Signs It Is Actually Time

Windows do not usually fail all at once. Here is what to look for, in rough order of how much it should worry you.

Worry about these

• Water inside after a driving rain. Staining on the sill, soft or swollen trim, bubbling paint below the opening. This is the one that gets expensive if you wait, because the damage is in the wall, not in the window.
• Soft wood at the corners of the opening. Press it. If it gives, water has been getting in for a while.
• Single pane glass in a windborne debris area. Not a maintenance issue, an exposure issue.

Worth addressing

• Fog or haze between the panes. The seal has failed. The window is not dangerous but its insulating value is gone and it cannot be repaired in place.
• Windows painted or swollen shut. Beyond the annoyance, in a bedroom that is an egress problem.
• You can feel heat radiating off the glass from a few feet away on a summer afternoon. Usually single pane, usually aluminum framed, usually the biggest comfort win available in the house.
• Noise. If you are near a road or an airport and can hear conversations outside, laminated glass will change your life more than it changes your power bill.

Not by itself a reason

• Age. A well made window that seals, operates and does not leak is fine at twenty five years. Age alone is a sales argument, not a diagnosis.
• Condensation on the inside surface on a cold morning. That is usually humidity in the house, not a failed window.
• A high power bill. Check the attic and the ducts first. They are cheaper and often the actual culprit.

A word about the free inspection

Plenty of companies will come out and tell you your windows have failed. Some of them are right. If somebody inspects your windows and the answer is always that all of them need replacing today at a price good only if you sign tonight, you have learned something useful about the company rather than about your windows.