How to Spot a Bad Window Installation in 60 Seconds

How to spot a bad window installation in 60 seconds. Let's go. So this one hits home for me a little bit because I'm in the window business. My eyes always go to windows on homes. I could be driving by, I could, you know, and I'm judging everything. That's the curse I have. When I'm looking at a window, I can tell right away if there is an issue with the installation. And I can see caulking smeared. I can see, you know, windows that are looking like this, dips in the window frame at the very bottom. Like let's XO slider. There's something and it's smiling. It's like, good grief. Whoever they went with, I'm gonna ask them, have they given you a quote? Because don't do it. The big problem with that is when you open your window, it's gonna throw it way out of square. Your window sash itself are not gonna line up. So the interlocks are not gonna line up. It's gonna look really, really weird. To the point where even the weatherstripping that is supposed to be pressurized by the main frame doesn't even reach the frame. And so you have air coming in and I've seen it. That is indicative of a terrible installation. They did not put any shims underneath these brand new vinyl windows. And so if there was a dip in the window frame before and they didn't shim it out and make it so that way it's not a nice solid surface, the new vinyl window is going to adopt the original frame. Whatever it was doing, it's gonna do as well. There's that or single hung windows. When you lift these guys up or the bottom down, when the reveal, like if it's installed at a square, when you go to operate your window, it's the same thing, only vertical, right? So whatever was happening horizontally, this is just vertical. So when you go to close your window, you have a gap on one side and no gap on the other, right? So when you install a single hung, we make sure that it is completely standing straight and that you have support where it needs to be. It's easy if you know what to do, right? That's why I say, when you're going to have your windows installed, make sure that you have somebody who knows what the heck they're doing. That way you get it done right. You're a happy person because your windows are performing right. They look good. They're supporting, they slide like a dream. Because if you don't put shims underneath your window, your brand new vinyl window for the first six months is sliding like a dream. You're like, oh, these are great windows. And then all of a sudden it starts getting very hard and heavy to slide. You're like, what gives? Problem is, is the bottom of that window frame is dipping down and it's pinching on that sash. That's all problematic. We can't have that for you, right? I don't want that for you. These are things that I could just spot from a mile away. Like, whoa, what in the world were these guys thinking? Now, normal Joe customer has no idea about that kind of stuff. They're just like, well, that looks kind of weird, but whatever. That is not good. So if your windows are operating really, really funky and you're trying to get down to the bottom of it, why is my window so hard? Take a look at some stuff. If you have a level in your house or a straight bar or something like that, compare it. See what the window is doing. If you have the windows installed recently and they're already giving way and giving you problems, you can do that or pick up the phone and call the installers and say, hey, listen, man, I don't know what's going on here, but I need your guys to come out and take a look at this and see what they can do to fix this. Because it ain't right. It was right before, it's not right now. Operations are really, really wonky. Let's say you have a lock at the bottom, lock at the top of a sliding window. You can't even push the top lock down. You have to push on the window sash and then lock it. You have no support under that window. Same thing goes to patio doors, especially patio doors. Those things are so much heavier. And if you have any issues with the sliding, the locking, the reveals, you probably had somebody installing it who doesn't know what they're doing and needs to get looked at. All right, guys, hopefully this helps. Make it a great day. Before you click off this video, if you live in the Ventura, LA or Dallas-Fort Worth area, and you are interested in a free in-home estimate, go to the website, click on the request. The link is down below in the description. I will reach out to you. Thank you guys so much.