Hi Gang,

Here is my situation. My house was built in 1996, then in 2005 and addition was put on. The addition has Andersen Series 400 TW (tilt-wash) windows, I like the windows and they are holding up quite well for being 11 years old.

The windows in the 1996 part of the house are junk, previous owner painted the frames (did a horrible job) 50% of the sills are rotted to some degree. Current standard size 400 series TW won’t fit in my RO’s. It all cases the new windows are 1” too tall, in the case of the 2 mulled and 3 mulled windows the assembled window is 1-1.5” too wide.

Dilemma – Purchase the standard sized 400 TW’s and hack up the house to make them fit OR Purchase custom sized 400 Series woodwrights that will drop right in. Cost difference is about 45% more

I plan on installing all the windows as I have done quite a few in the past when helping a buddy of mine do side work and I have access to a 50’ reach bucket truck. So is the 45% more in price, worth more than cover the time and cost to make the RO’s bigger? I am leaning towards paying the extra $$

Lets here some advice

 

Brick or siding exterior? If siding you can enlarge the ro fill in the gap and use some sort of decorative trim around the windows to cover any imperfections.Problem is would it cause you to have to alter the interior. If so,then I'd probably be cheaper to go with custom windows.Really up to you on something like this.. I know where you're coming from as I was in commercial construction and built my own home before I gave this up and started turning wrenches for a living.

 

House has siding. I could use decorative trim, but then it wouldn't match the 2" brick molding that is on the windows in the Addition.

Yes - the amount of work to alter the interior... dropping sill plates, widening the RO aka moving the Jack studs... I don't think even I am that

I just might have to put in some extra OT the next few weeks to make up the difference in price

 

ya i would go with custom windows. By the time you figure out the cost difference and all the interior repairs it will cost the same. Also if you open up your interior walls you will may need to pull a permit in your area. Who knows what you will find behind the walls that would not pass current building code and have to be changed. Big can of worms

 

X3 Go with the custom windows. If you go smaller you'll have drywall to put in and get replastered or skimmed. If you didn't go that route you'd have to put wider trim on the inside which would look odd. Outside is kind of the same situation. You'd have to add a lot more trim and siding to fit a smaller window. I wouldn't go with a larger. You'd have to cut the header above the window (not a good idea) or cut the studs under the sill however much short they'd need to be. Go custom...

 

Yep. Custom fit. It's easier to fit windows to the house than it is to fit the house to the windows.

 

Simplest explanation is most often the best.

 

Hey Guys,

Yea.. all good points, I was leaning heavily towards custom windows anyhow and now the decision is final Custom sizes it is!

However, frther research has helped me understand Andersen's unit height measurement. It means this: The advertised unit height is actually 1/2" taller than the interior frame height. The reason is, the unit height includes a 1/2" for the portion of the sill that sits outside. I verified this yesterday when I went to home cheapo and pulled a TW2846 out of the box and measured it! Advertised unit height is 56-7/8", Interior frame height is 56-3/8" - 1/2" difference! -- My RO = 56-1/2" - It will fit but only gives me 1/8" to play with..... not much at all!! I mean I should have 1/4" top and bottom in a perfect world right?

So with that being said this is where I am at:

• 2 standard sized windows will fit!
• 4 standard sized windows will fit IF I drop the sill plate 3/8" - I am seriously considering cutting 1/2" out of the sill stud.. I mean afterall it doesn't provide any support right?
• 3 windows won't fit - One RO is 33-3/4 while all other RO's for single windows is 34-1/2, other 2 windows are 2 and 3 Mulled window assemblies

So with that being said - it might not cost $2600 more afterall

-CS-

 

If you can access the studs around the existing window and check to see how level they are 1/8" could be enough room to level it. In other words, if the vertical studs, sill, and header are all level I'd leave it alone and put the windows in. RO measurements are mostly given because window framing isn't as level as it should be.

 

I have pulled off the casements and that is where I made my RO measurements, Stud-to-Stud. I made 6 measurements on each window, 2 width, 2 height and corner to corner to see if its sure. (#'s are at home though)

Moose - That makes sense - I am seriously considering getting the standard size for those 4 windows, worse case, I break out the skil saw and shave 3/8" off the sill plate.

That will also save me another $400! Which consequently, that is about how much I will spend on Azek Brick mould PVC trim.

I priced out the Andersen 2" Brick Mould kits....... Wait for it... Cost = $1477 More!! No Thanks...... I'd rather take the extra 45 minutes per window to cut and install the Brick Mould myself...