How to choose a window company in Utah County.

Start with who installs

Ask every company one question first: who physically installs the windows, and what is their Utah contractor license number. The answer should be a name and a number, in writing, before the job starts. Utah's Division of Professional Licensing publishes a license lookup, and a legitimate installer expects you to use it.

If the answer is vague, or the installer changes between the sale and the install day, the company is a sales office with a subcontractor it would rather you not meet. That can be fine. You should know it, and the paperwork should say so.

Get the same job quoted three times

Two quotes for the same house are only comparable if they describe the same job. Before you compare prices, line up three things on each quote: the number of openings, whether each is an insert or a full-frame replacement, and the U-Factor of the glass. If those differ, the prices should differ, and the cheaper quote may simply be less window.

Ask for the exact window line and series. A brand name alone tells you almost nothing, because every manufacturer sells a value line and a premium line under the same name.

Read the quote for what is missing

• The U-Factor. If it is not on the quote, you do not know whether the window qualifies for Utah's rebates, which require 0.22 or lower.
• The installer's name and license. See above. This is the one that matters most.
• How long the price is good for. A real quote has a date and a validity period. It does not expire when the salesperson leaves.
• Rebates as a separate line. An estimate, with the program named. Rebate approval is made by the utility, and it should never be baked into the price.
• Trim, capping, disposal. If they are not on the quote, ask whether they are in the price. A quote that leaves them out is incomplete.
• The cancellation notice. Any sale made in your home comes with a written three-business-day right to cancel under Utah law. If the paperwork does not include it, that is a problem with the company.

Watch what the price does when you hesitate

A price that drops when you say you want to think about it was never the price. The same goes for a discount that only exists tonight, a phone call to a manager for a one-time exception, and a quote that expires when the salesperson walks out the door. These are scripts, and they work because they are uncomfortable to sit through.

The test is simple. Ask for the quote in writing and say you will call back in a week. A company that is fine with that is quoting you a real number.

Six questions for the first visit

• Who installs, and what is their Utah license number?
• Insert or full-frame, and why that one for my house?
• What is the U-Factor of the exact window on this quote?
• Is this price the same next week?
• Which rebates does this glass qualify for, and who files?
• What happens if a window arrives damaged or measured wrong?

Write the answers on the quote itself. If a company will not put an answer in writing, treat that as the answer.

Reviews and references, read properly

Recent, local, and specific beats a big number. Look for reviews that name the city, the kind of window, and what happened when something went wrong, because something eventually does on every job. Ask for a reference from an install in your own city within the last year.

Be careful with company names. Utah County has had more than one business operate under similar names, and a review for a defunct company can attach to a new one that has nothing to do with it. Check the license number as well as the name.

What a good company looks like from the outside

A walk-around that takes minutes. One written number that holds. The exact window, the U-Factor, the installer, and the price on one page. Rebates quoted from the current utility terms and shown separately. A clear answer to every question above, in writing.

That is the standard we hold ourselves to. Hold everyone else to it too.