Source: REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR Magazine
Publication date: November 1, 2006
By Jim Cory
Installing windows usually isn't complicated, but it can go wrong when installers fail to pay attention. According to home improvement company owners, the most common mistakes installers make — those that result in botched jobs, callbacks, or a blown referral — include the following:
- Mismeasuring. Not paying attention accounts for most mismeasures, says David Matus, president of Matus Windows in Philadelphia, because most window openings are fairly straightforward. Mistakes, he contends, “typically result from carelessness in writing down the measurements, or installers being unable to read their own handwriting.” The consequences? “If the measurement isn't right, then you're trying to improvise,” Matus says. And if you're trying to improvise, there's a chance you won't get the window in. More than a chance if your measurements result in a window that's too big.
- Not double-checking. Jim Brown, owner of Arch Home Improvements, Ashland, Ohio, says taking the old window out before being sure the new one fits could make you look stupid. “People grab the window, thinking it will fit, and tear out the old one,” he says. “If it's too big, you have a problem; besides saying you messed up and having to order another window, you have a hole in the house and must figure out how to get the old window back in.”
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