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Comment by kirtakat | Hacker News Reader

That's true for relatively new construction, but for instance, I have a 100 year old house with stucco. Replacing my windows is a nightmare job. Whereas my back deck was a far simpler project

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My home is 58 years old. last summer I had the original aluminum single-pane windows replaced with vinyl double-pane ones. I 'assisted' the installer and knew he would prob run into some settling of the window opening. I was right, there's no way I could done the replacements on my own, owing to proper tools alone.

My power company sent me an email the following December telling me my energy savings from the previous October, 2023 (that month only), for the same month in 2024, was 31%! When I called the installer and told him, he said a large part of that was prob from leakage around the old windows and the now double panes.

Where did you purchase your replacement windows from? Custom size? May I ask how much you paid for them?

The windows brand is "Ply Gem Windows". They were ordered from a local lumber yard, not a national chain like Lowe's. (Prices can vary wildly depending where you live. When the same installer put in my new patio door, he steered me to Lowe's as the best price, I went in and ordered that myself.) Since my house was built in 1967, they were for that era a standard size. The installer measured all 17 windows for Ply Gem to go by. For the windows and installation, not to mention my assistance (I mostly picked up trash!) the total cost was just under $8K.

100 year old windows were designed for easy maintenance and repair. Are the double hung windows? If they are, you can make sure to have storm windows on which effectively work as a double pane window. If this new glass were available, you could replace every pane in your window without removing a nail.

I seriously doubt they would provide the glass without frames, which requires removing the moulding around the existing window.

Selling panes of window glass that you then frame in is a common method for larger windows or odd shapes.

Here is a random product on Amazon, custom cut Low E insulated window panes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHD4F3HY

I see no reason why the company in this post wouldnt.

> window without removing a nail

There'd be brads to pull at least part-way out to release sashes, though. And the damned cords and all that.

Much easier to re-glaze a removed sash!

I have a stucco home, I've been doing replacement windows (I like milgard) and my stucco hasn't been touched. I have other people install them though.

Yeah, for me my windows weren't standard sizes so had to be custom built, anyhow. At that point, you might as well get installation as well. Some stucco had to be chipped back to insert the new window but it's covered by the vinyl frame. Low-e windows are amazing though.

Same here. We removed trim inside the house and it wasnt that bad, but I was just replacing the trim— not the windows. I could see that removing the windows would be a pain the ass very quickly. And it has already been done once.

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