Window installation day has finally arrived. Although it’s still laden with a ton of anxiety, I really can’t explain how nice it is to finally be at this step of the process.
The Window Saga
We had a horrible experience with our door and window vendor. HORRIBLE. And while I have no desire to give them any kind of attention on our blog by mentioning their name – I will happily tell you who to avoid if you just ask.
A full year ago, we kicked off the search for our windows. The ones detailed in the plans we worked out with our designer were not our style. They had lots of ridges and extra trim pieces that didn’t fit our vision. So, one-by-one we worked our way through all of the options – looking at catalogs, visiting showrooms, getting bids. Six months later, we finally found something that fit our style.
We visited the showroom, viewed comparable items, selected colors and were reassured repeatedly that they understood exactly what we wanted and the product we were choosing was the right fit. We ordered.
The original 12-week expectation dragged out to 20 weeks…5 months. Then, when everything finally arrive – it was wrong. Storm screens were the wrong colors. Our black and white windows were littered with beige parts. The handles for all of the doors were elaborate scrolly and hideous. It was soul-crushing.
To make matters worse, the vendor insisted he was right and we were wrong. That everything was “fine.” I was straightforward and to the point with the issues and my expectations for how to fix them. He filibustered – via email – longwinded rants about how I would regret choosing modern handles when I reach my 50s because they’re hard to open with arthritis. Or how the manufacturer, Marvin, doesn’t even recommend anyone buy modern handles because they suck. The list of completely bonus claims is literally 10 miles long.
Long story, short: more than one month later, we finally have agreed to a resolution that results in us actually installing what was delivered. We have a much longer wait to go to get our replacement screens, replacement doors and replacement handles – but at least the vision is back within reach.
Installation
All of that to say – the windows are in today. Some of them, anyway. There is such an unbelievable peacefulness that comes with saws ripping through the rock wall on the front of the house. We can finally remove all of the plywood from the rough openings. We can finally see daylight in the renovation. We can finally move on to trim. We can finally start our planning for the siding.
The master bedroom has, by far, seen the largest transformation. We knew going into the renovation that this would be a big change. By most standards, our bedroom might even be a bit on the small side – so these big windows to overlook the wide open spaces were critical to the master plan. Seeing the sunlight take over this room is everything I’d hoped it would be.
The master bathroom also has two huge windows. Both face pastures. We thought we’d take advantage of that to introduce sunlight to our wet room-inspired shower and bath space. We’ll eventually add panels of hanging stained glass or leaded glass to provide a little privacy…from the cows’ prying eyes, I guess.
Finally, the nursery door went in as well. The backside of the house is sheltered under a ~2 ft eave. It provides a lot of good shade and protection from the weather, but that also comes with limited sunlight moving into the house. For that reason, we expanded the size of every opening on the back of the house, including the nursery slider. Our kids love the outdoors and we eventually plan for this room to evolve into an office, so keeping the original door placement was always in the plans – now, it’s just bigger!
There are so many next steps that open up from here. I absolutely cannot wait to see the progress.