This Old House #3

sunporchtoroom02
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

*click* "Houston, we are past the point of no return." *click*

The sun porch project continues, and today was the proverbial "crossing of the Rubicon" regarding it. Not only did C & A rip out the old "walls" (a series of aluminum screen doors screwed into 2 x 4's! back in the 1940's--see "This Old House #2" for a visual), but C and I went to Home Depot and ordered the new windows and door.

This was our second joint visit to HD, the first being a preliminary sort of a what's available and what will it cost. HD carries multiple lines of windows and doors, and some are clearly of a higher quality than others. When I think about this project, I don't think of it as something that will be replaced in the future, so I'm far more interested in the quality aspect of the materials. And that's why I decided to go with Anderson Window's series 400. The bottom line out of that first visit was a price tag amounting to $6,400.00. I was surprised, but I held my sticker shock in check and gave the stats to C to review and work with.

Now, here's where you know someone is worth their weight in fees. C took the stats and reviewed them item by item against possible changes. In the end, I spent $4,300.00 today for all of the windows and door; still Anderson series 400; with a little tweek here and a little tweek there in the particulars. They were things that no one would ever even notice in the final product. At one point, the sales person jokingly commented that we were “heading in the wrong direction”, after another change produced another decrees in price.

Cool, huh?