Window replacement WTF.

Last July I signed up to have the windows replaced in our house. The salesman measured the windows. After a few weeks there were some questions. The company owner came back with him and did a complete remeasure. Few weeks later they discover the replacement windows create a code violation for egress. Both come out with the wholesaler. They decide on different style of widows and wholesale rep remeasured again. Fast forward, mid-December the windows come in and they are fired up to install. Back of my house faces a cornfield, with not as much as a fence or waterway for nearly a mile and is all glass. So, I tell them not till spring. They showed up last week to install. The $5500 entry door unit was 1” too tall and 2” narrow, and damaged. Picture window was the wrong size. They made them both fit and ordered a new door slab. First bedroom window was right. Second had frosted bathroom glass and no mutton bars. Next 3 small 2′ casements were fine. Next window was 8” too long. Then all the double and triple wide windows on the back of the house {6}. Came with the frosted bathroom glass, one was wrong size. So now we have a 4th order in. The windows are complete replacement of new construction windows. Not sure if we would have pulled the inside trim to measure would have helped.
Taking with several people sounds like I’m not alone. And I don’t believe it’s all on the improvement co. An installer I talked to said it happens all the time. My neighbor has a big bay window. Anderson and 2 other companies have looked at it. They won’t even bid it for fear it won’t be right, and they will eat it. Not sure what’s up. My first guess it’s has something to do with hiring enough experienced help. Mason that is doing the stonework says the 9th guy retired from the hall since a new one came in. I don’t think it’s all on the improvement contractor. But it makes me wonder. How someone looks at an order for whole house windows and half are frosted. No one questions it. I would think they could justify the cost to have a crew leader or installer double check a final printed order. Then a little more quality control in the factory. Bad thing about computerizing. It doesn’t have common sense and one button off can make everything wrong. The crew trying to install has been great. Neat inside the house and seem to be doing things well. But like the crew that framed the new garage, didn’t have what they needed to do it. Wonder if others are having similar luck, better or worse.

Sorry to hear of the chaos. That sucks.

I haven’t done full scale window replacement before, rather just ordering for our new build. In both instances I’d prefer to work with someone local from a lumberyard that has skin in the game and a personal connection to the project, even if it costs a bit more than the window salesman. They will then come out to the job daily if needed to discuss, measure, verify, etc. I also got to see our windows opened up in the yard warehouse and could take our contractor in to verify them a month before they were installed.

For what it’s worth our Marvins have been great and we had only one jamb extension on one window come incorrect in around $45k worth of windows. It was shipped and here within 2 weeks at their expense. No complaints on our end.

That really sucks! Man, I just read someone not all that long ago that had the same thing happen. what a pain!

I would ask for a refund and run as fast as you can from this company, If your having this much mess up now I can only imagine what it will be like when you put in a warranty call.

I used to work in exteriors.

We always had to check our orders religiously upon delivery for correct size and damage. It would never fail that something was ALWAYS screwed up some way. It did not matter the MFGR, always botched.

Your contractor needs to do a better job inspecting orders and with that much screw up pre work it would make me question post work.

Quite a bit going on there and I would have sent them packing if they showed up at my place in the middle of winter to install windows.
Sounds like the measuring and ordering was bungled.
The majority of the time I measure the outside for H & W then the front door for jamb size.
Whom ever ordered the windows may have not specified “custom” size so the window company will send out their closest “standard” size.

If my $5500 door didn’t fit perfectly, they would not be installing it.

As far as the egress situation, I would like to hear more on that. If your window(s) do not meet the current code for egress you are grandfathered in as long as you use the same window style and you use the same unaltered opening.

Who is the installation company?

mark-bruzek wrote:

I used to work in exteriors.

We always had to check our orders religiously upon delivery for correct size and damage. It would never fail that something was ALWAYS screwed up some way. It did not matter the MFGR, always botched.

Your contractor needs to do a better job inspecting orders and with that much screw up pre work it would make me question post work.

This.

I assume every custom order will be ###### up in some way and I inspect everything when it is delivered or picked up. Yes, it drives the delivery people or the store people crazy. I don’t care.

2 years ago I had a new garage built and a bathroom totally remodeled. Just in those 2 jobs:

Custom ordered windows. Waited 5 months. Wrong size on 2 windows and one was broken.

Vanity. Cracked top. I couldn’t effing believe it. Literally took the kid off the crate an the first thing I saw…

Mirror that matched vanity. Improperly packed and corners crushed.

Replacement for above mirror. Same as above.

Replacement for the replacement of above mirror. You guessed it… No replacement available, the compywas outsourcing to Turkmenistan ant those crazy Turkmenistanis we’re having supply chain issues. Go figure.

I finally had to build a custom mirror frame myself.

Garage floor coating. 2 different color lots delivered. Half the floor was 2 shades off.

Too many excuses in manufacturing and quality control. Waaaanah.
It’s the labor shortage. Wannnah. People keep retiring.

Companiess have had it too good for too long and excuses are cheaper than investing in employees and training.

The door had a filler they were able to remove above and the door originally was stupid close to the wall. I added drywall and touched it up. It’s going to be ok. Not going to call anyone out till I know who’s fault and how they fix it. I think a lot has gone to hell since covid. The whole thing started adding 16×46 garage on the end of my house. Gave the ok April of 2020. The month and a half it took to get my variance. {another story} My contractor got the ok on a 1.5-million-dollar house and 2 other projects. With supply issues it took over a year to finish the house. In that time my 25year old aluminum siding I found available pre-covid. Was no longer available. So, we had to side the house to match the garage. At that point I couldn’t leave the rotted Anderson vinyl clad wood windows. Our new garage doors came. The one door was a different design from the other. They ordered a new one that got fork trucked up. Third door came in perfect. Scheduled for the following Monday. Monday morning a call. The installer went to the hospital Sunday with appendicitis. Tuesday the owner of the company came and did it himself. I had the existing 2 car driveway removed to have it all match my new one. It was poured in 3 sections. On the last section the truck didn’t show up. We found the truck rolled in the ditch outside town. They sent a truck from another plant. The concrete is noticeably different color on 1/4 of the driveway. I could go on and on. This company came well recommended. I’ve lived in a small town 10 years. But I wasn’t born here and didn’t go to school here my whole life. I called every local contractor in the area over 2 years. Didn’t get one phone call returned. My guess 80% of the folks in town did and have personal relationship. I get that. We started my garage addition I was 62 years old. If it gets done this summer; I’ll be 66. If I can get done. I’m not replacing a mailbox. Unless I buy a good one off the shelf and put it up myself.

My understanding the old windows were grandfathered. But the new ones had to meet code. At the end of the day, we like the last design better. Or maybe we are just trying to convince ourselves we are somehow happy.

Alot going on here for sure. But it would be a cold day in hell before I accepted a 5500 dollar door that’s the wrong size. Send it back take correct measurements do it all in the spring.
Sounds like a renewal by Anderson job lol.

I have replaced all of my doors and windows in my house since I built it 27 years ago. We replaced in batches over the past 10 years.

Never had a single problem with measurements or installation.

We did our entire house a few years ago, 5 doors, 1 patio door and 30 windows, everything came in correct so what you are experiencing is not normal.

Sorry to hear of the issues you are having. We just had 13 replacement windows installed in 2 days without issue.
Minnesota’s 1st Choice was the contractor.

Very impressed with the installation crew and finished project. I would recommend.