Charlie:
John’s got problem. He wants to look at windows. He’s been shopping and he’s looked all around the world for windows and he’s found some that he thinks are too cheap to be real. They’re even cheaper than what he can buy at Home Depot. He wants to know how can that be possible?
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Tom:
One thing I’ll say is a lot of people think Home Depot or Lowe’s, all the stores, are always going to be the cheapest. They actually aren’t.
Charlie:
Not so much.
Tom:
You can get cheaper than that for sure.
Charlie:
Not so much.
Tom:
A lot of people like to use the term Chuck in a truck. I mean, you can get all kinds of things, but when you see some of the low, low advertisements usually in print or on television …
Charlie:
With the little Mandarin Chinese script at the bottom with the detail in it?
Tom:
That could be. Usually there’s a lot to be desired when you actually get that window. It’s that really low deal on that one Toyota Celica that’s in the ad, but when you get there it’s already been sold or you know what, we have a little bit of a better one over here. You know how advertising works.
Charlie:
In the car biz, they call it the ad car.
Tom:
Okay. There you go.
Charlie:
The first guy who sells it is fired.
Tom:
Exactly. This is the ad window. The reality is, if you’re going to get a good quality window, you’re going to pay money for it. Good companies will be competitive. Gulf Coast Windows, that’s a good company to go to. Across the board, they’ll have all kinds of different windows for you and different choices, but it’s who installs it, who’s going to back it, what are the features on the window? Do they meet the energy standards here in Texas? Those low priced windows, by the way, do not. In fact, on the bottom of the advertising, it’ll say, “Does not meet Texas energy standards.” People don’t realize that. A lot of them don’t come with installation. It’s just the window, they drop it at the front door and say hasta so longa.
Charlie:
Have a nice day.
Tom:
Yeah. That’s what you got to watch out for.
Charlie:
To that point, beware the installation, whether it’s plumbing or air conditioning or flooring or your windows, your roof, everything. The material is one thing, but the installation is almost more important, many times, more important.
Tom:
In my head, my ideas when it comes to construction …
Charlie:
We’re going to a dark, scary place, kids.
Tom:
I’m always an installation guy because I can take a crummy product, install it really well and it’ll work better than a really good product that somebody puts in wrong. Installation to me is the name of the game right there.