Renovation Rant

It is time to replace the living room window, so I thought I’d also replace the gliding glass door to my patio as I seldom go out there because the door doesn’t slide. I’ve talked to 3 different sources for replacements, discounting one as way too high and another that was higher than the other big box store across the street. The store I chose has an “e” upgrade promotion, so I can get a better energy rating than if I wait to purchase the products, so that’s what I decided to do.

... something about 2 birds and 1 stone comes to mind ...

The living room window should be replaced by insurance as it was a victim of vandalism, but my deductible is $500 and the total cost of the replacement, including installation and delivery, is $867. Thus, I’m going to pay the majority of the cost, but perhaps the insurance company will kick in a bit on the other side of the deductible. However, the gliding glass door, which I chose over the swing open door because that one is $550 more than the simple replacement slider, is $1325. Okay, so it’s a vinyl, rather than an aluminum door, and it is energy efficient, but that’s a whole lot more than I ever dreamed a slider could/should cost.

Adding the figures in my head, I came up with about $1700 in materials and then needed to know how much labor would cost. Wish I had been sitting down when that question was answered!

The LABOR for these “pull one out, put the other in, adjust the flanges” installation projects is $1250! The living room window incurs an “oversize” charge in addition to the installation charge, although it comes as one piece, fits inside the existing casing, and takes about 1/2 hour to install. The slider is going to involve $400 worth of “extra installation charges,” which include framing pieces I didn’t know I needed. I listened carefully to the “built-in flanges that cover the existing frame” part of the sale’s pitch and asked several times: so ALL I need is the door, right?” I guess the good news is that had I gone with the open door/fixed door garden style replacement, not only would it have cost more to purchase, but more to install, too.

Bottom line: my budget of $2500 for the window and the slider replacements is a solid $3050.00, down from the original $3350 total. I complained and Jered, the sale’s rep, knocked the labor down a bit and deleted the sales tax, both of which came after I pointed out the sign hanging behind the register: “LOWE'S SPECIAL: Installation on vinyl replacement windows $149.00. Installation on exterior doors $249.00.”

The catch? That only applies to certain product, not to just any old door or window, so it’s not going to apply to my purchase!

Now, I wait for about 21 days for the product to arrive and then wait to schedule an appointment with the company that completes the installation, so it may be another 3-5 weeks before I actually have a new window and a new gliding glass door to my patio. Meanwhile, my credit card was charged today, so that bill will arrive in my mailbox long before the products are delivered to my door, much less installed, but I'll tell you this: it better be a damn fine installation or it's going to be redone until it's perfect.