When you want to buy house windows for your home, price is an enormous consideration. And that’s what the ‘big box’ hardware stores often market themselves on: providing windows at the cheapest price possible.
However, the old saying “You get what you pay for” applies here. Actually, you’d be lucky if you actually got what you paid for if you’re buying from a hardware store.
While the low sticker price may seem like a good deal, there are a lot of reasons to avoid buying your new windows from your local hardware store. Let’s go over some of the drawbacks of choosing to buy house windows from a hardware store and why you should seek out a dedicated specialist instead:
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #1: Lack of Accountability
One of the biggest issues with getting your new windows at the hardware store instead of from a dedicated window installation company is that there’s often a distinct lack of accountability from the hardware store if anything goes wrong… and something goes wrong all too frequently.
You go to report an issue with the installation, like a leak, cracked glass, or even just a complaint about leftover tools or poor cleanup, and you get the runaround instead of a solution. The store pushes the responsibility for any errors in the installation off on the general contractor who they work with for the installation, the general contractor pushes responsibility onto whichever subcontractors they had do your windows, and the subcontractors are quite literally nowhere to be found since they never shared their contact info with you.
At no point does the proverbial buck stop with anyone. This makes it extraordinarily difficult to get your windows fixed if the contractor messes up the installation. So, a fix that should happen in a week or less can take over a month to get done… or you may even need to hire a different contractor entirely to get the issue fixed before it can cause damage to your home.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #2: Unlicensed General Contractors
Unlicensed contractors are a major problem in Florida. While there’s no reliable number for how many unlicensed contractors there are operating in the state (they are, after all, unlicensed and unregistered with the state), the Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) issued $1,401,790 in ‘unlicensed activity fees’ and a further $591,510 in fines and penalties for unlicensed contractor-related work in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
Unlicensed contractors have, unfortunately, no credentials. They haven’t passed any testing. They haven’t proven their skills to any kind of accrediting agency. They are unproven and, in many cases, unreliable.
As noted by RACCA, “Many are totally incompetent and lack the experience and training to do the job right.” They may do the job extremely poorly, leaving numerous issues that you can’t get fixed. Worse, the contractor may not remain solvent as a business to make any warranty repairs, so the hardware store may need to get a different contractor to perform fixes to issues left by the first contractor. This is a problem because it means the second contractor won’t know what to look for, compromising their ability to fix the issue.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #3: Lack of Quality Control Standards
Quality control, or QC, is critical at every step of a window installation job. The manufacture of the window has to be done the right way to fit your window openings and the installer needs to dot all of their ‘i’s’ and cross all of their ‘t’s’ on the installation.
If there are any issues during the manufacturing, shipping, or installation processes, it could leave you with broken windows rather than beautiful new glazing for your home.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #4: They Don’t Specialize in Window Replacement
Say you need heart surgery. Would you go to your local lifeguard for that? No. You wouldn’t. While a lifeguard will have gone through some basic medical training, they don’t have the right tools and training for a heart transplant like a heart surgeon would.
There’s a similar issue when it comes to having a general contractor (especially an unlicensed one) install your windows. A GC might have broad knowledge of home renovations, but they don’t always have the right tools and training for a proper window installation–especially in a state like Florida which has a lot of special requirements for home windows.
If there are severe deficiencies in your window installation that you don’t know about, they could compromise the safety of your home during a major storm.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #5: It’s Really Too Easy to Become a Subcontractor
It’s harder to get hired as a cashier at some big box hardware stores than it is to become a subcontractor with them. Lots of subcontractors don’t have proper licenses to operate in Florida, and that can be a huge problem for you later on down the road.
For example, say that your window was installed by an unlicensed subcontractor. Then, after a hurricane blows through town, your window breaks and water seeps into your home. That’s a pretty normal storm damage claim with your insurer.
However, your insurance company refuses to pay the claim. Why? Because, the adjuster noticed that your window replacement wasn’t done by a licensed contractor. As noted by The Gordon Agency, “Most insurance policies exclude damages that occur when hiring an unlicensed contractor.”
Potentially even worse, what happens if an unlicensed contractor is injured on the job? As noted by Bitman O’Brien, “if an unlicensed contractor does work on your home and is injured while performing the job, you could be held liable for the contractor’s medical expenses. This is because, as the property owner, you are responsible for ensuring that all workers on your property are safe.”
A jobsite injury that takes place with an unlicensed contractor could leave you on the hook for massive medical bills. For example, the cost of treatment procedures for a single broken bone (casting, splinting, surgery, etc.) can range between $10,000 and $80,000 without medical insurance.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #6: Often Only Carry ‘Cheap’ Windows
When you buy house windows from a home improvement or hardware store, they’re typically mass-produced for a standard sized window opening, not custom-made for your window openings.
In many cases, these are the most basic and inexpensive windows the hardware store carries regularly, and may lack many of the features that make home window replacement worth your time and money.
The windows the hardware store sells you often won’t be the best windows for your needs, but the windows that their corporate office wants to push since they provide the biggest profits for the store.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #7: Their Biggest Priorities Are Speed and Cost
For many contractors working with hardware stores, the top priorities are, in order, doing thing fast and doing them as cheaply as possible. The problem is that your top priority is going to be long term quality.
You might be able to get good work, you might be able to get fast work, and you might be able to get cheap work. However, you can’t have all three at once. With a hardware store window purchase, the absolute priorities are fast and cheap.
That general contractor working with the hardware store has a set number of windows to install and a very tight schedule to do it in. They’re really pressured to do every installation as quickly as possible with as cheaply as possible. This means sacrificing heavily on the quality of your new window installation work, as the workmanship and materials are as slipshod as they can get away with.
On a lot of the window installations that Karoly Windows has done, we were brought on specifically to replace poorly-done windows the previous hardware store contractor had put in so poorly that they were basically garbage.
Reason Not to Buy House Windows at the Hardware Store #8: Slow or Absent Customer Support
The help desk for window installation and other general contracting work at your local hardware store isn’t always the best. It sometimes seems like they have staff on hand to take care of contracting work issues about as consistently as a certain fast food restaurant chain with golden arches has a working ice cream machine.
This isn’t always the case, but we’ve heard a lot of complaints over the years about hardware stores just not having someone qualified on hand to respond to concerns about window installation problems. Or, when staff are available, the customer gets routed from department to department or made to wait for a manager or other higher-up to make a ruling on the situation.
When there’s an issue with your newly-installed windows, particularly one that could result in water or pest intrusion, you need the issue fixed as soon as possible. You shouldn’t have to waste time on hold with customer support or waiting for a manager to possibly provide a solution to your problem.
Buy House Windows from a Trusted and Reliable Source
Looking for new windows for your home? Whether you’re replacing some poorly-installed windows put in by a third-rate third party contractor or just want to upgrade your home’s energy efficiency, hurricane resistance, or curb appeal, Karoly Windows & Doors is here to help!
We work with top window manufacturers to source superb-quality custom windows to fit practically any style or need. Every one of our installations is handled by a team of experienced and qualified professionals who specialize in window installation. We’re licensed as a specialty contractor with the DBPR and have decades of proven experience putting in windows for homeowners throughout Tampa Bay.
Get your new windows from a consistent “Best of the Best” award-winning business that you know you can count on! Get your new windows from Karoly Windows & Doors!
