Paint is cheap, right? Not really when you consider the square footage of just one side of a house. Don’t forget the primer, because the paint apparently does not work by itself. I lugged heavy buckets back from the home improvement store, along with brushes and rollers and rags.

When I first got out the heavy ladder I would grow to hate and got up close, the peeling was worse than expected – so the scraping increased. Scraping off peeling paint is a harder chore than it looks. I spent a full weekend scraping the two sides alone.

The priming took another weekend of climbing up and down the infernal ladder. It seemed like every time I came down I would see a spot I missed.

When the actual painting finally began, it took another weekend to paint the house, and another yet to paint the trim and fix my mistakes. By now I had paint on most every window and ruined two pair of old sweats. And the end result looks, decent. It looks like a hapless homeowner went cheap.

The cost of vinyl siding is more than paint, but once it is installed there’s nothing left to do. Take the hose to it once in a while to clean it off. It doesn’t ever rot or peel. And the insulation they install underneath it adds R-value to the walls. The investment may be more, but next summer we are having our house wrapped with vinyl siding. It will add significant value to the place, but I will be most thankful for not having to climb that ladder again.

Scott

Having installed windows for over two decades, I understand the need for
windows as a practical necessity, but that people love them?! This got me to
thinking about my own shopping habits. Whenever I buy a product that makes
my life more productive, saves me time, or is just plain cool (iPhone 4s), I
tend to love those products myself.  In fact, I would venture to guess most
Americans love shopping because it gives us a great feeling.

Whether it’s an impulse item or something that you spent weeks researching
like a treasure hunt, shopping is fun; and when you find the right product
and the right people to do business with it can be a blast! How many times
have you told a friend about a purchase that you made? We all do this, and
it’s fun to tell the story about how we got our new products. It goes
something like this:

Me: Hey Derek, guess what? I’m calling you on my new iPhone 4s!
Jealous aren’t you?!

Friend: Dude its 5 in the morning! Are you mental?!!

Okay, bad example! But it does demonstrate how excited we can get to share
something that is important to us. It’s like when your kid runs up to you
and says, “Daddy, Daddy! I just lost a toof! Can I have a quarter?” (or
whatever the going rate for a tooth is at your house). You can’t help but
smile and ask for the evidence; “Yup, that’s a tooth. Here’s your quarter.”
Then that ADD-riddled child runs off all excited to tell his siblings that
he just got a quarter (and if your kids are anything like mine, they start
to work loose other teeth, whether they’re ready or not!).

So the answer to the question: Should I buy new windows? is YES! If you can
afford them and they’re something you want…or better yet, if you can
justify it with a need (“Um, honey, we really NEED new windows…”). Do a
bit of research (check out the Customer Complaint Summary at the BBB) and
ask around. Above all, enjoy the experience!  Oh! And be sure to tell a
friend!!

Abram Letkeman