One down, about 23 to go

A few weeks ago, Justin mentions that he has been researching windows and wants us to replace the windows in our house. I kind of laugh and think, "Yeah, like we can do that!" He says new windows will help with heating and cooling costs because they will be much more energy efficient than our current windows. If our new windows meet certain criteria, we'll also get tax credit.

The next weekend, he drags me to Lowe's, Home Depot, and a window and door store. I realize he's not only serious about replacing all of the windows, but we're going to do it ourselves. Justin and I are no novices when it comes to DIY home improvement, but replacing windows seemed a little out of our league. Windows keep the outside from coming in. Windows keep burglars from coming in. Windows keep bugs from coming in. Windows can even keep snakes from coming in.

After researching nearly every window currently on the market, we decided to use American Craftsman windows from Home Depot. American Craftsman is owned by Andersen, and in my opinion, Andersen makes quality windows. We spent quite a while playing with the display windows and learned all about them. We got some quotes for the windows and learned about all of the options and features the windows offered. We were walking around the window and door area of HD and found their window sale bin. We rummaged through it and found three windows that were the size we needed. Someone ordered them and then decided not to purchase them. They were pretty much exactly what were were looking for, except these were a nicer series than we were planning to buy. We thought about buying them, but decided to wait.

The next weekend, Justin said he really wanted to go ahead and order a couple of the windows and attempt to install them. We went to HD and got them to run a few more prices for us, including those sale windows. We decided to go ahead and buy two of the three sale windows since they were so cheap. We ended up saving $300 by buying them instead of ordering windows. We loaded them in the trunk of the Honda and headed home. I never thought the Honda would be hauling windows around Atlanta. The Honda has also hauled seven tires for Justin's car. Yes, you can fit seven tires for a Mercedes in the trunk and backseat of a Honda.

Due to the expense associated with new windows, we're going to do a few at the time. Those windows will cost several thousands of dollars and we just don't want to spend that much at one time. We also don't have room in the house to store that many windows.

Yesterday, we decide to install one of the windows. Justin has watched many videos online and knew exactly what to do. We had printed directions from HD to refer to. We gathered all of our supplies and started removing the old window. It was actually very easy. We decided to install these first two windows in our bedroom since they would be very slightly different from the ones in the rest of the house. We cleaned the opening and prepared the new window for installation. This was actually very easy, too. We put the window in the opening and it fit perfectly. We were amazed. After shimming it and making sure everything was level, Justin screwed it in place. Then he caulked the inside and outside. We still need to paint and install the new stop moulding for the inside part of the window, but that won't take long. The new window looks fantastic! We're also surprised at how much outside noise the new window blocks. We can barely hear those naughty chipmunks chirping at daybreak now!

This is the window before we started working.

Another view of the old window.

Justin is removing the stop moulding. The stop moulding keeps the window in the opening (actually, the nails/screws in the tracks do that, but the moulding helps) and helps "finish" the window. It makes the window pretty.

Justin removed all of the stop moulding and was about to remove the bottom sash.

The bottom sash is removed and Justin is working on removing the tracks and springs so the upper sash can be removed.

Justin is removing the metal tracks.

After both sashes and the old track have been removed.

Justin caulking the opening, preparing it for the new window. With his mouth open, Justin looks like a woman applying mascara, doesn't he?

Yay! The new window in place!

There was a very small space between the window top and the framing, so Justin sprayed a small amount of insulating foam. A little bit creeped out. After it dried, Justin trimmed it and caulked around it. The new stop moulding will cover it.

My man and his caulk gun...shortly before we ran out of caulk.

I promise I did help. Justin did do most of the work, but I handed him tools when necessary and I helped lift the window in place. I was also the official project photographer. I'm not going to quit my day job.

We installed a second window Sunday after breakfast. We aren't sure how long the first one took since we stopped a few times to do other things. The second one took a little over an hour. I'm sure that time will be shortened as we continue installing windows.

I'll post pictures after we install the painted stop moulding next weekend.