So, here we are, getting ready for Manic RenovationsTM and Roo gets the idea that he should measure the windows which were delivered as promised and are stacked neatly in our garage.
Oh dear.
One is not right. One is 1/2 an inch too tall.
Perhaps not an issue if it was going to be an only window, solitary on its own piece of wall, but this particular window is going to be 3 feet away from another window and the idea was that they would actually be the same height.
Here is where you insert some gnashing of teeth.
The whole windows thing is in.sane. Let me tell you, that installing the things is actually easy. I'm talking about replacing your old, single pane, metal frame things that sweat all over the sill, and are drafty and cold. It's easy to get the old ones out & slap the nice, new, energy star, double pane, vinyl frame ones in.
The hard part is ordering them.
I'm convinced now that this is a conspiracy between window manufacturers and the contractors who install them - to make the bleeding ordering process so convoluted that most homeowners will give up on doing it and will pay a contractor three to four times the actual cost of the window to do the job.
To order them you first have to have several insane conversations about rough openings & actual window size - conversations which meander back and forth so many times that you begin to seriously doubt that you know how to use a tape measure and you pull out your kids' math books to review the unit on measuring things, just to check that you have not actually lost your brain, but that you're speaking with nitwits.
Then. Then, the guy who takes the order has to take the order and enter it into a computer. I hope that when you read that you will do it with a reverent tone. Make it sound like, oh, I don't know, "and then world renowned Dr. Smith will remove the patient's brain, use the flexray laser to excise precisely .1 mm of tissue and replace it in the patient's skull".
Yeah. Like it's that hard.
Three weeks ago, when Roo placed the order for the windows at Home Depot, he had to go back to the store THREE times, on THREE different days. The first day, the guy flat out said he had no clue how to place the order.
The second day, the new guy said he knew how to do it. An hour later, Roo read through the print-out of the order form (which resembles lines of Cobol but fortunately Roo's old enough to remember Cobol) and discovered it was wrong.
On the third day, finally, someone with a clue showed up to work and finally the order went in.
And then - Jeldwen screwed up. The order form SAYS 47. They made it 47 and a half. Why? Why? WHY?
So we were faced with keeping it & hoping that the eye wouldn't notice the difference between the two windows, or sending it back and waiting 3 weeks for a replacement (oh & enjoying yet again the process of ordering).
Roo spent an unpleasant couple hours with several levels of management at Home Depot, looking for some semblance of customer service. In the end, we're getting a new window and we got some gift cards to ease our pain.
Manic RenovationsTM start tomorrow, with an amended plan which now takes into account a missing window. Can you say hole in the wall?
5 comments:
My condolences.
We have not (yet) dealt with ordering new windows, but we have had similar renovation "adventures" and they just suck. Hope you survive the mania of this round and that the end results are worth it!
Lowe's is the same. The mystical methodology of entering the order isn't revealed to 99% of the employees. I don't know if that's encouraging, or just proves big box stores all suck.
My take on your situation (as the admittedly biased wife of a contractor). (a) Be careful with Home Depot products as they are not always the same quality as products ordered directly from the mfr or from other non-big-box stores.
And (b), give your contractor that extra 10 percent, let him order them, and let him deal with the fallout if they are wrong.
My husband once had a woman order all her own windows for the house he was building her (she was being her own general contractor), and they came the wrong color. She had to send them back and pay a restocking fee on EVERY window. In the end, she conceded that she would have saved thousands of dollars and many sleepless nights if she had turned the g.c. duties over to my husband, because the 10 percent you save can get eaten up fast if you have to be responsible for any mishaps.
No matter how you do it, ordering windows (and doors) is a ridiculously convoluted process, but if you can do it through a small, reputable store you can sometimes have more peace of mind that the person at the computer is going to do it right the first time, although it may cost you a little extra up front.
Good luck with the renovations. Fun, fun, fun!
you really need to get your product from a window specialist not someone who sells windows today, paint tommorow and lawnmowers next week.
I am in awe that you would even attempt this process! Go girl!
And good luck with the install.
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