The Adventure Begins

My hope is that this blog will offer informative and unbiased information and review related to the design, selection, and purchase of residential windows and doors.

The intent is to publish and share stories of jobs gone right, and jobs gone wrong, as well as how to applaud and reward good work and expose the bad.

But most of all,  my purpose will be to educate you, as well as work to ensure those participating in this blog avoid making costly mistakes, whether they be product or service related.

Renovating one’s home costs money – and often good quality comes with a heavier price tag, so it is often to be expected.  But, too often, honest hard-working people who just don’t make the time to educate themselves get swindled. No, they do not deserve it – nor does anyone, but there are so many intricacies when it comes down to determining which product and company to go with, and in which cases can you overlook quality to save a couple bucks. … Continue Reading

Do Your Homework: Don’t Make Rush Decisions

Happy Halloween all! It’s raining and damp here in Montreal, but I doubt that will keep the kids inside. Hopefully it tapers off long enough for them to go and get a nice variety of candy – I could use a few mini Kit Kat’s and Coffee Crisp’s….

Onto the topic at hand; Research (ie. your homework).

At this time of year, homeowners who have left their renovation projects until the last minute are now scrambling to source and purchase windows and doors to be installed ”before the winter”. As we all know, here in Canada, there are often quite a few surprises in store for us when it comes to the weather. Winter some years can start as early as late October to mid November, whereas in other years we’ll see above seasonal temperatures well into January…although this is quite rare.

Among the reasons one might want to rush along a job and get it done before the upcoming winter may include;

• can’t bear the thought of putting the plastic up on all the windows in the house again this year
• want to take advantage of the Home Renovation tax credit before it expires in early 2010
• selling the house, looking to ”add value”, have the place look nicer for potential buyers
• serious drafts and cold air seeping into bedrooms and common living areas making house quite uncomfortable
• high heating bills you feel can be cut following a window and/or door replacement

Granted these are great reasons for wanting to move forward with such a project, not allowing yourself ample time to research, compare and inspect jobs done by potential window and door supply/service centers would be a very big mistake.

… Continue Reading