Windows - before, during and after

What can I say? I LOVE the new windows that Certified Home Services installed! I told John that I couldn't wait for the next huge wind storm. He looked at me with the "who are you and what did you do with my wife" look. I think I would diagnose myself with Ancraophobia- Fear of wind. I can't sleep when it is windy; my heart races as I hear it whistling at night. I think being in Hurricane Hugo had some lasting effects on me ...

We had our first wind storm with the new windows two nights ago. At least that is what I heard on the radio. I didn't hear a thing!

So here are the pictures of the window project.

We had several windows in sad shape in several areas. The bottom of the windows were rotting out. In fact, when those 4 windows were removed, the bottom wood frame disintegrated as they lifted it out. Thankfully we didn't have moisture in between the panes. I could hear the wind whistling and saw the blinds moving on a windy day even with the window latches locked.


The front of the house before:

The front of the house after:

Notice the difference? Before: Grid Lines

After: NO GRID LINES! I love the unobstructed view!

(I spy a cute Jaley in the front window!)

Before: Kitchen corner window

After: Kitchen corner window

Before: Dining Room


After: Dining Room (Kerst has it all set up for a formal game of Apples to Apples Jr. - Kendall added his touch with setting cards out in a rainbow design)


Before: Kitchen eating area

After: Kitchen eating area


Before: Living Room/Piano Room


After: Living Room/Piano Room ... no grid lines - you can't see the effect in this photo. I love the view so much that I have not hung the blinds back up in this window.
Before: Family Room. You can kind of see the blue tint to the windows. I put Gila film up on the windows shortly after we moved in to cut down on the heat from the sun that was beating down on us ... even in March! It made a huge difference having done that but didn't solve the inefficiency of the windows (drafty, etc). The far window on the right doesn't have the film as the sun doesn't hit that window.
During: I was able to watch the window installers remove the family room windows while I was ironing the curtains (5 hours of ironing). Tony had to cut out the nailing flange on the original window from the outside of the house. 34 windows kept him busy for quite some time! Tony even told me that he has these windows that he was installing for us in his own home ... which means we made a good choice!

Tony's crew removed each window. Here you can see the difference the Gila film made on the brightness of the room. I didn't notice the difference until ...

They installed the new window.

It doesn't look like there was one in there! Notice the circle on the window to the right of the head of the installer standing inside. It is a suction cup! What a neat tool! The installers used 1 to 2 of these suction cups to install the windows ... even the large picture windows that were 3 stories above ground! Tony told me it was like having another set of hands.

Look at the difference! Now I understand why I was squinting for several days getting used to the beautiful new efficient look!

After: Family Room

And the finished product in the Family Room. I changed the curtain arrangement ... a rod originally ran all of the way across the top with the curtains where they are. I shortened the rod to fit each curtain section. I love it so much more!

Here is a before and after all in one shot. The windows by the deck are new. The upper windows have not been installed yet.

Thanks Joe L., Tony and John R. ... we love the windows!