As the first week of May arrives, temperatures will climb back into the 70s again and Spring will live up to its name finally. The season is a terrific time to evaluate your home’s windows and doors and make replacement choices, if necessary. If you noticed April’s chilly weather drove up energy bills, see if you can trace the problem back to ineffective windows and doors. If you’re unsure about how to identify a problem window, consider what you noticed during cold weather that could be a sign, such as curtains billowing or blowing, and glass fogging up, icing over or rattling in the wind.

A cold season issue can turn into a warm weather issue for windows and doors that aren’t providing a proper seal and adequate energy-efficiency. So the amount of money spent on heating your Wisconsin home in April could be matched or exceeded by the amount spent cooling your home this summer. Even if you don’t have central air conditioning in your home, energy costs can be significantly higher than expected. Windows and doors that fail to keep summer heat out cause appliances, such as a refrigerator, to run longer to keep its interior temperature stable.

The solution for homes with single-pane windows and homes 10 years or older is replacement windows. AHT Windows will evaluate your current windows and provide a free estimate. If entry and patio doors are contributing to the problem, we can examine them too. Just give us a call at 877-578-0495 to schedule your free estimate, and ask us about a no interest payment plan for 18 months.

What makes these windows so impressive makes them equally challenging as DIY projects. While they provide wider views and create additional space in a room, the angles and multiple window panes involved can be overwhelming to the unskilled hands. The solution is to find an experienced contractor with an expertise in bay windows specifically to handle the replacement project for you.

One upgrade you can expect a reputable contractor to recommend is the switch from single-pane to double-pane windows. A couple of immediate benefits are usually noticeable by homeowners once installation of the double-pane windows is complete. First, the replacement windows can provide noise reduction, especially important if the home is located close to a busy street or commercial area. A second but even more important feature of replacement bay windows is their energy-efficient quality, reducing heat lost or gained through the windows.

The additional natural light made available by existing bay windows is another consideration whether or not replacement seems imminent. The reason sunlight becomes a factor is the potential damage caused by UV rays on you, your family and contents of your home, such as the furniture. A faded sofa or carpeting is a sign that UV rays have made an impact already. While it can’t be reversed, installation of replacement bay windows with enhanced UV protection will eliminate this issue in the future.

Homeowners in Clintonville, Madison, Green Bay and surrounding areas can turn to the replacement windows experts at AHT Windows. We’ll assess your current bay windows and recommend a plan to upgrade them at a price that fits your budget. Contact us today at 877.578.0495, then visit us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @AHTwindows.

Seriousness aside, it’s amusing to see how some sites attempt to prepare you to handle home disasters. Maybe their definition of a home disaster is different. One site promising 30 Quick Fixes and Tips for Everyday Home Disasters includes gems such as Missing Glue Cap Fix, Organize Your Garden Hoses, and How to Loosen a Stuck Nut. When you consider the term “disaster” always accompanies stories about the sinking of the Titanic, loosening a nut that’s stuck seems comical in comparison. To each his own, we suppose.

Every disaster, no matter how large or small it seems, should be addressed and rectified. While you won’t need to call 9-1-1 to find a respond to a missing glue cap, you may need to rely on outside experts to address other issues, such as your windows. That’s where AHT Windows can help.

Whether you’re in Madison, Green Bay, Appleton, Neenah, Wausau, Oshkosh, Clintonville or the surrounding towns, AHT Windows can help you respond to home “disasters” involving windows and doors, and maintain a more comfortable and energy-efficient environment. By installing durable, high performance Wisconsin replacement windows and doors, we will quickly restore the condition of these key areas of your home, critical for the safety and security of your family. It’s what we’ve been doing best for decades, and what we will continue to provide to our customers in the years ahead.

Whatever your door or window disaster may be, call AHT Windows at 877.578.0495 to schedule a free estimate. Then visit us at www.facebook.com/AHTReplacementWindows and follow us on Twitter @AHTWindows.

So winter temperatures, along with the lower price for natural gas, saved Wisconsin. What’s going to save us next? Weather is out of our control, of course, and even though top-notch forecasters attempt to predict what will happen in the next 7 days, a great margin of error often exists between what we expect and what we get. So the answer is turning out attention to the part of our environment that is within our control.

Your home environment should be a top priority in both function and comfort. After all, you spend a great deal of time there every day. You may also be spending a great deal of money if your environment lacks control. It’s not necessarily the clutter problem that’s the biggest issue. It could be the inefficient windows and doors your home contains.

Losing warm air during the heating season and cool air during the summer can be a costly situation. It’s not hard to rectify that situation though. Unlike some major home improvement projects, installing replacement windows and doors can be a quick process that doesn’t disrupt life at home for numerous days.

As far as the expense is concerned, the cost of replacement windows and doors should be seen as an investment in your home. Energy savings is a primary benefit, but newer windows can also enhance the beauty and improve the market value of a home. So comfort, curb appeal and cash savings become the end result.

Find out how simple getting sensational results can be by contacting AHT Windows. Call 877-578-0495 to set up a free consultation and estimate, and ask about our $57 per month plan. Then like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

While March was a rare experience, April is historically still a cool month. Last April we spent only one day in the 70s while we spent three days with temperatures in the 20s and four days in the 30s.

The need for climate control year round is apparent, especially in a month where the temperature range covers 50 degrees or more. One key aspect of climate control is the efficiency of windows and doors. If your home is more than 10 years old, your windows and doors may no longer provide the efficiency they once did. Loss of heat or cool air, or both in a given month, can quickly add to your energy costs leaving you paying far more than necessary to maintain a comfortable environment in your home.

There’s no need to be an expert in replacement windows and doors when you get started with the process. While we admire the DIY person who takes on the task of planning and executing home projects, there’s no match for the peace of mind and confidence in choosing a contractor with an installation team that’s fully trained, certified and experienced. With AHT Windows, you know exactly who’s doing the job too since we handle all the work instead of hiring subcontractors.

Contact us today at 877-578-0495 to schedule a free consultation and estimate, and be sure to ask about financing options. We invite you to get better acquainted with us online through our website and social media. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AHTReplacementWindows and follow us on Twitter @AHTwindows.

Clipping coupons, changing your cell phone plan, and packing a lunch daily are all fine ideas, but they don’t do much to put your creative mind to work. As a change of pace, we came up with five ways to save for replacement windows that you may not have considered yet. Each idea is safe and legal, and some involve a team effort while others can be done solo. We’ll leave the testing of each idea up to you.

Five Fun Ways to Save for Replacement Windows

1. Make a movie. These days your iPhone or an iPad are great resources for amateur filmmaking. Write a story, shoot your film, and share it with friends and family—at a reasonable price for tickets of course. Give it a home connection by making your current windows a central part of the story.

2. Write a children’s book. Keep it small and intimate. Use your own child’s name as the main character and find an illustrator who is willing to work for free. Self-publish, and talk to a local merchant about making the book available at that store exclusively.

3. Create a unique work of art. Using whatever materials you already have access to, including recycled items, design and build something attention-grabbing that gets people talking. It could be a sculpture or something functional to use at home. Create a Facebook page for the item or list it on eBay, asking for bids for the completed work.

4. Launch a loose change competition. Challenge family members, neighbors or coworkers to a month-long event to see who can collect more coins. The one with the most coins collected could win everyone else’s loose change.

5. Start a $2 business. Since you can get replacement windows in Wisconsin for as little as $57 per month, that translates into less than $2 a day. Your $2 service could consist of whatever you can do in 10-15 minutes. A $2 product could be bottled water you make available to people at the local jogging trail or coffee for evening school events.

What would you improve in your Wisconsin home? Perhaps you’d choose windows, patio doors or entry doors. That’s one of the questions you’ll need to answer on the entry form. In fact, it’s the first question. They get easier after that, as you just need to fill in your contact information. The whole thing could be finished in less than 2 minutes, especially if your typing is not a hunt-and-peck style.

This THV sweepstakes is not limited to Wisconsin. In fact, it’s open to residents in the service areas of participating THV Compozit authorized dealers in most of Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas and parts of Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Nebraska. If you have friends or relatives in those places, feel free to let them know, unless of course you’re highly competitive and like to keep these kinds of contests to yourself.

Don’t think you could be the chosen one? That’s what happened to the latest winner, Dale Hancock of Kentucky, who signed up at a home show. She was completely stunned and actually quite skeptical when the THV team announced to her outside her home that she just won the $25,000 prize. Check out her reaction on the video posted at the link below.

CAUGHT BY SURPRISE

After you enter the sweepstakes, visit www.ahtwindows.com to learn more about the types of replacement window and door options available to homeowners in Green Bay, Madison, Oshkosh and beyond. Arrange a free estimate by calling 877-578-0495. Be sure to ask about our $57 per month plan too.

The arrival of daylight savings time seems ideal this year. With warmer temperatures in place in the coming days, mentioning the word “spring” seems so amazingly relevant. We’ll even enjoy high temperatures in the 70s more than once later in the week. So getting outside and making the most of it seems inevitable, especially if you feel the urge to do a little spring cleaning.

Window washing may be on your things-to-list as the warm weather settles in this week. No doubt the normally low appeal of such a task is improved by the welcome break from the chill of winter. But keep in mind, washing windows is best done on a cloudy day because direct sunlight will dry those cleaning solutions before your work is truly finished.

Whether your windows are old or new, taking the time to clean them carefully, inside and out, is the best way to enjoy them. You’ll want to avoid leaving streaks and a squeegee can help, especially one with a long handle. You can even change directions inside so you can tell which side of the window has streaks, if any are left. Once clean, those windows can be polished as well with something as simple as a clean cotton t-shirt.

While the glass is the largest surface area and most noticeable part of the window, careful cleaning also involves the little areas. Those cotton swabs you seem to have a surplus of in the bathroom are useful for cleaning the corners. Make sure whatever “tools” or cleaning solutions you use are suitable for the surface and won’t scratch or damage it.

Cleaning older windows can be a good time to consider replacing them with newer, more attractive and energy efficient ones. Then you can truly Spring Forward in your home. Find out more about Wisconsin replacement windows by visiting www.ahtwindows.com, or call today to schedule a free replacement windows estimate.

On a day when high temperatures didn’t climb much above freezing in Wisconsin, summer tourism was on the mind of some people. Seriously. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism used a bone-chilling day to introduce two of three TV spots in its summer ad campaign. When the commercials begin airing in May, you might recognize one very familiar face: Green Bay native and actor Tony Shalhoub, best known as TV detective Monk.

You’re probably not ready to envision the warmer months in Wisconsin. The truth is, we have plenty of winter left as the first full week of March gets underway. But when you’re making important home improvement decisions in the coldest season, it’s helpful to keep in mind how those decisions will affect you all year long.

The heating loss generated by your current windows becomes a cooling loss when summer arrives and you’re running the air conditioning daily. Your aging entry door, which you may attempt to winterize to reduce drafts, gets neglected during the summer months, allowing cool air to escape unnoticed while forcing the A/C to run longer simply to maintain a comfortable temperature.

Replacement windows aren’t all created equal. As the exclusive supplier of THV Compozit Windows in our area, AHT Windows knows the value of choosing a replacement window that comes equipped with numerous benefits. The improved home security and visual appeal of these windows also provide a low maintenance product that eliminates 99.5% of ultra-violet damage.

If your home has a patio door, it most likely sees a lot more action during those warm summer months. If it’s not operating properly or doesn’t have a weather-tight seal, you could be losing cool air in June, July and August, and not just when the kids forget to close it on their way in and out. AHT Windows provides the THV Compozit patio door that’s a perfect visual complement to your home as well as a durable item that can withstand those hundreds of openings and closings that will occur in a given summer.

It’s never to early to think about summer while selecting products that are made for all four seasons in Wisconsin. Give AHT Windows a call at 877-578-0495 to discuss your replacement windows and replacement door needs now, even if the weather outside is frightful on occasion.

The primary cause of radon problems in Wisconsin homes stems from radon in the soil that may enter through the water supply, cracks in walls and floors, cavities inside walls and numerous other ways. Because of that, radon can be an issue both well-sealed and drafty homes. As it builds up inside, the elevated levels of radon can lead to health risks, especially with the respiratory system. Lung cancer is even connected to long-term exposure to radon.

FIND A QUALIFIED RADON CONTRACTOR

To reduce the risk of radon exposure, it’s important to accurately assess your home’s radon levels. Kits are readily available for both short-term testing, which can last from 2-90 days, and long-term testing, which lasts more than 90 days. Should those tested levels be high, a contractor who specializes in radon solutions can help you find the right treatment method for your home.

The EPA advises homeowners who are renovating a unfinished home space—such as a basement—into a living space to test radon levels before and after the renovation project. It’s also safe to ask for testing when buying a home. Radon should also be a part of the dialogue with a contractor when building a home.

While replacement windows and doors are our areas of expertise, it’s important that our customers exercise caution and good judgment in all areas of the home. The more informed you are, the better your decision-making will be. That’s a benefit we can all enjoy.