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June 4, 2008
His Mysterious Ways
Eight years ago, my parent’s bought Kevin and me new French doors for our back door. It replaced a sliding glass door in which the window was so foggy you could hardly see out. We loved the French door, but within a month, it too had fogged up. It never occurred to me that it would have a long warranty or what a warranty would entail, if the glass would be any trouble to replace and so on. I thought we were stuck with a dud.
Before our hot water heater decided to bust, I made a list of things I would like to get accomplished around the house. We have lived here twelve years and it is time for some major work. One major job is having our bedroom windows replaced. It is a double window, which means it is two windows put together. When we moved in twelve years ago, one window would not stay in place when raised. Therefore, you had to put a book under it to hold it open. After a while, the other window did the same thing. We had a book holding up each window for a while. I’m sure this looked very redneck, but sometimes you do what you have to do.
We lived with this for a long time and got used to the book thing. It didn’t get really bad until the windows didn’t want to rise at all. It took the force of Hercules to raise either window. That’s when I decided something had to be done.
If you live in the United States and file your taxes, you will get a big check called a Economic Stimulus Payment. My idea was to use the money from this check to have our bedroom window replaced. We received our check within a week of our hot water heater bursting. Kevin told me I may not get my windows. I said, “Oh, yes, I want those windows. I have waited long enough.”
We spent almost $500 on a new hot water heater. That money was for the heater itself, plus supplies needed to install the thing. I paid $615 for our new window from Lowe's. That price includes installation. We will hear from the installation company once the window arrives because it had to be special ordered. I would have never thought a double window could cost $615. I’m just glad we are getting it.
When the man came from the installation company to measure for the new window, I mentioned the French doors and how they had been foggy for years. He informed me that most of those doors had a ten-year warranty and as long as I had my paperwork, they should be covered.
He wasn’t gone ten minutes before I was rummaging through our filing cabinet for that paperwork. Once it was found, Kevin read that indeed those doors did have a ten-year warranty. They were bought eight years ago.
Kevin took all the paperwork to Lowe’s. Lowe’s called the window company and faxed all the paperwork we had to them. The company shipped new glass to Lowe’s. We picked it up less than a week later and Kevin installed it Saturday.
What I thought would be a huge ordeal wasn’t. Those guys at Lowe’s are great!
Below is a before and after of one view:
Before and after from a different angle:
We lived with foggy windows for eight years because I thought it would be a lot of trouble to get them replaced. I was wrong. The lesson here for anyone reading this is, keep good records and receipts and refer to your warranty if something goes wrong. It’s well worth it!
* I will show before and after photos of our new bedroom windows once they arrive. I am excited about them!
I cannot end this post without pointing something out. Every time we are due a tax check and plan to pay off a bill or do something great with the money, disaster strikes. You can read THIS post from 2006 for proof.
The Lord works in mysterious ways though. Had we found the termite damage (see link above) at any other time but tax time, we wouldn’t have had the money to fix the floor. This year, had the hot water heater busted at any other time of year, we wouldn’t have been able to afford buying a new one without putting it on credit.
Posted by tami at June 4, 2008 4:44 PM
Comments
Thank God for the Economic Stimulus Payments. Mine will help pay bills this month. NOT exactly what Pres. Bush had in mind.
Posted by: Dana at June 4, 2008 5:18 PM
DO you think they would send me one of these payments?!!! They sound like a wonderful idea..
Posted by: Miss L at June 5, 2008 6:55 AM
What a wonderful surprise for you. As a side note - we also use books to hold up our windows - LOL!
Posted by: Tammy at June 5, 2008 9:29 AM
Well, now that I know how expensive windows are I can see why people use books. I am learning to appreciate every aspect of our house!
Posted by: Tami at June 5, 2008 10:15 AM
I remember your post about termites...I can't believe it's been two years! Our check went to pay off our Lowe's charge account (the shed!).
We had to prop our first apartment's windows up, too. 1x2" pieces work well and can be stuck clear over in the frame. No worried about a book getting wet if you forget to put the window down when it sprinkles, too.
Posted by: gw at June 6, 2008 2:38 AM