Replacing Leaky Windows – Roundup
September 6, 2011

Leaky windows are just another in the list of homeowner expenses we’ve run into this summer. We’ve been in our house a little over a year now and have had all kinds of expenses pop up here and there. The latest surfaced during a recent storm when we found a leak in one of our windows.
I know water can do nasty things to your house so we wanted to get it taken care of right away. As usual I looked up the three best contractors on Angies List and scheduled them to come out as soon as possible (here’s the contractor checklist I use).
Two of the companies were available Saturday, I scheduled one for 10 AM and the other for noon. We spent two hours out front of the house with a hose, spraying potential leaky hot spots and watching for the leak to develop. Finally we found the trouble spot, at the peak of the highest window, and he gave me estimates to replace it.
The second window company showed up while the first guy was still there and in the middle of his closing sales pitch. I felt kind of bad making the second company wait, I had no idea the first one would take so long. Turns out it might have been a good thing because each window guy threw in an extra discount. They didn’t specially reference their competitor but I imagine seeing each other bidding on the same job probably had something to do with it.
Seeing the two estimates reminded me of why I always like to get at least three bids on house projects. The estimates were almost $1000 apart. According to the company with the higher bid, they have higher quality windows (triple pane glass, very energy efficient) and better installion crews (full time employees vs contract labor). Now we’ll get a third estimate to see how they all compare.
No matter who we go with replacing the windows won’t be cheap. It looked from leak test that the source of the leak may be the top of the window or even above it. Unfortunately, the top of the window was higher than our neighbors 28 foot extension ladder would reach so I’m still not sure. Once I can get up high enough, I may find that the window is okay and that a few tubes of caulk above the window may get rid of our leak. That would certainly be a cheaper option, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Speaking of cheaper options, here are some personal finance tips and articles from around the web this week you can use to save some money.
Personal Finance
- 10 Ways to Simplify Your Finances @ Generation X Finance
- 6 Surprising Benefits of the One Car Household @ My Dollar Plan
- How to Create a Sinking Fund @ Frugal Dad
- 45 Ways to Save Money @ Financial Highway
- Is Your Money Working for You? @ Peak Personal Finance
- 10 Ways to Stop Wasting Money @ My Two Dollars
College
- Best Value For Your College Dollar? @ Lazy Man & Money
- Options For Your 529 Accounts If The Kids Don’t Go To College @ Suns Financial Diary
- Businesses to Start in College @ Studenomics
- Save Money with Off Campus Housing @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
Investing
- Ways To Shrug Off A Stock Market Slide & Reduce Market Anxiety @ The Digerati Life
- A Primer on Futures Contracts @ Million Dollar Journey
- Dollar Cost Averaging: An Overview @ Good Financial Cents
- Dealing with Stock Market Volatility @ The Oblivious Investor
Career
- Is it a good idea to be a consultant? @ Brip Blap
- The Corporate Stability Myth @ The Wealth Artisan
- What Would You Do If You Lost Your Job? @ Free Money Finance
- What Do You Value in a Job? @ Cash Money Life
- 6 Weird But Successful Small Business Ideas @ The Money Crashers
Thanks to the following sites for including our articles in recent money carnivals:
- The Best Rental Car Deals for Road Trips @ Narrow Bridge
- Top 10 Ways to Beat Your Bills Big Time @ Financial Uproar
- 10 Ways to Get Ahead at Work @ Stumble Forward
- 10 Ways to Get Out of Debt @ Invest It Wisely


All posts by Ben Edwards
Comments