10 Signs That the Windows in Your New Home Need to be Replaced
10 Signs That the Windows in Your New Home Need to be Replaced
It’s the rare homebuyer who moves into their new residence and finds nothing at all to renovate. Some things are obvious: atrocious wallpaper, rotting decking, or leaking fixtures.
But the average person can’t tell the quality of one window from another. So when you move into your new home, you need to know how an expert tells a good window from one that needs replacing.
1. There’s condensation inside the panes.
This is a sign that the seals on your window are broken. Condensation forms when cold air meets warmer air; basically, outside air is mixing with the air inside your home. Not a good thing, since windows are supposed to keep the air outside.
2. You feel a draft.
This is another sign that the seals on your window have failed. Since the gap between the failed seal and the window frame is so small, air can rush through, making you feel a noticeably warmer or cooler breeze through the window.
3. Your windows are hard to open.
All you want is a little breeze, and instead you fight a battle for ten minutes just to yank the thing up a few inches. Windows that refuse to stay up are also a common sign of either a cheap window or one that has stopped working over time.
4. The crank-out mechanisms are broken.
If you have casement or awning windows, you open them by turning a crank that extends them out vertically or horizontally. Over time, this crank mechanism can break down, either becoming stripped or refusing to turn altogether.
5. Your utility bills are higher than they should be.
it’s hard to know what your average utility bill is going to be in a new home. But if you feel like you’re paying way too much to heat or cool a house of your size, it might be because your windows aren’t efficient.
6. The sunlight come in heats up your floors and furniture.
When the sun makes your couch lava-hot and turns the room into a sauna, it’s time to invest in a window with low-E coating. Low-E stands for low emissivity, meaning just as much light enters the room, but without the extra heat energy. You can read more about low-E coatings here.
7. Your windows are outdated.
A 15-year old window could be performing just as well as it did when it was installed, but that doesn’t mean much. Window technology, especially in vinyl windows, has made huge leaps in the 21st century, and could save you handfuls on your electric bill.
8. You can’t clean the haze off your windows.
Over times, the glass panes gather up debris, dirt and residue, and the smoothness of the surface degrades. No matter how much you spray, sometimes a window’s haze can’t be returned back to its original shine.
9. You’re still cleaning your windows from the outside.
Older windows were designed so that you cleaned the inside from the inside, and the outside from the outside. Newer windows have easy-cleaning features, so that you can lean the window inside, making it just as easy to clean the outside as the inside.
10. Your windows make your home look outdated.
You can have the most beautiful landscaping and brick exterior on the block, but with ugly windows you’ve still got an ugly house. New, modern windows is the most impactful home improvement because it improves the look of every room in the house.
If you notice these signs in your new home’s windows, we can help you out. We specialize in vinyl windows designed to keep you as comfortable as possible and save on your utility bills. Just give us a call at (470) 275-5159, or get in touch with us online for a free estimate.