Home Improvement
The same window job, quoted twice, lands thousands apart
Most of the gap has nothing to do with the glass. Here's what decides it — plus a three-question check on where your windows actually sit.
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- Takes a minute
First, is it actually the windows?
Three things separate a window that needs replacing from one that needs a repair. None of them require a contractor to spot.
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Fog between the panes
The moisture is inside the sealed unit, so the seal has gone. This is the one definitive sign — a failed seal can't be restored to its original performance.
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Air you can feel
A draft at the sash usually points at weatherstripping or frame movement rather than the glass itself. Sometimes a repair, sometimes not.
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A sash that sticks
One that drops or won't stay up is almost always the frame moving, not the hardware wearing out. Hardware is cheap to fix; frames are not.
Where do your windows actually sit?
Three questions. Nothing personal, no contact details.
Why two quotes differ by thousands
A quote is not a price list. It's one contractor's read of your house, your frames, your schedule, and how much they want the work that month.
Retrofit or full-frame
A retrofit drops the new unit into the existing frame. Full-frame takes the old frame out to the studs. Same window, very different labour — and hidden rot makes full-frame the only honest option.
Frame material
Vinyl sits at the affordable end. Wood-clad and fibreglass cost more and handle decades of movement better. Contractors leading with different materials quote from different baselines.
Local labour rates
Installation is a day of skilled work per few windows, priced at whatever that day costs in your zip code. The biggest single reason identical houses in different states get different numbers.
Access and glass package
Second-storey work, bay and bow shapes, egress requirements and upgraded coatings all sit on top of the base price. A quote that ignores them gets revised later.
The same job, quoted by different companies
most land somewhere in here
Based on Angi's 2026 window replacement reporting across 13,122 verified projects, in which the range homeowners paid for comparable work spanned several thousand dollars. Source
Free · No obligation · US homeowners
Worth knowing before you get quotes
Energy savings are real but modest
Replacing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR certified models cuts household energy bills by up to 13 percent on average nationwide, per the EPA. Already double-glazed? Expect considerably less. Comfort, drafts, noise and resale value do most of the work.
The federal tax credit is gone
Section 25C used to cover part of a window project. It no longer applies to installations completed in 2026 or later. Any page still promising it hasn't been updated — state and utility rebate programmes are where to look now.
Energy figures: US EPA / ENERGY STAR windows programme. Tax credit status per IRS guidance under Public Law 119-21.
Takes about a minute
Free · No obligation · US homeowners