so that no moisture can turn into water inside the glass. It also has a special sealer around the outside. What happens often is that you have double pane glass and it’s sealed by this metal that expands and contracts and it pops the seal. You won’t be able to clean it either so you have to prevent that from happening. You need to make sure that your glass packages are relative to the areas that you live in. For example, we have a coastal desert here so you have to make sure that your glass matches with that environment. Another thing that causes condensation is just cheap, cheap glass and cheap windows. Those off-the-shelf windows aren’t going to have features like argon gas – so make sure that you’re getting a good quality glass.
A: Again, that depends on what type of window you’re talking about. If it’s a replacement window from Anlin, then yes, Absolutely. If you’re looking at a cheap one from Home Depot, then no. It’s as simple as that. New replacement windows from Anlin are about 80% argon filled, which means it’s almost completely sealed. You’re never going to have a leak or any problems when it comes to condensation.
A: No, they’re very easy to clean. I’d say once a month you can wipe them down. You can hose it down with a little dish soap and with a lot of water and that’s all it takes. You can also use light Windex but never use ammonia. Don’t use super Windex, either. You can use the cheapest Windex. It’s all about hot water. You want to make sure it gets dry, as well, so you don’t leave any water stains. Depending on what window you have, you can clean in any direction your window opens or closes in. If for whatever reason, your window gets stuck, call us and we’ll come back to you do any adjusting. With doors, if it gets stuck, you can call us, as well, but you should be able to adjust the wheels at the bottom, but so far we haven’t had those issues. These products are maintenance free and it has warranties against that for labor and materials. They hardly ever get stuck.
A: Absolutely not. These windows have three colors that are not custom colors and are just standard. Tan, white, and black. Anlin has their own type of a coating that you put on the outside for a black window – that’s the thermal coat. You can see it in their new black windows.They’re really popular. For whatever reason it starts chipping, we have a touch-up kit. They don’t fade either. It’s under warranty and are designed so that you shouldn’t have any maintenance. I believe the only one type that do require maintenance are wood windows, which is why we recommend vinyl because those don’t require any maintenance.
A: When they get dirty, you can use warm water but no high chemicals. The glass that we have on there has a special film that doesn’t allow the water to stick to it. You can also use soapy water or a low amount of Windex. Don’t use the super Windex, but the entry-level one that’s very diluted. Do not use ammonia. Don’t use rubbing alcohol or vinegar. Just a couple drops of soapy water and that’s it. Very easy to low maintenance. And remember, it has a lifetime warranty.
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Family Home Improvements has been in business for over a decade providing excellent services with experienced, well-trained, and courteous crews. Many homeowners have used Family Home Improvements and are now repeat clients, requesting expert help from Family Home Improvements with other aspects of home improvement, including room additions, door installations, and kitchen and bathroom makeovers.
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