Ever wondered how to pick the best windows and doors for your home? Well, we've got all the answers! Join us as we decode the world of windows and doors. We kick off with a fun discussion about modern and traditional styles, and offer tips on how to discern your personal preferences. We take the conversation further by comparing aluminum and vinyl windows, examining aspects such as cost and customization. And remember, always pay attention to your HOA regulations and local building codes!
In the latter part of our chat, we shed light on window glass grades. Uncover the secrets of their strengths, the benefits of soundproofing and the value of energy efficiency. The current political climate can greatly affect supply and delivery times, and we delve into the implications of that. Vendor selection is equally critical and we spill the beans on the pros and cons of various options. From choosing the right color frames to selecting the perfect front door, we've got your back. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that not only helps you stay within budget but also enhances the beauty of your abode. Trust us, you won't look at windows and doors the same way again!
Ever wondered how to pick the best windows and doors for your home? Well, we've got all the answers! Join us as we decode the world of windows and doors. We kick off with a fun discussion about modern and traditional styles, and offer tips on how to discern your personal preferences. We take the conversation further by comparing aluminum and vinyl windows, examining aspects such as cost and customization. And remember, always pay attention to your HOA regulations and local building codes!
In the latter part of our chat, we shed light on window glass grades. Uncover the secrets of their strengths, the benefits of soundproofing and the value of energy efficiency. The current political climate can greatly affect supply and delivery times, and we delve into the implications of that. Vendor selection is equally critical and we spill the beans on the pros and cons of various options. From choosing the right color frames to selecting the perfect front door, we've got your back. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that not only helps you stay within budget but also enhances the beauty of your abode. Trust us, you won't look at windows and doors the same way again!
Welcome to the JTM Windows podcast. Designed to impress, engineered to endure. Here's your host, jeff Trappanyese.
Speaker 2:
One and welcome to Episode number three, the JTM Windows podcast. I'm your co-host, Jeremy Wolf. I'm joined by your host, Jeff Trappanyese. Jeff, how's it going, brother?
Speaker 3:
It's going very good. Welcome back everybody.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, we were just talking about some customer preparation. We're considering window and door projects and we're going over the budgeting aspect what to do prior to even calling a contractor. But we move along here and talk a little bit about style and product considerations when it comes to window and door project.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So we figured out how much we have to spend. Now we have to figure out what's our style. What do we want to do with our house? Again, a lot of homes in the Broward and South Palm Beach area are been around for a number of years. The style of the architect originally may not be what you like now. So the first tip that I have to determining what your decorative style is going to be is drive around some neighborhoods. See what your neighbors have, see what catches your eye, say I like that, I don't like that, this is not what I want to go with. I think that's one of the best types of showrooms that you can do, as opposed to just going and looking at a product in a warehouse and say, oh well, this looks nice. You can actually see on similar home styles what you have in the area, those types of things. I've broken down to basically two different styles. There's a modern style and there's a traditional style.
Speaker 3:
Modern styles tend to show more glass than the more traditional. Examples of that are like horizontal rolling windows. So instead of the windows going up and down, they go side to side. A lot of times you see a major difference on that when you take two windows, two up and down windows or single hung windows that are side by side, and you put one horizontal roller in its place, so now you have two big pieces of glass in that place and it really makes a huge difference.
Speaker 3:
Obviously, sliding glass doors versus French doors tend to make it look more modern, cleaner lines casements, which are a solid piece of window that opens on a hinge, so instead of going up and down, it opens outward. They're very similar to picture windows, where you don't have any seams in the middle, where two pieces of glass have to meet. It's one big window, so it tends to open up things quite a bit more and make it look cleaner. With lines, especially the lines of the home, the traditional style you get into is more that has grids on it. A lot of times a lot of people are really getting away from that now. But one of the considerations that we have to think about is what does your HOA require? If you live in those types of communities, they may say no, you have to have the grid ones.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, you have to have the grid ones. So.
Speaker 2:
I don't know why you'd want that. I mean, I guess it's player dependent, if you will. But why would you want to have your view obstructed by grids when you could have it?
Speaker 3:
Some people like those styles, so two each.
Speaker 3:
And they get the same thing with French doors versus sliding glass doors. And one of the reasons why I feel that's traditional is especially when we're doing a lot of entertaining on our back patios and things like that, and when you're dealing with French doors you have these doors that kind of open up into the space versus the sliding glass door which goes side to side, so that can get a little intrusive into that entertaining space, especially if you have a smaller patio where people are going to have to walk around it, things like that. So again, I feel that's kind of what more of the traditional style. And then, lastly, you have white frames, bronze frames and black frames. You know bronze and black tend to give you a lot of pop on the house, especially if you have a contrasting paint color. So those kind of get looped into modern looks.
Speaker 3:
White is also, you know, depending what the tent that you go with it, it can also be modern.
Speaker 3:
But you know you got to kind of think about what fits your bill, whether it's the white clean Christmas or, if you like, the pop of the darker colors, especially when you're looking at what your gutters look like or your roof looks like, where you're picking up on some of those accents on the home. So those are all things to look around. But again, the gist of the story here for that is again drive around your neighborhoods and neighborhoods in your general area and see what people have been putting in and what it looks like and what really catches your eye, especially with when we get into front doors. You know there's a lot of new, new products out there, both aluminum and fiberglass, that have a lot of different styles on there. So you kind of want to think about what you like. Some people like those big, huge handles, which are great. I think they look very nice, you know. But again, functionality and budget are also dependent on those those things as well.
Speaker 3:
So, all right, now we're under product selection, now we kind of got a style. Now we got to talk about the differences. We have the main, the main style differences that you see with windows is there's aluminum windows and there's vinyl windows. There's a lot of talk when you're dealing with a lot of sales guys about the benefits of vinyl they're cleaner, they don't ever lose their color, yada, yada, yada. What I tend to find is that vinyl products, which again are made out of PVC, in essence are 30% more expensive than aluminum windows and you are sacrificing strength. And what I mean by that is when you're dealing with a vinyl frame of a window, super flexible, the moves around a lot. You know it's not as rigid as what you're going to see with aluminum. What the manufacturers have to do in order to make the window strong enough for hurricane code is actually use three pieces of glass versus two for an aluminum window. So in essence, you're always going to get an insulated window with a little with vinyl, because they have to make the window stronger overall. So, long story short, I'm not a huge fan of vinyl, but the one benefit they do have over aluminum is that you know any metal that you deal with does tend to absorb some heat. That can then transfer into your house If you have a full sun on the house, things like that, even with low e glass. On aluminum, when you're dealing with a darker frame, like like bronze, sometimes it can radiate heat and where that would stop with vinyl, but that would be the only major benefit I would recommend of the two, I think for the strength of frame and the strength of what you get, or the rigidity of everything on aluminum frames is much, much better.
Speaker 3:
Now, same thing applies for entry doors. When you're dealing with either fiberglass or steel entry doors, a lot of people say, oh well, I've had steel for a long time, which basically what steel is is just a steel skin over an interior of either balsa, wood or or, or sometimes in essence, cardboard. That's what a lot of those old doors that we've had now are are are made of, and you then you have like a wood frame for the jam itself. That's why they always tend to rot or rust and go away. When you're seeing a fiberglass door, the whole panel of the door, as well as the jam, is completely made of a composite material that is insect proof, waterproof, you know, rock proof those types of things and they're much more durable. So when you see a price difference between the two, well, why is it so much more expensive? Well, you are buying a much better quality product that's going to last you two to three times as long as what you're going to pay for with the steel door.
Speaker 3:
So, again, things to think about that maybe we don't consider, and that goes back to short term versus long term term investment and that type of stuff. The third thing to think about, too, is how long are things taking to come in? What are the lead times on the product? You know, as opposed to when do I have to do my project? As it stands right now, the longest lead times that we have are for sliding glass doors, which are running about 11 to 12 weeks, which isn't bad. That number is going to come down as we come out of season into, you know, getting into December or January. So if you're looking to get the project done before hurricane seasons here, you don't want to wait till the month before hurricane season to say, oh, I'm ready, let's go where it's going to. It could take up to two to three months for some of this product to come in, so definitely something to think about as well.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, quick question for you about the window, the glass, the grade of glass for the windows. I remember in my in the old home I had we did, we did replace the sliding glass doors and they put the like missile grade impact. It was glass. I knew nothing about it, I just I was. That sounds great to me, like what are some considerations to take into account? Like what? What level is there a standard level that you recommend for all clients? Do you recommend a thicker level depending on other factors? How does that typically work?
Speaker 3:
So the main difference you see between what's existing for signing glass doors, which is what they call a single pane or one single piece of glass that's inside the frame of the signing glass door, hurricane impact glass is a minimum is going to be two pieces of glass that are laminated together with a piece of vinyl in between. So you're automatically increasing the strength of the door in that way. So a lot of people that've been around the floor a long time have gone through a storm If they've ever not put a protective barrier on top of the signing glass door and seen the wind push on their signing glass door glass, it actually bows in. I think bow in as much as an inch. The good news is it's tempered glass so it's relatively strong, but that's how much wind pressure is happening on the door. So they make for signing glass doors they make 716 is kind of the entry level, so a little bit over, a little bit, just shy of half an inch thick. Then they get into 1316. And then you can get as much as like an inch, an inch and 16.
Speaker 3:
Again, I don't feel that what we're dealing with down here you need to get into that 1316, one inch thick glass. It's not not going to gain you anything Because, again, it's all being kind of held in the screws. The only thing I would say is the thicker the glass, the more sound reduction that you tend to find. So if you have a very noisy neighbor and you want to kind of start to drown out some of that noise that you may hear in the middle of the night, then the thicker glass is going to help that, or even getting into what they call insulated glass, where there's a gas between. So then, insulated glass, you end up having two panes of glass and then you have a gas void and then you have a third piece of glass. But again, that's, that's a topic for another day.
Speaker 3:
The main thing I would probably tell you is that 716 is a great product to start with, and then you start pumping it up from there, more so with the windows. The base point is going to be 516. I always go with a recommendation of 716, because, again, while both of them are going to be rated for 175 mile per hour winds, the 716 gives you a lot of ancillary benefits as well, like sound reduction and things like that, more insulating factors as well. So again, there's a lot of numbers out there, but once you start talking to some of the vendors it'll make sense. You'll have to remember those names.
Speaker 3:
And then last thing would be again, energy efficiency. You know keeping what a lot of people from the Northeast are very sad against why you have to have insulated, insulated, insulated glass, because they want to keep the heat in the house. Especially when you're talking about a major differential of the house that you're keeping it as in the 70s and the outside as it's the 20s. That's a huge heat differential that you have to overcome and that's where insulated glass comes in me.
Speaker 2:
Here we're trying to keep the heat outside the house, correct, correct.
Speaker 3:
So I think the best investment there is what you do with the tinting options that you have available to you. What low e in essence is, and the big term that's out there is it's a metallic finish on the outside of the glass that reflects the infrared heat of the light, which is not visible, but that's what produces the heat coming in the house. It reflects about 80 to 85% of it right back out before it even comes through that piece of glass. So, versus like a normal gray tint and things like that. So those are all important considerations and again, that can affect the budget as well. Obviously, the more taint you put on it can bump it up per window, but nothing significant. You're probably talking on average about $50 a window. So, and then just to kind of circle back around when picking a vendor of window and door like I'm a big proponent of PGT and CGI and Eco because they're made in the state of Florida, they're made in the country here, versus some other brands that are made like in Colombia or China, things like that.
Speaker 3:
One of the biggest problems I have is again just coming out of COVID. Reports were shut down and things like that. Now we're dealing with political situations where ports can get shut down again. If you're waiting on a part or you're waiting on your window order for something to either ship out of a port or to come into one of our ports, that can hold you up very significantly on top of a lead time that you weren't anticipating, where, if it's just coming from the West Coast of Florida or from Medley or some part of Miami, that's a much quicker lead time, and if you need parts, you can get a turn around time much faster. So also things to think about as well.
Speaker 2:
Very good stuff, All useful information. Jeff, you are a wealth of knowledge. We will get into contractor selection on another segment. Everyone thank you for tuning in and we will catch you next time on the JTM Windows podcast. Take care.
Speaker 3:
Thanks everyone for joining. All right Bye.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the JTM Windows podcast. For more information, contact 954-667-3JTN that's 954-667-3586 or email us at jeff at JTMwindowsanddoorscom.