Here's what we spent our savings on......

Before we left for our trip to Hawaii, one of the windows at the front of the house cracked and a chunk was missing.  After getting quotes on replacing the glass($300), we thought maybe we should just look at replacing the window since we know we'll have to do that before we sell the house anyway.  The people from "Renewal by Anderson" wouldn't even come out to look at the window since Todd wasn't home.  They required both homeowners be there, plus, they are "higher-end" windows and the person I spoke to acted like we wouldn't want to spend the money on that quality of windows if we're going to sell the house in a year or two.  So I also called Champion Windows, explained to them that Todd can't be here, they said they prefer both homeowners be present, but it's not required.  They came out and we had Todd on speaker-phone most of the time, and decided to go with them.   Instead of just replacing the one window, or even just the windows at the front of the house, we decided to replace ALL the windows in the house!!!   Thinking it would be a miracle to have them installed by the end of Jan or early Feb, I was VERY surprised when I received an e-mail from them on Dec. 20th saying the windows will be here in a few days and they wanted to install them on the 23rd.  The only problem was that when I received the e-mail, we were sitting at the airport in Dallas waiting for our flight to Hawaii.  lol  I had to call them to let them know the 23rd won't work for us.  They were going to check to see when they could re-schedule and get back with me.   I didn't hear anything from them while we were in HI, so on the way home I called, and they said Dec. 31.  OK, can't imagine the workers would want such a huge job on New Year's Eve, but that's fine.   Got up that morning and Todd and I removed all the window coverings, moved furniture out of the way, etc. and called right at 8 am to make sure they were still coming.  The person in Austin said Yes, but about 15 minutes later, we got a call saying the workers were coming from Temple and since it was "drizzling", they weren't sure it was going to happen.  Jumping to the end, they didn't come and re-scheduled for Jan 3.  Three guys showed up pretty early, just after 8 am and didn't leave until almost 8:30 pm.  Not breaks for lunch or anything!   It was COLD that day, so not very comfortable for Todd, me or Brute while the house was pretty open.  But I'm very glad the new windows are in!  We now have screens on all the windows (didn't before) so when it's nice outside, I can open them and get a nice breeze through the house.

Now - on to PICTURES!!!!!

Front Before:


Front AFTER:  SUCH an improvement!!!!!!  The old windows were single pane and wouldn't open.  The new ones are double pane and open!!!!!

They have since come back to put something underneath the window on the right, so when it rains it doesn't drip behind the stone exterior.  I'll get a picture of it soon.  :D


The side of the house with the Kitchen and Living Room
Before:


After:  The windows that open up and down tilt inside the house for easy cleaning!!!!!  Both the top and bottom parts of the window.  (Now I don't have an excuse for dirty windows.)


The office - After:



Here are few "while" pictures I snapped:
This was the most shocking one - while the front windows were out and before the new ones were installed.  We had them increase the wall underneath the windows by 8 inches so we wouldn't be required to have tempered glass.  Brute wasn't too happy, though.  The old windows were low enough that he could just put his chin on the windowsill, now he has to put his front paws on the ledge to see outside.  (He does that when I go out the front to get the mail.)


In the office:




Todd Supervising:


The two guys who were removing the old windows, got a little ahead of the one installing the new ones.  The back bedrooms didn't have windows AT ALL for at least two hours.  (Our electric bill that we received yesterday didn't make me very happy.)



The back with the new ones installed.  Todd still has some painting to do.

We had already replaced the sliding glass doors a few years after we purchased the house, so didn't get new ones now.  The colors don't match exactly, but they're close enough.

We're still waiting for them to find someone to tape and float the drywall on the inside.  Apparently the guy they usually have do it was gone for a week, and I don't know what else is taking so long to....  I'll give them a few more days before I call.  Todd says he doesn't mind it not being done because he can do it himself, but I have too many other projects for him to do while he's home!!  (Like some more raised beds for the garden!)

Overall, I'm very happy with them!  Once the rest of the work gets done, I'll decide on window coverings.  I did put the old ones up for the windows on the hall just because I don't like people to see that well inside the house.  The windows by the table aren't that bad, but they will eventually have something on them.

Take Care!!!!!