Looking at, instead of through, the window
I’m easing into vacation slowly, this year. Instead of looking out the windows, or through the windows, I started the morning with a visit to a local factory showroom, where I could look at the windows. And doors. A door store.
We’re into reno mode, but with as little hands on as possible. That means contacting contractors and suppliers and negotiating for things that I know little about. Retail value for house parts; a foreign concept. Instead, we’ve been asking counsel from neighbours and friends, and trying to keep from being too badly fleeced. Buyer beware entails being a buyer aware.
The door and window visit meant that we were going in without the details needed to actually place an order. Instead, we looked at the general state of affairs. Windows and doors have evolved, like everything else (except our money supply). Different materials, different techniques. We learned that there is a rule of thumb in pricing – a grand per opening. Without defining how grand an opening, of course.
The requisite visit to a local box store (for comparison) left me confused. Do people actually walk down rows of racked fixtures and make choices? How do I know that this window will survive the rigours of a Canadian winter better than that one? The long (and short) of the story is that I don’t, and windows rarely have designer logos. The number of times a seal will flex before the vapour barrier is just a memory – who knows?
My raw measurements have been taken, and tomorrow (I think) we’ll return to actually discuss design features and get a quotation.
