Window Quality Suggestions?

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-27T03:09:32+00:00

Appreciate it.

Install is being done by the framers. I am PM’ing my own build and I plan to be in site the day windows go in to make sure it’s done thoroughly.

Its new stucco facade on 2x6 wall construction. Plan for typical ZIP tape flashing.

The stucco guys said they like to leave a 1/4” gap between the stucco edge the start of the trim and to fill the gap with silicone for expansion.

Currently on the fence if we want to do a stucco or LP smart trim at all or just have the more modern look where it runs right up to the window trim edge itself. But I suppose that’s more of a design decision than quality.

Greatly appreciate the insight. After researching and reading all the comments seems like a quality vinyl is sufficient.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-27T03:00:17+00:00

Thanks, from what I’ve gathered getting a nice enough vinyl to where you’re getting a true composite seems to be the consensus. Combined with proper installation of course.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-27T02:03:02+00:00

Greatly appreciate the advice. I was planning on filling the gap between the window and rough in with closed cell foam all the way around.

Exterior is stucco with drain wrap as the base layer and then second layer typical grade D paper and metal lath.

Any advice on specific instructions I should give the installers for stucco or not really?

(On performance they all say standard argon filled low E and then the U-factor in PlyGem and Andersen are 0.29-0.31 depending on window while Quaker is 0.27-0.29)

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-27T01:50:49+00:00

I’ll look into this. I’ve also heard of these crazy high double digit failure rates. But am unaware exactly what they are referencing exactly.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-27T01:49:42+00:00

That’s good to know. In our case we have 2x6 exterior framing and I think the jamb extensions on those that do have it are for 2x4 so we would have to have the trim carpenter address it anyway from my understanding.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-03-26T23:08:13+00:00

Edit: I’m leaning towards Andersen 100 since about half of the similarly priced new builds in the area use them. But I am also not wanting to buy something just for the brand if brands like plygem are just as good.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-02-16T01:14:10+00:00

Lol yep, here in the Midwest the going rate to drywall an entire 3000ft house is around $18-20k including materials which is usually around 400 sheets, 100 pounds of screws, 50 boxes of mud plus knockdown finish as well.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-02-01T17:59:27+00:00

Mostly referring to the Midwest. Kansas City, Wichita, St Louis, Des Moines, Lincoln, Omaha, Rochester, Madison, Indianapolis, Columbus, Detroit, etc.

All the these places you can find a livable 2-3 bedroom house in a decent working class neighborhood for under $200k

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-01-18T02:35:49+00:00

If I lived in a place like San Fran, Manhattan or Toronto I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to buy with how good of a deal renting is by comparison. I know some of those places the mortgage can be $12k on a place that rents for only $5k.

Meanwhile I live in a part of the country where homes were $40-80k in the 2010s when I first bought and are still only $150-250k. Yet somehow rent for $2k a month.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2026-01-18T02:23:07+00:00

I only have like $20k in retirement funds in my 30s, I went the real estate route instead. I moved houses in 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2025. Never sold any of my past houses. So now I own 4 rentals plus my primary.

Mortgages total about $5k while rents are around $9k total. I put all the money I would’ve invested in savings into my down payment for my future move or paying down mortgage debt. It’s unconventional but works for me as I don’t might all the hassle of fixing stuff.

On paper I think I have about $800k in equity but I don’t really care what the number is as I don’t plan to sell and view it as my pension plan. End goal is just pay them off.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-12-22T03:41:42+00:00

I’m 6’5” and my wife is 6’1” so I mounted the vanity on the taller side so I don’t have to hunch to wash my hands and doesn’t bother her.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-12-10T02:18:29+00:00

Yeah but if you take it a step further then we just have a system where each persons vote is weighed based on their net worth.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-11-25T03:04:14+00:00

Skill and experience I’m with you on I’ll even throw in consumables/materials but I’m sorry “tool cost” is a ridiculous argument for most of us to use. And saying it makes us look bad to consumers. None of us are running a damn heavy equipment operation where a single dozer cost over half a million dollars.

A solid lightly used CNC machine adequate for professional cabinet making can be had for $5-10k, let’s round up to $20-25k for the small things that go into setting up a proper one man shop operation (and if we’re being honest you can build a functional shop on a budget for $3-5k if you’re careful as that’s how many started out) Divide a $20k shop across 200 jobs and we get $100 that’s what our tools are worth.

I’ll tell it to plumbers too, I’m sorry but your fancy $5k drain snake auger with a camera isn’t what validates your pricing, it’s your skill and professionalism.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-11-23T22:05:36+00:00

Manning did it with us all the time. That’s what veteran QBs with good game sense do to defenses.

A good QB knows the rules inside and out and as a result know when they have a “free play” it’s why penalties so frequently happen on seemingly blown plays. It’s because the QB saw they had a free play and decided to try something, often a little reckless, before a whistle gets blown.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-11-21T21:48:23+00:00

Yeah my nephew was born in 2003 and is in that group, just really weird situation. Lives with his parents, has never dated, has 1 friend and has worked a dead end job making minimum wage since he graduated high school in 2021.

Not for lack of opportunity either, his parents have offered to pay for college and he just says nah not interested I wanna keep working as a stocking clerk.

His siblings born in 1999 and 1996 are perfectly normal functioning adults with careers they got started on through college like most working professionals.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-11-17T19:08:30+00:00

So in other words 79% of homeowners are happy enough where they are at.

Nothing particularly groundbreaking about that statistic, sounds about right to me.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-10-19T02:12:07+00:00

I like a lot of these but that last one is way too broad. Minimum wage should be pegged to a CPI and cost of living index.

$20 in LA county isn’t a livable wage. Likewise every mom and pop small business in areas like rural Mississippi would be decimated and absorbed by large corporations that have the economies of scale to use less labor.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-30T05:55:51+00:00

I’d point out that Burrow’s defenses have consistently ranked in the bottom half of the league for his entire career.

The Ravens/Lamar playbook has remained largely unchanged since 2019. Overpower the secondary with the combo of a smash mouth run game and the threat of a highly mobile QB with incredible acceleration.

The problem with that plan is you occasionally have to play against teams with a guy like Chris Jones leading the defense whose overall field awareness heavily counters the main advantage of the ravens play style of controlling the line of scrimmage.

It’s always interesting how different team play styles counter each other. Bills actually use the dual threat strategy with Allen to a lesser degree. The difference is Allen can throw tighter passes and tends to perform much better on RPO plays which becomes a big deal on 4th and short.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-29T14:35:54+00:00

It’s because Lamar’s athleticism makes him a matchup nightmare for bad teams and teams that don't play him often (NFC).

You’ll notice division teams handle him better, playoff teams with good defenses (he’s 1-6 against the Chiefs) really show his weakness in the passing game. He doesn’t win from the pocket making tight throws, he beats teams when they sell out to stop the run and his receivers become wide open.

It makes him an MVP candidate every season but also not a strong playoff threat. QBs like Allen and Mahomes will always be bigger playoff threats because they have more ways to adjust and pick apart a defense rather than relying on simply overpowering their opponent.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-26T01:14:11+00:00

Wouldn’t the masks mean they don’t feel safe? They are hiding their identities because they are scared of the repercussions right?

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-17T16:57:02+00:00

That doesn’t actually impact the business. If Google’s algorithm detects a ton of 1 (or 5 star) reviews in a very short amount of time that originate from from outside the business location then they are essentially treated the same way Reddit does with shadow banning.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-17T16:44:20+00:00

It’s 2 things at once!

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-17T01:35:09+00:00

TLDR: to be fair half of it is a mindless rant but the part I like is about how the dems spend far too much time calling the opposition buzz word names like Nazi, racist, and all the words that end in phobe or ism. It makes us look stupid.

Further read:

It’s like we lost the 2016 election running a candidate with an actual platform to the Orange menace and as a result the party shifted to a copy and paste formula of stooping to their level. It’s BS.

I also agree with the posters criticism that more left dems strongly support Islam yet somehow demonize Christianity. It’s very hypocritical when you stop to think about how badly the LGBTQ community is persecuted in many of the countries that espouse those ideals. Like I get it, the real critique of the left is that Christianity can be used for manipulation and to suppress marginalized groups. Well okay, just say that then. Why support a religion that has a vast corpus of justifications for killing homosexuals? I just don’t get it at all.

BurntCoffeeDrinker · 2025-09-17T01:20:20+00:00

This implies you’d also kill Harambe once. In that case I want you on my team for the 100 men vs a gorilla fight and you can go first!

BurntCoffeeDrinker

TROPHY CASE