Window installation

Tristan Schmid, host, List-en Up!))

Schmid: Windows: they’re a part of daily life that most of us take for granted. For many of the home contractors on Angie’s List, though, windows are a focal point of professional life.

If you’re like me, you probably only pay attention to your windows if they’re dirty or broken. But how can you tell if it’s time to flat-out replace them? Gino Streano, co-owner of Lifetime Remodeling Systems in Portland, Oregon, has an answer.

Streano: For a leak, obviously that’s a no-brainer; you’ve got to replace, because not only is there an energy-efficiency issue, but you’re causing damage to the home. You’re potentially introducing dry rot and toxic-mold issues. A leak is going to be the easiest time to know when to replace. For most people, it’s an energy upgrade because a lot of people have either inefficient old vinyl or inefficient aluminum pane windows from the 70’s, which are the absolute worst as far as Energy Star ratings are concerned. In my market, in Portland, Oregon, we’ve got a lot of arts and crafts houses that have old single-pane wood windows, which are equally ineffective at insulating the house. And the windows are the number one cause of heat loss in the home, so most of my customers are upgrading their windows based on their ability to save money on heating and cooling, because it’s such a huge upgrade, from an Energy Star factor, to go to a high-end vinyl window versus an aluminum or an old wood window.

Schmid: Most residential windows on the market today are low-maintenance and double-pane, according to Streano. However, triple-pane windows are now available as well; according to Streano they generally cost about 30% more than a similar double-pane.

Streano: I know that there are some manufacturers that are now moving to triple-pane glass, which on paper is great, and we also offer it. I’m not as much of a fan because I feel the rate of failure for triple-pane glass is much higher than for a double-pane. You add more parts and pieces, there’s more room for failure.

Schmid: There are positives to having triple-pane windows installed, according to Pat Nelligan, vice president of Thermalcraft, which installs both double- and triple-pane windows in the Chicago area.

Nelligan: You’ll have areas where they want sound abatement: people living next to train tracks and things like that. You’ll see them using triple-pane windows for that reason. Or someone that wants to get the ultimate thermal efficiency out of a window.

Schmid: Nelligan says the window industry’s main trend is toward high-efficiency windows that contain argon gas, which helps insulate, and windows that often have Low-E coatings as well, which minimize heat transfer.

Nelligan: It really comes down to glass packages that are available, whether it be low e and argon, as far as how the windows insulate.

Schmid: Streano, Nelligan, and Mick Widmeyer, owner of Mr. Window in Indianapolis, only sell Energy-Star-rated windows. Widmeyer says customization is the other big trend in the window business.

Widmeyer: You can put in good-performing windows with no-maintenance features: you don’t have to paint them or stain them, the grids are between the glass so they’re easy to clean, and they’re high-energy-efficient. But you can also put in windows that have some nice options that you might make a statement or decorate your house with, like blinds or pleated shades between the glass, or a wood interior that you want to stain or paint a specific color, or retractable roll screens that when you want your screen it’s there, but when you don’t it doesn’t obstruct your vision. Or put specific designer-type hardware on the window, like oil-rubbed bronze in a den, but bright brass in a bathroom. Those are some things you can do to have some fun with windows.

Schmid: The contractors all agreed that proper installation and good customer service are the most important qualities of a good window-installation business. Streano says that homeowners should ask many questions of their window installer.

Streano: You have to make sure that you understand the installation practices that are being used and that whoever sells you the window is willing to explain in simple terms how they’re doing it that’s why we do so well on Angie’s List. Because I really try to explain not only the feature set of the window, but also how we install it, and why that’s better than doing it another way, and show you ways to install it that would fail, so that you know. Because the most energy-efficient window in the world that big air gaps around it with air flowing into your house doesn’t really matter. And that’s what I see that all the time, where they’ll (other contractors) measure the window too small and then hide it with some wood trim, and there’s no insulation there so you have a quarter- or half-inch gap around the entire window going straight to the outside, so you just have all this air leaking into the house. That’s a real shame.

If you get a good-quality window in your home, while you’re spending X number of dollars, depending on where you live, you’ll recoup the majority of the cost of the window and installation the day the installation’s done, just from equity value gained, and then you should continue to gain equity on that. I’m not going to walk out the door, and you’ve just lost $7500 value on your home.

Schmid: You can get a well-installed, Energy-Star rated double-pane window for about $350, according to Mick Widmeyer of Mr. Window. Add options such as grids inside the glass, two-tone color, or triple-pane glass, and you’re looking at a few hundred dollars more. For the Rolls Royce of windows, though, you could spend up to $1200 on a great-looking Pella wood window with mini-blinds between the panes, according to Widmeyer.

(INTERLUDE)

If your old windows are leaky, and you’re looking to save energy or just make an update to your home, check out some of the highly rated window installers on Angie’s List to get more information on the options available for your home. And as always, feel free to leave a comment or contact us on the podcast’s website, angieslistpodcasts.com.

Until next time, this is Tristan. Thanks for taking the time to list-en!

Eminent domain
Tristan Schmid, host, List-en Up!))

Schmid: Imagine receiving a letter in the mail from your city council saying your home is in such bad shape that “your land would better serve the public if it was redeveloped and turned into an area for luxury town homes and condos.” This is what happened to Lori Vendetti.

Vendetti: I own a home down in Long Branch, New Jersey. My parents have their own home as well down there — they’ve had their home for 47 years. We’re along the oceanfront. In New Jersey they don’t call areas blighted any more. They call them “an area in need of redevelopment.” They zoned our area “in need of redevelopment” to build luxury townhouses and condominiums along the oceanfront for the wealthy, and they’re trying to throw the average citizen — middle-class, lower-class citizen — out from the oceanfront that has been there for years. Currently we’re in a battle to save our homes from being demolished. We want to stay there, and no amount of money is going to buy us out.

Schmid: Eminent domain, the right for the government to take private property, has been around for quite awhile, though lately many Americans have objected to what they see as a growing abuse of this constitutional right. Steven Anderson is a legal expert and director of the Castle Coalition, which helps activists around the country fight what they say is eminent domain abuse.

Anderson: The 5th amendment to the U.S. Constitution says “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” Over the last 50 years the public use clause has deteriorated from a traditional understanding of public use as things like roads, schools, court houses and post offices to the modern understanding — through at least five justices of the Supreme Court — that luxury condominiums, big-box stores and factories are also public uses.

Schmid: Then came the Kelo v. City of New London Supreme Court ruling in 2005.

Anderson: The court said that any home or small business could be taken by the government on the mere possibility that it can make more money for the local government or provide more jobs. None of those promises ever have to come true, only the possibility that you can have more money or more jobs through redevelopment. That’s especially harrowing for every small-business owner and homeowner across the country, because any home can make more money if it’s turned into a luxury condominium, any small business can make more money if it’s turned into a big-box store.

Schmid: The Kelo case opened the floodgates for privately owned land to be handed over to private developers. And though the owners of the land are compensated, Anderson says it is not always fair.

Anderson: The threat of eminent domain, when that hangs over someone’s head, they will often get less than they probably otherwise would have if they were to litigate a case because a local government or their agents or the developer will come and say, “this is what we’ll offer you now. We’re going to get your property anyway, so you might as well sell out now, take the money and go” as opposed to going through the court case and having to pay your lawyer.

Schmid: Lori Vendetti says money isn’t the issue, and feels that her family’s home is priceless.

Vendetti: Our house is three houses away from the ocean. I wake up in the morning, and I smell the ocean. I see the sunrise, I go for a walk on the boardwalk and take my dog for a walk near the ocean. I can’t buy another house near the ocean in New Jersey for the price that they’re offering us. But that’s not even the point. The point is that your house should not be threatened by eminent domain for someone else’s profit. That’s what we’re fighting. We’re fighting the principle. They could offer me $5 million, and I would still fight. My memories are in that house. My two brothers have since passed; I’m the only child left. That home is not a structure — to me, it’s part of the family.

Schmid: Lora Lucero is staff attorney for the American Planning Association, which filed a brief in favor of the developers in the Kelo v. New London case.

Lucero: American Planning Association is a non-profit organization that represents about 43,000 members across country that are mostly professional planners, with chapters in almost every state. Planners who are involved in making these plans are very, very concerned about this issue.

Schmid: Lucero says she understands how homeowners like Vendetti feel when their home’s being taken by eminent domain.

Lucero: We argued that eminent domain needs to remain in the toolbox for local communities to use, but perhaps we need to find better ways to value what just compensation is. Because how do you value memories, if your family, your grandparents have lived in that house for generations? There are sentimental values and there are other factors that perhaps should go into defining what just compensation is. So maybe that’s where the reform should really be focused on: not getting rid of the tool of eminent domain altogether and taking it out of the toolbox, but looking at if it is necessary, and if it is necessary and used to justify and implement a community plan, then maybe reexamining what just compensation is going to be awarded.

Schmid: Lucero acknowledges abuse of eminent domain does happen, but she says this abuse can be prevented if homeowners are involved in their local government and community.

Lucero: People who are concerned about eminent domain should be concerned about “what kind of planning is occurring in our community, and how do I get involved in the planning process? How do I make sure that my voice and my expectations for the community plan, or the redevelopment plan, how do I make sure that I can voice my opinions? I should be, as a property owner, involved at the front end, helping guide where this community plan ends up, rather than at the back end fighting a particular project or the use of eminent domain.” It’s a lot tougher at the back end. So I would encourage people to get involved early on in the planning process.

A lot has been orchestrated by interest groups that are concerned about eminent domain and the potential for abuse. I think the potential for abuse has been blown out of proportion. I don’t think it’s as serious as the proponents of these changes make it out to be, because eminent domain is a very important tool in the toolbox. But it’s definitely a subject of conversation around the country now, and I don’t think it’s going to subside for a while.

These properties are not just taken from property owners. The proponents of all the change that we see going on now, many of them don’t talk about the second half of this equation, which is taking the property but also paying compensation. I think we need to look more closely at that second half of the equation and figuring out how just compensation is calculated.

(interlude)

Schmid: Eminent domain is a controversial subject, and we’d love to hear your opinions about it. Do you think using it for private redevelopment is justifiable in most cases as long as the property owners are fairly compensated? Or is the use of eminent domain as a government tool getting out of hand? Let us know by commenting on our website, angieslistpodcasts.com, or by emailing us at podcast at angieslist.com.

Until next time, this is Tristan. Thanks for taking the time to list-en!