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Quality Replacement Windows For Denver Homes

A Trusted Replacement Window Installation Company serving Denver, CO

How to Choose the Right Replacement Windows?

If you need window replacement in the Denver area, Northern Lights Exteriors can help you to make sense of all the window and door replacement options out there. Do you know the exact type of replacement windows that your Colorado home needs? If you do, then congratulations; we can order and install them for you. But if you’re not sure what you need, what’s out there, and how to choose between your options, we can help and make recommendations with that too.

Talk about confusing! There are windows with frames made from wood, vinyl, fiberglass, aluminum, and many other materials. Then there are single-pane, double-pane, and triple-pane windows. When you then consider the energy-efficient glass coatings, hardware choices, and other design features, it’s enough to drive you bonkers.

Replacement Window Materials Explained

Many window replacement companies offer only a small number of window options. However, at Northern Lights Exteriors, we feel that you deserve replacement windows that meet your specific functional, aesthetic, and budgetary preferences. Our selection includes energy-efficient windows made from many different materials, which each offer distinct advantages. Here’s a breakdown of key points to consider about each window material:

Wood

In the past, homeowners selected wood windows primarily because of the windows’ visual appeal. Especially if you’re a person who appreciates nature, it’s incredible how wood windows can help introduce a natural feel and warmth into the interior of your home.

But wood windows have come a long way since those days. Consider our Pella wood windows, for example. Aside from being well-known and gorgeous, they boast dependable security thanks to their smartly designed standard locks, secondary locks, and optional security sensors. These windows are remarkably energy efficient as well. Their wood frames do an excellent job of preventing heat transfer, as does their state-of-the-art insulated glass unit. These days, wood windows truly provide everything you could want for your home.

Fiberglass

As a part of your home’s exterior, your windows must endure a lot of abuse. This is why many Denver-area homeowners find Northern Lights Exteriors’ fiberglass windows so appealing. Our fiberglass windows are the strongest around, boasting greater resistance to hail damage than you’ll find in other window frames. They’ll never crack, warp, or rust like lower-quality builder- or contractor-grade windows often do. By choosing our fiberglass windows, you’ll be receiving a FOREVER window that will look attractive and provide you with incredible long-term value without needing maintenance.

Vinyl

Vinyl windows are quite common in the Denver area, for understandable reasons. These windows are both energy efficient and durable at an affordable price point. However, when shopping for vinyl windows, it’s important to recognize that they are not all created equal. There are significant differences in the quality of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used by different manufacturers, as each company has its own “recipe” for making PVC. At Northern Lights Exteriors, we source our vinyl windows from Wincore and Simonton most often, respected industry leaders whose products are praised for having exceptional structural integrity and insulation performance.

Aluminum-Clad

Do you want to bring nature into your home with wood windows, but appreciate the durability that aluminum offers? If so, why choose between these options when you can enjoy the best of both worlds, with Northern Lights Exteriors’ aluminum-clad windows? Our aluminum-clad windows have a warm, natural wood interior and weather-resistant, aluminum-clad exterior that will never expand, contract, warp, or rot.

Composite

There’s just enough fiberglass in these windows that they aren’t considered vinyl.  Northern Lights Exteriors has such great options in the other categories that we typically steer people clear of these window types.  When you set an appointment with our window ninjas, we can tell you exactly why we think there are much better choices for our Colorado environment.  If you’ve been pushed around by an Anderson or Renewal By Anderson rep, meet with us before you make any decisions.

Window Replacement Questions from Denver Area Homeowners

That’s why we thought it might be helpful for us to answer some of the questions we get asked all the time by homeowners.

The chances are about 99% that we can get whatever sort of window you want or need. We work with the largest window distributor in Colorado. When you go to one of those big-box home centers, you have a selection of only a few types and brands, because those companies cater to the mass consumer market.

In contrast, we are not married to one brand, but can get windows that are just right for your particular needs, from lots of different window companies.

We have access to many dozens of manufacturers and probably a few thousand different window types, sizes, and styles.

Yes! There’s a game to watch out for, and you’ll hear it on radio commercials and when some companies’ sales people visit your home. They’ll say: “We’re running a special! It’s only $199 per window, while supplies last.”

What they’re doing is called “bracket pricing.” What that means is the company charges the same price for windows that range from, for example, 31” to 40” wide. Then they’ll have another price for 41” to 50” or whatever.

What this means in practice is if you happen to have 40” wide windows, you may be getting a good deal, but 32” windows will be a bad deal, because you’re paying the same as the 40” people pay. Why do companies do bracket pricing? Because it’s fast and easy to use in a sales pitch.

We do things differently. We measure the actual window sizes you need, and order those exact sizes. When companies have showrooms and giant inventories of window sizes, who do you think pays for all that inventory sitting around? By our not having all that money tied up in inventory, we can get you better pricing. If you need a certain window today, then go to the big-box store and try your luck. But if you’re able to wait a few weeks, we can get you precision pricing for your exact window needs.

Above we talked about “bracket pricing,” how that can cause you to overpay, and how we use precision pricing. A close cousin to that is the salesperson who suggests that you should get one kind of window for your entire house. It sounds logical, right? You want windows to match, right?

Well it’s another sneaky way that you can overpay. Think about it: your home has windows that are in a fixed position. They may point east, or west, or southwest or whatever, but they don’t move around a whole lot. What companies don’t tell you is that you need the most-efficient windows where they get a bunch of light, and for other windows that are more shaded or facing north, you can do just fine with good but lower-priced windows.

It makes sense: your car doesn’t have the same windows on all sides, because you need an expensive windshield to withstand everything, but your back or side window can be simpler. Yet most window companies are happy to sell you on the top-efficiency windows for your entire house. We not only have precision pricing, but we do precision matching of your need to the right window.

Of course, all the windows we recommend will have a nice, consistent look; it’s just that the internal characteristics may be different.

Yes, unfortunately. They often make one big mistake, and it’s that they do not ask homeowners why they want to replace their windows. Any person who’s studied sales techniques has been taught to leave well enough alone: if you have someone who wants to buy a product from you, write up the order and don’t ask why! Otherwise (according to the sales training), you may make the prospect rethink the reasons, and possibly decide not to buy.

Here’s another way that we’re different, and maybe it’s one reason why we have hundreds upon hundreds of reviews from customers. (You can read as many as you wish here.) We will ask you questions that help us to understand what are the issues with your windows and what are your goals for new ones.

For example, if you said: “I want new, top-of-the-line windows because look at these ones we have now—they once were pure white but now look almost yellow.” If we heard that, we’d look hard at your windows, and we might say: “Your windows are yellow because the manufacturer used recycled vinyl. If you like how these windows work but just want them to stay white, we can get you new windows made from virgin vinyl, which will stay white. That will save you money over the true top-of-the-line models that are made for Alaskan weather, not Colorado weather.”

We love it when we can suggest a lower-priced alternative than what the customer had in mind: it has a way of making a happy customer forever.

Yes and no. Yes, if you happen to need precisely the type of window that they have on sale at the moment, then their pricing power might benefit you. But often they will have an amazing advertised price for one particular window, in order to get traffic in the door. As soon as you want anything at all that’s different—well now, that’s a special order and the prices are much higher.

Still, we urge you to shop around, including at those big stores. But be careful! You might get a window person in the window department, or you might get some guy who works in plumbing and is covering for the window person who’s out sick that day. You may get great advice—or advice from a plumbing guy.

At Northern Lights we have two window specialists with a combined four decades of experience in…windows! They know all the features under the sun, and which ones have worked well for homeowners. They will help you to cut through all the options and tradeoffs and arrive at options tailored to your exact needs. They’re kinda our secret weapon when it comes to making homeowners happy with their replacement windows.

That’s a great question, but also a tough one. As you know with the packaging and marketing of any product, sometimes the flashy stuff doesn’t work as well as you hoped. Looks can be deceiving.

To some extent, price is a general indicator. If you are seeing advertised prices that seem too good to be true, you should be highly skeptical. If you’ve shopped around and most companies are charging in the ballpark of $300 for a certain size and type of window, how can these other guys charge $99? Either they’re cutting corners by using inferior materials, or they’re using offshore labor that comes with few protections for workers, or the build quality is shoddy because of pressure to meet production quotas. Maybe all of the above.

On the other hand, a super-high price might indicate extraordinary craftsmanship that’s worthy of some Beverly Hills mansion, but it might just mean that you’re overpaying for windows with slick advertising.

It’s a good idea to do some online research and see if you can find actual homeowner experiences with the windows. Let’s say you’re thinking of buying the Trailblazer window by Acme (made-up names). Go to Google and type in “problems with Acme Trailblazer windows” and see if anything comes up. Or type in “Acme window issues.” You get the idea.

It’s also important to look at the reputation of the company installing the windows. Does the company have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau? Does it have only a handful of stale, general reviews, or lots of specific, current ones? Does the company advertise heavily? Constant advertising costs a lot of money and you know who ends up paying it.

We’re biased, but we think the best advertising is word-of-mouth after a job is done well for a fair price.

No. We don’t do “hard-sell.” Sure, that approach can work on some people, some of the time. But pretty soon customers know they’ve been pressured, and that’s no way to build a business based on long-term relationships.

We expect you to take your time and think about any proposal we put in front of you. Take all the time you want, go home, sleep on it, and shop around. Ask us questions and then call us up to ask us some more. We understand that you’re just being a careful consumer, and we respect that, because we’re careful consumers, too. Besides, we’ve been helping homeowners in Colorado for nearly 20 years, and we’ll still be here when you’re ready to take the next step.

The truth is it depends on the season. As you know from living in Colorado, we have lots of severe weather, and sometimes it can last well into the spring. Then, as soon as people feel like the warmer weather is here to stay, there’s a crush of activity. The same happens when a hail storm blows through, and suddenly hundreds of homes need new roofs or other things replaced.

If you call us, we can give you an up-to-the-minute answer, but generally speaking, we can deliver and install your windows in 4-5 weeks. Because we work with the largest window distributor in Colorado, we’re confident that our delivery time will be as short as you’ll find just about anywhere.

That’s often not necessary, but it will depend on the construction and condition of your current windows. Often we are able to replace the glass and the interior portions of a window, but can keep the existing frame that’s attached to the house. In cases where serious storm damage has occurred, or there is some issue with the way the window was originally installed, we might recommend replacing the window all the way down to the wood studs. When it’s not necessary, we prefer to avoid doing that.

We hope you’ve found these questions and answers helpful. If you have other questions, please ask away, because we love to talk about windows! You can call us at 303-776-5263 or shoot us a message here.

Replacement Windows installed by Northern Lights Exteriors
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AREAS WE SERVE

Map of areas serviced by Northern Lights Exteriors in the greater Denver area including Fort Colins, Boulder, and Greely

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Window Replacement Professionals You Can Count On

If you need window replacement in the Denver area, turn to the experts at Northern Lights Exteriors. We have been one of the leading exterior remodeling companies in the area since our opening in 2001 and have since earned a long-standing reputation for having professionally trained and highly experienced installers. In fact, we are so confident in the work we perform that we offer a five-year installment warranty on all installation projects we complete. As a result, you can rest assured your investment will be protected.

With Northern Lights Exteriors as your window replacement Denver contractor, you will have access to the largest selection of window styles and colors available to homeowners in Denver, CO, and the surrounding areas. For example, we can offer awning, casement, bay, bow, double hung, single hung, and sliding windows. This is a feature that we are able to offer thanks to our relationships with some of the leading window manufacturers in the industry, including:

What’s more, when you work with Northern Lights Exteriors for your window replacement project, you will gain access to our 24/7 proprietary web portal. This service allows you to keep track of all of the important information associated with your project, including due dates, payment terms, progress updates, photos, delivery dates, and more.

For more information about the impressive window replacement services that we provide to residents of Denver, CO, and the surrounding areas, contact Northern Lights Exteriors today.

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