I thought you’d be interested in a window story relayed by a very conscientious and knowledgeable green residential builder / remodeler. Our tale begins with the homeowner choosing high end windows, to the tune of over 35 thousand dollars, from a supplier not familiar to the builder. When the time came for the windows to go in, the builder discovered the installers doing next to nothing in the way of window flashing. (Definitely not what he’d expect from any window provider but particularly from the supplier of expensive windows.) When he told the installers to remove the windows and install the proper moisture mitigation, they said there’s no need. Their reasoning… since the windows come with a 20 year warranty, this is the normal way they install them. The builder shouldn’t worry about it since if they leak, they’ll come back and repair the wall and replace the windows. After the builder picked his jaw off the floor, he forced the installers to do a proper job and definitely won’t be adding that window supplier to his list.

Moral of this story:
1. It’s in your favor to understand best building practices for window installation and the manufacturer’s recommended methods (resources in previous post). Even though the homeowner will never know this story, they are very lucky to have chosen a builder that’s on top of his game and one who makes sure his super is too.
2. Although many window installers are well trained and conscientious, don’t take for granted the ones that show up on your job know what they’re doing or care how they’re doing it.

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