How to Pace Your Window Projects

With spring here, we start thinking about fun projects as well as necessary upkeep, like protecting against heavy wind and rains that cause peeling paint, broken windows and more. But where do we begin?

Obviously we would all love to accomplish these goals before summer is up, but for many of us, time constraints and budgets force us to pick the important project first, which oftentimes is windows.

As you start looking for window spring specials, remember what the old timers say: “Be careful; you get what you pay for.” With renovations, this often translates to dealing with fly-by-night unlicensed contractors, discontinued products lines or products that have defects and unsuitable parts that you can live with until they, of course, break and malfunction. It could also mean you have products labeled with the infamous “Hawaii clause,” meaning no warranty on your parts within 10 miles of the ocean; most homes in Hawaii are.

So how do you do it right so it will last and get the right materials and installations for our Hawaiian climate? Pace your window project!

Make a list of the worst side of the house and move around to the best side to determine what is critical to repair. Many find that not all sides are bad and if this is the case, taking your renovations one side at a time, starting with the worst windows, could free up some of the budget for other pressing projects — possibly around the failing windows themselves.

When considering window types, remember their most important functions: ventilation, heat reduction, water and noise abatement. If you have old jalousies that are failing, before changing to a new window type, consider a Breezway louver window system that has all the benefits of jalousies when open and none of the drawbacks when closed. If you have jalousies, your home was designed for passive cooling. If you reduce the ventilation in your home by 50 percent — which sliders, awnings and hung windows will do — your free air will be gone and you might have to start paying for more air conditioning.

Breezway louvers are watertight, airtight, noise-tight and achieve high hurricane performance ratings while offering safety and security options not readily available with other window types. Breezway locally manufacturers and offers a competitive, “no Hawaii clause” warranty. If you are concerned about doing only a few windows at a time, rest assured that Breezway has been manufacturing windows for more than 65 years worldwide with more than 25 years of service in Hawaii.

BREEZWAY
contact // 484-5999
email // hawaiisales@breezway.com
web // www.breezway.com/hawaii