How to Buy a Vinyl Replacement Window

When it comes to a window-replacement project, there are more difficult steps than the initial measuring and ordering of the windows, but not more important ones. Everything that happens with the project is dependent on getting those first numbers right. The openings for old wood-sash windows you're replacing have likely shifted over the years, so you can't count on any exact standard dimension, and it can be confusing figuring out which surface to measure from when the old windows are still in place.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure

Instructions

1. Close the existing window and hold your tape measure horizontally across the top, tucking it inside the track that the lower sash uses when it's raised. Write down the measurement. Take another horizontal measurement at the middle of the window, just above the lower sash, again within the track. Write it down.

2. Raise the lower sash and take a horizontal measurement at the bottom, from inside the track where you've just raised the window. Write down the measurement. Take the smallest of the three horizontal measurements, and subtract 1/4 inch from it. This the width of the window you need.

3. Measure one vertical side from inside the top trench where the bottom sash would stop if it were raised all the way, to the bottom plate just in front of the sill. Take this measurement with the bottom sash halfway up. Repeat the measurement for the other vertical side. Take the smaller measurement and subtract 1/4 inch from it. This is your height number.

4. Browse the windows available at your local window or home improvement shop, and online. Consider your climate when deciding whether to pay the extra money for double-paned windows, which have an air space between two pieces of glass and are better insulated against the cold. Consider whether you want mullions, those square or rectangular divisions within the glass. (They look great on older style homes, but a little out-of-place on modern ones.) Windows above the ground floor should be double-hung, with the ability to pivot both sides of the panes into the house, since you won't be able to clean them from the outside.

5. Take your style preferences and your width and height numbers when you order the windows. Don't rip out your old windows until the new ones arrive and you've checked their measurements to make sure they're going to fit.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're unsure of the style of window you want, drive around your neighborhood and look at what's on the houses for ideas. If you're replacing multiple windows that appear to be the same size, don't assume you can use the dimensions from the first measurements for all of them. They may be a little different, so get a separate height-by-width figure for each one.

References

• Buzzle: Measuring for your Vinyl Replacement Windows