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battongeor227

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I had a company come out and give me an estimate on my windows for installation and materials. They will replace 1 picture window, 9 regular double pane windows, 4 hoppers with 10 custom metal wrap all white w/argon and foam wrap. The entire job was quoted at $3340. I know nothing about price of materials and wanted some other opinions.
 
Get enough bids so they cluster.

relative price
$0...$2....$4....$6
...a....b.cd.......e

The true cost of your job in your area today is probably bid c or bid d.
Company a is using substandard materials or labor and
company e is looking for suckers.

If you get bids identical down to the dollar it may be price-fixing. Prices off the Web will be probably be low-balled.
Low-Ball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some advise telling each bidder that you are getting other bids. I don't usually tell them. If you do tell them and you see the smile disappear, I'd eliminate that candidate.



Or take a look at RS Means [publisher] books on construction costs at your local Border's or Barnes & Noble's.



Or,
Cost of Replacement Windows - Get Prices and Estimates - CostHelper.com
If this
http://zipskinny.com/
says your median household income is higher than the US avg. of $50K then you can expect to pay more.
 
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ask for references, most contractors will have a long list of references that you can call to see if they are reputable and won't rip you off. Call at least 5 contractors and get prices per window...most will give you a price thats better for the entire job, then compare the single peice rates and added charges.
 
also, dont be afraid to "dicker", most contractors that do good work will be willing to come down about 3 to 5% of their quote to get the job. Stay away from the ones that give really low quotes or are willing to cut their prices in half, this means either a/theyre desperate or b/ they dont do good work and dont get alot of business.
 
You need to get a lot of bids, I did some research and that doesn't sound too bad, but there are a lot of sites out there that will allow you to easily connect with window replacement contractors in your area. I found a few sites including this one: How much do replacement windows cost?

That should give you a good idea. But get lots of bids! and use them to dicker.
 
More bids/offers the better price you get. And get references, like someone above posted, very good to have before work.
 
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