Replacement Windows: When Do they Need to be Replaced?
The average owner of a home in the UK spends roughly 11% of their entire monthly income on various home maintenance and repairs. Unfortunately, this can be a lot. However, by ignoring the maintenance needs of your home, you can expect to pay even more on serious repairs. Your end-goal as a property owner should be to handle preventative maintenance to ensure that you don’t end up needing major repairs down the road.
For a lot of property owners, one of the main priorities they have is being able to ensure their home is made as energy efficient as possible. Your home’s windows can play a major role in determining how energy efficient it ends up being. As your windows age, they will begin to lose their efficiency and your windows will eventually show signs of needing to be replaced.
When you end up getting your windows replaced, experts at KJM Group advise you should be looking to hire a professional to handle the job. Installing windows incorrectly could be detrimental to your home’s energy efficiency and it can result in significant damage to your home. By having a professional handle the install for you, it is going to increase the chances of having it done the right way.
Signs You Need Replacement Windows
You will need to conduct frequent home inspections if you want to be able to catch issues before they become major problems. Throughout your inspections, you should be looking at virtually every area of your home.
As you are completing these inspections, you want to look at the condition of your windows. While inspecting the windows themselves, you want to look for various common signs including mould growth or even a broken frame.
Older windows are likely to lead to higher energy costs. Along with this, they can end up putting a lot of unnecessary stress on your entire HVAC system. Rather than having to deal with the consequences of having inefficient and/or broken windows and the ramifications of it, you can simply replace the windows as soon as possible to avoid the damage.
Water Damage Problems
One of the biggest things that can cause irreparable harm to your home from damaged windows would be water damage. After all, a window is designed to keep water from entering your home. You want to ensure that your windows have a tight seal to avoid water from being able to leak in. Water damage can become a major problem if your window allows water to seep in.
The longer you wait to correct this type of issue, the more likely it is that your home will suffer the consequences of water damage. If you allow water to creep behind your window, it can lead to wood rot and various other expensive issues.
How Does the Installation Process Work?
As soon as you have gone ahead and verified that your property requires brand new windows, you will want to look towards identifying the right professional to handle the installation. After all, removing old windows and installing new windows is a very complex process. Therefore, you want to ensure you employ someone who knows what they are doing. Below, we will be going over how this process works.
Taking Measurements
A lot of property owners don’t fully understand how many different types and sizes of windows are available. Therefore, they are unable to find the right size and type of windows.
The first step a professional installer will take is to measure your windows. They will be looking to measure the existing windows you have to ensure the new ones fit.
Removing the Old Windows
While you may assume this process is as easy as ripping the old set of windows out, it isn’t. Removing old windows is a delicate process and doing it improperly can damage your home. You need to delicately remove the trim and the window stops to avoid damaging your home’s structure.
Installing New Windows
The final step involves installing the brand new windows in the place of the old ones. They will typically look to complete a rough installation at first to double-check that it is going to achieve the right fit.
As soon as they have verification that the window(s) fit, they will begin the full installation process that includes nailing it and placing caulk around the trim.
