Frequently Asked
Questions

Fogged glass between panes, sashes that stick or won't stay open, visible frame rot, and drafts you can feel are the classic signs. If your energy bills climb every winter, the windows are usually part of the reason. Our estimate visit will tell you honestly whether repair or replacement makes more sense.

Most homes are done in one or two days. We work opening by opening, so your house is never standing open, and we clean up and haul away the old units before we go. Larger or custom units like a bay window can add time, and we tell you the schedule at the estimate rather than on the day.

Yes, and plenty of homeowners do. Start with the rooms that are coldest or hardest to live with and do the rest in a later phase. We keep your order on file so the second phase matches the first exactly, right down to the color and hardware.

Yes. We install year-round and work one opening at a time, so your home is never left open to the weather. Cold-weather installation is routine for a crew that has worked Michigan winters since 1979.

For Michigan, double-pane glass with a low-E coating and argon fill is the sensible baseline: the coating reflects heat back where you want it and the gas slows heat moving through. Triple-pane is worth discussing for rooms facing wind or a busy road. We walk through the options at your estimate instead of selling you the most expensive package by default.

We are a Pella Platinum Elite Certified Contractor, and Pella windows make up most of what we install. We also install vinyl windows from ProVia. At your estimate we'll match the right product line and material to your home and budget.

Adkins & Sons employees, factory-trained installers on our own payroll. We don't hand your home to subcontractors, and a lead installer is on every job to make sure our standards are being met.

Two layers: the manufacturer's warranty on the window itself, and our 15-year labor warranty on the installation. If anything we installed needs attention, one call to our office handles it.

Yes. Flexible financing options are available, and every project starts with a free in-home estimate so you know the full number before deciding anything.

For most Michigan homes, yes, and it is what we install most. Vinyl gives a good balance of insulation, low upkeep and price. Where it is not the answer: if you want a stained wood interior, or the house is in a historic district with rules about frame profiles, we will point you at our wood or fiberglass lines instead. That conversation happens at the estimate, honestly, and it is free either way.

Less than the brochures suggest. Both are welded, multichambered, low-E, ENERGY STAR rated windows from American manufacturers we install every week. Pella's distinctive piece is the Hidden Screen, which folds away so a closed window is just glass. ProVia's is the color range and a warranty that transfers to the next owner. We carry both so we can recommend what fits your house and your budget rather than what we happen to stock.

Sometimes. A third pane adds insulation and cuts noise, and it costs more and weighs more. It earns its money on the windward wall of the house, on a bedroom over a busy road, and in rooms that never get comfortable. It is usually not worth it on a sheltered wall or a window you rarely sit near. We will tell you which of your openings are which rather than quoting the whole house one way.

Decades, and the failure is almost never the vinyl. What ages first is the seal on the insulated glass unit, which is why the spacer at the edge of the glass and the welded corners matter so much, and why both manufacturers warrant the sealed unit separately from everything else. The frames themselves never need painting or staining to get there.

Old leaky windows are one of the largest holes in a Michigan home's envelope, and closing that gap shows up on the bill over the following seasons. We will not put a number on it, because an honest one depends on your furnace, your insulation and how bad the current windows are. What people report first is not the bill. It is that the room next to the window stopped being the cold one.

Any color in the manufacturer's range, and the range is long. What you cannot do is repaint them later: solid vinyl carries its color through the whole extrusion, which is exactly why a scratch does not show, and it is also why paint does not stick to it properly. Pick the color at the order, because that is the one decision that is permanent.

The old ones were. The Pella wood windows we install are built to give you the woodgrain interior without the scraping and repainting cycle that came with standard wood frames.

The ones we install are ENERGY STAR rated, in double- or triple-pane glass, and the triple-pane option is also what gives them their sound control.

Yes. These windows can be stained in custom finishes, which is usually the reason people choose wood in the first place: matching existing trim, doors or floors.

Wood if the interior look matters most to you, fiberglass if you want the closest thing to a wood look with the least upkeep, vinyl if efficiency and value lead. We install all three and we will tell you which one fits your openings rather than which one we would rather sell.

Adkins & Sons handles the installation from the free inspection through the final walkthrough, and the 15-year labor warranty on the work is ours.

Strength. The Pella fiberglass windows we install are made from a five-layer fiberglass composite, so the frames can be slimmer for the same opening and they hold their shape through temperature swings that make other frames move.

That is the case fiberglass is built for. The composite resists the expansion and contraction that comes with freeze and thaw, so the frame is not working against its own seals every season.

Yes. Fiberglass can be finished to closely resemble a natural wood frame, which is why people who want the wood look without the upkeep usually end up here.

A price in writing before anything is ordered. The in-home estimate is free, every opening is measured twice, and each window is ordered to the exact size of your opening.

We do. Our own factory-trained employees do the work, as a Pella Platinum Elite Certified Contractor, and the 15-year labor warranty comes from Adkins & Sons, so there is one company to call.

Four things working together: a Low-E coating that reflects heat back where you want it, argon gas between the panes that slows heat moving through, two or three panes of glass instead of one, and a frame that seals tight to the opening. The article above walks through each one.

U-factor measures how well the window holds heat in: lower is better, and for Michigan's Northern climate zone you want 0.27 or lower. SHGC measures how much solar heat comes through the glass. The two numbers together tell you how a window will actually perform in our weather.

It is worth serious consideration here. Each added pane creates another sealed insulating chamber, and Michigan's hard freezes are exactly the climate that extra chamber is built for. We walk through double versus triple pane at the estimate based on your home, not a script.

The ENERGY STAR mark for the Northern climate zone. That certification means the EPA has verified the window meets the U-factor and solar heat gain requirements for a climate like ours. It is the simplest shortcut to a window that will perform in Michigan.

Choose double-hung when you want the traditional look, nothing swinging out over a porch or walkway, and sashes you can tilt in to clean. A casement cranks open like a door and seals slightly tighter in high wind. We show you both at the estimate and let the house decide.

Yes. Both sashes tilt into the room, which is the feature people use most. Second-floor windows stop being a ladder job.

Yes, that is the double in double-hung. The bottom sash slides up and the top sash slides down, so you can vent a room high, low, or both at once.

Anywhere reaching a sash is awkward: over the kitchen sink, behind a counter, high on a stair landing. The crank does the reaching for you.

Casement when you want maximum airflow and the tightest seal against wind. Double-hung when you want the traditional look and nothing swinging outward. We show you both at the estimate.

Hardware is serviceable and covered by the manufacturer's warranty on the window, and our 15-year labor warranty covers the installation. One call to our office handles either.

Cracked open in ordinary rain, yes: the sash is hinged at the top and swings outward, so it sheds water like a small roof. In driving, sideways weather you close it like any other window.

They are cousins: a casement hinges at the side, an awning at the top. Pick awning for rain-tolerant venting and high placements, casement for the biggest opening and easy reach.

High on bedroom and bathroom walls, in basements, and underneath picture windows where you want air without breaking up the view.

Openings that are wider than they are tall, and rooms where furniture sits against the wall: basements, hallways, ranch homes. Nothing swings in or out, so nothing has to be kept clear.

Sliding when the opening is wide and you want one-hand operation with nothing to lift. Double-hung when the opening is taller than wide and you want the traditional look. We show you both at the estimate.

It asks for an occasional vacuum and wipe, the same attention any window track needs. There is no crank hardware or balance system to wear out, which is part of the appeal.

No, and that is the point: with no moving parts there is nothing to leak air, so it is the most efficient window on the house. Rooms that need airflow pair it with casements, double-hungs, or an awning underneath.

Wherever the view or the light is the point: living rooms, stair landings, above a window seat. It is also the anchor of most bay and bow arrangements.

Modern glass does the work here: two or three panes, argon between them, and a Low-E coating that keeps heat in during winter and out during summer. Sealed fixed glass outperforms any operable window of the same size.

A bay is usually three units: a big picture window flanked by two angled side windows. A bow is four or more equal units in a gentler curve. Bay reads crisp and modern, bow reads soft and traditional.

Yes. The center is usually fixed glass for the view, and the flanking units can be casements or double-hungs so the arrangement still ventilates.

It can. A projecting unit is larger, heavier, and sometimes needs support work, so it is not always a same-day job like a standard opening. We tell you the schedule at the estimate rather than on the day.

We do. The 15-year labor warranty on the installation comes from Adkins & Sons, not from whoever happened to be on site, so any question later goes to our Southgate office.

CertainTeed. We source our vinyl siding from them, in insulated configurations where you want the extra thermal performance, and in a range of fade-resistant color blends.

Yes, and we would rather you did. Our Southgate showroom is 4,000 sq. ft. of windows, doors and siding on display, so you can put your hands on the product and compare colors in person instead of choosing from a chip.

Every time. We go over your current siding to see how it is holding up and where it is letting water or insects in, and the inspection and the quote both cost nothing.

Adkins & Sons has been family-owned since 1979 and is now in its third generation. We work out of one Southgate location across Downriver and the wider Southeast Michigan area.

Yes. James Hardie fiber cement is the board we install for homeowners who want a painted plank rather than vinyl, and it gets the same free inspection and written estimate as every siding job.

Vinyl never needs paint and costs less. Fiber cement takes paint, does not burn, and reads as painted wood from the curb. The house, the neighborhood and the budget usually decide it, and we give you a straight recommendation with both numbers in writing.

It arrives factory-finished in the manufacturer's colors or primed for painting on site. Either way the finish outlasts paint on wood, because the board underneath is not moving.

Yes. The installation is covered by our 15-year labor warranty, on top of the manufacturer's own warranty on the boards.

The inspection and the quote cost nothing, the full number comes in writing before anything is ordered, and the 15-year labor warranty on the installation comes from us.

Vinyl siding with a rigid foam backing shaped to the panel and bonded to it at the factory. The wall gets new cladding and a continuous outer layer of insulation in the same installation, including over the studs that interior insulation cannot cover.

It depends on the wall. Homes with little insulation in the walls, cold north faces, or a comfort problem the furnace cannot fix are where it earns its premium. On a well-insulated house standard vinyl may be the smarter spend, and we price both at the estimate so you can see the gap.

From the curb it reads as premium vinyl: the same CertainTeed profiles and fade-resistant colors, usually hanging a little straighter because the foam stiffens every course against the wall's old waves.

We are a Pella Platinum Elite Certified Contractor, and Pella windows make up most of what we install. We also install vinyl windows from ProVia. At your estimate we match the right product line and material to your home and budget.

ProVia entry doors in the Signet, Heritage and Embarq fiberglass lines and the Legacy steel line, Pella and ProVia patio doors, and Fox Aluminum storm doors.

CertainTeed vinyl, in standard and insulated configurations, and James Hardie fiber cement for homeowners who want a painted board.

Yes. Full-size windows and doors from each manufacturer are on the floor at our 4,000 sq. ft. showroom on Dix Toledo Road in Southgate, where you can operate them yourself.

13789 Dix Toledo Rd, Southgate, MI 48195, on Dix Toledo Road. The directions link above opens it in Google Maps.

Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone rings at the same address: 734 283 7120.

Yes. Full-size windows and doors are on the floor to open, close, tilt and lock, and every one is a product we install.

The showroom is where you compare the options. The estimate happens at your house, because the price depends on measuring every opening, and you get it in writing before anything is ordered.

Pella windows and patio doors, ProVia entry and patio doors and Endure windows, and CertainTeed vinyl siding samples in standard and insulated configurations.

Yes. We handle complete exterior remodeling, including soffit, fascia, and gutters, so your whole exterior is properly protected and cleanly finished. One estimate can cover all of it.

All three. We install new gutters, repair gutters that leak or pull loose, and handle cleaning and maintenance so water keeps draining the way it should.

Every rain sends water off your roof. Gutters move it away from the house; without them it soaks the ground at the base of your walls. Gutter installation helps prevent water damage and maintain your home's foundation.