Why a salesperson is handing you this
A window contract usually gets signed at a kitchen table, at night, by two tired people, from a document handed over forty minutes earlier.
My self-interest is simple: a customer who understood what they bought doesn't fight me in week six about trim that was never in the price. Here's who I am.
Print this and take it to every appointment, mine included. How someone reacts to being asked tells you more than the answers.
What happens at your house
1. Who is physically doing the install — employees or subs?
Neither answer disqualifies anyone; plenty of excellent crews are subs. What matters is knowing who you call in March when something's wrong, and that it isn't two companies pointing at each other. A good answer names the crew and says who is accountable for a bad install. Ask who pulls the permit, and for lien waivers when you pay.
2. Exactly what am I buying — how many windows, what glass?
"Twelve windows, white, Low-E" is not a specification. Glass packages differ in coating, gas fill, spacer and pane count, and that difference is most of what separates a comfortable window from a cold one in a Michigan January. If the package isn't named on the contract, you can't prove later that you didn't get it. Get a written line per opening: size, style, operation, grids, color, glass package by name. More on those choices: double versus triple pane.
3. What happens if you open the wall and find rot?
On older mid-Michigan houses, rotted sills and jambs are common enough that "we'll deal with it if we see it" is not a plan. This is where a fixed price quietly becomes an open one. Get a rate named in advance — per foot, per opening, or hourly plus materials — and a line saying no extra work proceeds without written approval. Ask for photos before it's covered.
4. What is not included?
Most disputes aren't about the windows. They're about what nobody said out loud. Ask about interior trim and wood wrapping, drywall repair, painting, exterior capping, hauling the old units away, and rehanging blinds, which often won't fit the new frame depth. If your windows carry alarm contacts, ask who reconnects them — often nobody does.
The paperwork
5. What does the warranty cover, and who honors the labor half?
There are two warranties and people hear them as one. The manufacturer covers the product — seals, hardware, frame. The installer covers the work. A lifetime warranty on glass does nothing when the problem is a leak at the install. Get the labor term in years with a named party who performs it, and ask what happens if that company goes under.
6. Is the manufacturer warranty transferable if I sell?
Many transfer once, sometimes with a fee or a deadline after the sale. That's a real talking point when you list the house, and worthless if nobody mentions the deadline. A good answer is "yes, once, and here's the paragraph" — shown to you, not described.
7. How big is the deposit, and what's the payment schedule?
Money up front is normal on made-to-order windows. Most of the money up front is not. You want the balance due on completion, not on delivery. In my experience a deposit near a third is typical here, a quarter to a half the usual spread — a rule of thumb, not a standard, since the only number that binds anyone is the one printed on your contract. Financing? Ask the interest rate and total of payments, not the monthly figure. See what replacement windows cost.
8. What's the lead time, and what if it slips?
Windows are built to order, so the wait is measured in weeks. Slippage happens for real reasons; silence about it is the problem. Get an estimated install window on the contract, a named person who calls if it moves, and your options if it moves badly.
9. How long is this price good for?
A price with a written expiration date is a price. A price that dies at 9 p.m. tonight is a technique. Thirty days is a common and perfectly honest answer. If a discount really ends on a date, they can show you where that's written.
The legal side, in Michigan
10. Are you licensed and insured, and how do I verify it?
A certificate the salesperson hands you proves little. Michigan licenses residential builders and maintenance & alteration contractors through LARA, and a job the size of a window replacement needs one. An M&A license covers only the classifications listed on it, so ask which covers your job, get the exact name it's held under, and look it up on the state's site. Ask for the insurance certificate direct from their agent: general liability and workers' comp.
11. Do I have a right to cancel, and where is it in this contract?
Michigan's Home Solicitation Sales Act gives a buyer the right to cancel a qualifying sale until midnight of the third business day after signing, and the seller must give written notice of that right. The federal cooling-off rule covers similar ground for sales of $25 or more signed away from the seller's normal place of business. It generally applies where the sale was solicited and signed at your home; sign at a showroom and it may not. Cancelling means writing to the address on the notice, not just telling the salesperson.
Salespeople sometimes say custom-ordered windows are exempt from the three-day right. Don't take that as settled fact. Read the cancellation notice in your own contract, and if the deadline is close and you're unsure, contact the Michigan Attorney General's consumer protection division before it passes, not after.
12. My house is pre-1978 — are you lead-safe certified?
Window replacement disturbs painted surfaces, and a lot of housing in Midland, Saginaw and Bay City predates 1978. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, firms working on pre-1978 homes must be certified and must give you the "Renovate Right" pamphlet before starting. Get the certification number and look it up in the EPA's certified-firm search. Grinding paint off a 1940s sill with no containment isn't a technicality.
High pressure, and what to do about it
This trade does do this. Here's the honest version, from someone who sits at those tables.
| If you hear this | What to do |
|---|---|
| "This price is only good if you sign tonight." | Ask for it in writing with an expiration date. A real promotion has one. If it evaporates when they walk out, you've learned something. |
| "Let me call my manager and see what I can do." | Treat it as theater. Whatever the manager authorizes was available the whole time. Nothing bad happens if you decide tomorrow. |
| The price drops after you say no. Then drops again. | The first number was never the price. Ask for the final one in writing and take the night. A company that won't put its last offer on paper is telling you what its paper is worth. |
| "Do it before the tax credit goes away." | The federal 25C energy-efficiency tax credit expired on December 31, 2025. It is not a reason to hurry. What is and isn't available is on the rebates page. |
My own rule: if I ever do any of that to you, ask me to leave. A quote that only survives while I'm sitting in your kitchen was never a quote.
How to use the list
You don't need to run all twelve like a deposition. Ask four or five and watch whether the person gets more specific or more soothing. Soothing, to a concrete question, is the warning. Then get the answers in writing.
What windows cost
Typical ranges around Midland, and what moves a number.
Foggy, drafty, failing
How to tell what's actually wrong before anyone quotes it.
To apply these questions to your project, request a free email window plan or call (989) 272-3505.