How to ensure a successful window purchase

Make sure it feels right!

Buying new windows for your home is a worthwhile investment that you should be able to see and feel. Feel home comfort. Look out beautiful windows and see a reduction in your monthly heating and cooling bills. If your windows are over 15 years old, today’s window technology has come a long way, but there are lots of factors that can ensure you will be satisfied with your purchase and installation.

Future-proofing your home

Most window manufacturing companies practice continuous improvement. In fact, for many of these companies, it is a race to keep ahead of the competition with respect to window quality and ratings. A little bit of homework on your part will ensure that you are getting the best-rated and best-quality windows for your money. Here’s a great place to start your homework assignment Natural Resources Canada.

Innovative window technology sounds great but radical new technologies need to be proven, be sure to check the track record of the windows you are buying and if you are installing different types of operational windows make sure that they are all the same technology and that they will all match in colour and style. Mismatched windows might produce negative results when it comes to the resale of your home.

Get the best warranty

Just because a company says they have the best warranty in the business doesn’t mean they actually do. There are a lot of factors that go into a warranty, and the information being provided can be vague or misleading. Check out our post on finding the best window replacement warranty. Ask your window rep lots of questions about their window warranty.

• How long does the warranty last?
• Is labour included in the warranty?
• Is the warranty transferable, and at what cost?
• Are material costs covered by the warranty?

Salespeople can be very convincing, but if they do not talk about their warranty in detail, or if they deflect your questions, there’s a pretty good chance that they are avoiding details that may come back to haunt you at a future date if you proceed with a purchase.

Always get a second or third opinion

The more you know about windows and your window options, the more comfortable you will feel when you finally decide what window company to go with. Ask lots of questions even if you think they might be trivial or waste your rep's time.

• If something doesn’t quite sound right, then it probably isn’t
• Be very wary about one-time offers and pushy sales tactics
• Window replacement means total window replacement - if your sales rep recommends leaving part of a window structure in place, make sure they explain why. Then get a second opinion.
• Don’t overlook the details - No detail is too small
• Ask about the installation process, do they remove all the waste, what they do to protect your property, and how long will the process takes
• Don’t make assumptions about what’s included, get it in writing - self-locking hardware, nested handles, patio door locks…

Just the facts, please

Truth is, if you are shopping on price, you can get some pretty inexpensive results - however, the reduction in price may mean a reduction in materials or sub-standard ratings. Make sure when you are getting a quote, that you are getting the window specifications as well - if you don’t ask for them, there’s always a possibility that you might be taken advantage of, and you won’t be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons if you are getting quotes from other companies.

Check their reputation

Reputation is everything, and companies that have a great reputation will work hard to keep it or improve it. Today’s consumers have lots of opportunities to see what kind of company they are dealing with. Homestar reviews, Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews, and Yelp Reviews all offer customers a chance to understand the companies that they are considering for window replacement.

Sometimes conditions, circumstances or human error can lead to problematic installations. Even bad reviews can shed light on how a company deals with problems. A company’s response to a bad review says a lot about how they might respond to you if you are unlucky enough to have an installation that doesn’t quite go right.

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