Wellington Windows: Revenge of the Screens

On day two of the installation, most of the windows had been put in, along with the new screens. But there was a problem: they didn't actually fit in their frames.

From a distance, it looked okay, but when you were up close, you could see the screes were warped in the middle and bulged out away from the frame. So even though the screens were installed on the sides and along the bottom, there was a large open pocket between the screen frame and the window frame. In Minnesota, the land of mosquitoes, having a screen that didn't fit perfectly, wasn't a whole lot better than having no screen at all. And it wasn't just one window that had this problem, but all the bedroom windows.

So there we were, in the last nice days of Minnesota weather in the fall, but we were unable to keep our windows open for fear of bug infestation. So what did we do? We called the salesperson, who connected us to the installer, who made a trip out to check on the screens. We were told then the next day that the screens hadn't been measured properly and would have to be completely remade from scratch. The time it would take to do this? Four weeks. So the same company that needed four weeks to not only build the screens, but every single window in our house, would now need an additional four weeks just to build a few replacement screens. We weren't happy, but what could we do?

Well, here's what we did: Wait four weeks. But we heard nothing. No calls, no updates. Nothing at all. So we finally broke down at about four and a half weeks and called them. When we called, we were told the screens were ready and could be installed next week (5 weeks after the initial installation). And imagine our surprise when they arrived the following week with the replacement screens and . . . they didn't fit yet again.

Turns out they had mis-measured yet again and the screens would have to be remade yet again. So we called the salesperson, who talked to the installer, who then called us back. But this time we got lucky. This time it would only take one week to remake the screens and get them installed.

And so finally, at about week six, we finally got screens for our windows. By this time, though, it was late fall and winter was approaching and we no longer wanted our windows open. But at last our ordeal was over. Or so we thought. Because it was right around this time that the windows began to fail, and not one or two of the windows, but every single one of them.