Planning on having replacement doors or windows installed in your El Sobrante, California home can seem like an overwhelming task. However, when you purchase your doors from a reliable an experienced window and door company, you will usually get the option to have their in staff installers do the work for you.
When you search for private contractors, you can generally find many who will do the work at a fraction of the cost that you may pay through the actual window and door company from which you purchased your windows. There are a few issues that you need to address with regard to this. In other words, there are things you may not have considered about window and door installation that can cost you money in the long run.
Precision matters.
While there are many home improvement projects that you can take part in, most of those have some room for error. For example, if you are installing your own cabinets in the kitchen, you will have a backsplash, moldings, and other features that can cover up imprecise cuts.
When it comes to windows, you will have the molding around the window frame that will complete the ensemble and cover up the frame in the wall as well as the window frame itself, but precision is going to make a significant difference not only with those replacement windows, but with replacement doors as well.
If you have a front door installed that is not level, it may not close properly. It may also be difficult to open. Even if the door seems to open fine, if it is not level, then it is going to wear out much quicker over the years. This will place added pressure on the hinges and can cause part of the door to warp or wear down prematurely. It is essential that all replacement windows and doors be installed with precision. Even if the rough opening is uneven, an experienced installer will be able to ensure that the window sits not flush to the frame but level to the ground. That is what matters most.
Warranty considerations.
Far too many people don’t realize that there is a warranty on their replacement windows and doors. Most quality window and door manufacturers will warranty their products for a certain amount of time. This guarantees that the windows or doors that you purchase will be free of manufacturer defects. If there are any issues, then the company will either repair or replace those products for free.
However, if you hire a general contractor who is not experienced in installing windows or doors, or who is not certified to install the particular brand that you purchased, then the manufacturer may not honor that warrantee.
This might seem unfair, but when you understand why, it should make some sense. Consider this: you purchase a brand new computer and bring it home. You know that it is covered under certain warranty. You begin working on the computer to try and get it all set up. Things don’t go as planned and you take a screwdriver an open the case up. You begin to move things around, touching various components to try to get things working the way you would hope they would, and then you go to turn it on and nothing happens.
No matter what you do, you can’t seem to get this computer to turn on. It gets frustrating and you finally call the store where you purchased it from. They tell you to bring it back in, which you do. Within moments they can tell that it was opened already. The company who made the computer is not going to honor the warranty because it had been tampered by somebody who is not certified to do any work on it, meaning you.
If a window is not installed properly, its functionality may be limited and it could even be damaged as a result. That is why it is essential that you make sure that the person installing your replacement doors or windows is not only highly experienced, that he or she is also certified by the manufacturer of those doors or windows.
Cost savings.
While you may be able to save a little bit of money in the short term by hiring an independent contractor, it could actually cost you a lot more money in the long run. As we just noted, unless those windows are installed to factory specifications, you may have problems with them before too long. If you end up being on the hook to pay for those repairs, it will cost you a significant amount of money. Multiply that by how many windows you plan to have installed and you can see that investing in the right installer up front can actually save you money in the long run.
Guaranteed workmanship.
How many home improvement contractors will guarantee their work to your complete satisfaction? You will be hard pressed to find many who offer any type of guarantee. That’s because many experienced contractors understand that what is expected and what the final product will look like may not always line up properly.
However, when it comes to window installation, or replacement doors, you deserve to have the work guaranteed to your satisfaction. The right installer or company should be able to offer you some kind of guarantee that you will be completely satisfied with not only the quality of workmanship with the installation, but the professionalism of the installer as well as the cleanliness with which they work.
When your windows or doors are installed, they should look as though they have been there from the beginning. That only happens when you hire competent, experienced, and professional installers who have years of experience with replacement doors and windows.
a-TaylorMade Window