What To Ask When Shopping for New Windows
By Bill Wilson, CEO, Peoples Products/HR40 Windows
The home improvement field is made up of a varied cast of characters, from knowledgable to those who simply aren’t equipped. When you breakdown what knowledge is needed, you might have thought it would be fairly simple. You have a product to sell, you must have studied it, or had to pass some kind of certification to represent it, yet many times that’s just not the case. My own background is mostly in replacement windows, siding, roofing, doors, to name a few. I’ll use replacement windows as the product, and I’ll show you how much detail goes into making a lasting decision without regret.
Materials: wood, vinyl, vinyl-clad wood, vinyl-clad aluminum, fiberglass, even proprietary names, such as Fibrex. Glass: single pane, double pane, double pane Low E with argon, double pane with Low E and krypton, triple pane, heavily-coated to the point of looking like a dirty fish tank. Screens: heavy-wired mesh, aluminum, nylon, self-repairing. Frames: hollow, multi-chambered hollow, compressed Styrofoam, metal-reinforced, fusion welded, mechanically fastened, closed-cell insulation. Price: low and cheap, low builder-grade, low performance overall, medium centered on aesthetics, medium centered on performance, high quality, well known (with large advertising campaign budgets built into a price). Capping: matching the window color, matching the window color only in name, flat, flat with little protection against oxidizing, textured, PVC textured, pre-primed boards. Warranty: 1-year contractor, pro-rated, 10 year, 20 year, lifetime, lifetime transferrable, lifetime in name only.
Which do you want?
Would you have thought to ask many or any of those questions? How would you know what to ask at all? Yet, 30% of homeowners who purchase new windows are so dissatisfied, they replace their new windows in as little as seven years from the day they were installed. Those are the people who can afford to do it twice. What a waste! Many people simply google, windows near me and see whatever person shows up. Whoever said – “knowledge is power” wasn’t wrong. The more you know, the less chance you have of being dissatisfied.
Remember, whoever you are speaking with (to get a price on new windows) never graduated window college. It doesn’t exist. It’s the wild west when it comes to new windows. Some poor products have the best designed and most attractive literature, and conversely, the same is true in reverse. If you speak with a contractor whose onramp to the home improvement industry was through installing, you might find him to be less knowledgable about the product nuances. If you talk with someone who is slick in selling, but can’t answer basic installation questions, it’s probably because the salesperson pushes what they sell and never learned the rest. It’s confusing, but it doesn’t have to be.
Listen to Window Industry Pioneer, Chuck Wetmore describe HR40 Replacement Windows.
When Peoples Products/HR40 Windows decided to create the HR40 model, we knew what we wanted. It had to be a very high performing window that looked amazing in any residential setting. We designed this window to check all the boxes related to long-term customer satisfaction. When you see an HR40 window presentation up close, you will be amazed at how well designed this product is. It is manufactured by the same minds that brought the Empire State Building 6,514 new windows and saved them a lot of money on their energy cost. This was before the most recent and historical increases in 2022 and 2023. In hindsight, the amount of money saved is stratospheric. While you probably don’t have as many windows as the ESB, you can achieve the same results they did.
Peoples Products – HR40 Windows offers a free, no-obligation estimate on new windows. When we come out, you will learn exactly what you need to learn, but probably didn’t know. Whether you choose HR40’s for your home or go with something else, do it with the right product knowledge, delivered by some of the most pleasant home improvement representatives anywhere. Peoples Products has focused a lot of effort to grow an outstanding company culture and leave you with a great impression that will last. Just like our window.
For more information, or to set up a time to check out HR40 replacement windows with a visit to your home at no cost, call 1-800-354-7660, or go to www.HR40.com
Click link to visit HR40.com
