Workin on a report. House inspected today had older Anderson casements.
No typical Anderson production date on glass, but the Anderson logo and letters MM instead.
Does anyone know of a dating sytem for Andersons ( insulated type )
The listing sheet dated the house 1972, but the toilets and furnace were 1980.
Also, roof system was rafters/hand constructed truss’s which is not very typical of 80’s construction here.
Any help appreciated! 
Just out of curiosity why would you care how old the windows are???
I agree.
Dating windows is not necessary.
I simply note what type of window, ie,Single Pane, Thermal, etc. and the style…double hung, casement, slider, etc.
Thanks Joseph! Great link, Anderson did fax me a shorten version, this is more detailed.
The reason I date window glass is to help determine actual construction date or age of home. This is just one more piece of the puzzle, like toilet tank lids, furnace and water heaters. This particular home was most likely 12 yrs. older than advertised, which my clients were pleased to be aware of.
John,
Your county treasurer website might have information regarding when the first year taxes were paid and certificate of occupancy was issued.
The information is available here, with a couple clicks on the computer.
Thanks Dale, I’ll check it out1
Appreciate the links that Joe H. provided and was very informative.
But, what do you guesstamate when the windows are so old, there is no date line evidence on the glass?
I have three windows left to replace in my garage and no date on the glass. The house dates back to the 1960’s, and I know that because I recognize the window unit. So, how is everyone else able to recognize it? Is there a link out there that is able to identify these units for the Newer Inspectors?
Is there an area available to the General Public that might be available to learn of the History of Products of a particular interest and how do you find it. ??
Although never liked History in school., this is one I might relate too. ha. ha.
Marcel
What exactly do you tell your buyers. Something like:
“Oh by the way I did a web search and I’ve discovered that these windows are 12 years older than what the listing sheet said the house was”.
Is it possible that the windows set somewhere unused OR that someone didn’t like the original windows and had these put in to replace them, OR …
I can think of a dozen what if’s to account for this AND I’m wondering if any of them counts for anything. I don’t believe it would affect the appraisal at all or the SP. If I was a seller and a HI put a slowdown in my deal for something like this, I’d do my dead level best to shove a 2x4 up his A$$.
Just MHO
Jeez Dan
How do you really feel?
A new 2 X 4 or an old one? How does one get the age of a piece of nominal timber?
What benefit would one have by being able to identify the age of existing windows other than to prove they are obsolete, old, disfunctional, and outdated, and need repairs.
Man for a second I thought my wife wrote this. ha. ha.
I thought that maybe someone could find a way to learn about the history of windows and how to date them from visual inspections, to at least have an idea as to how old they are.
Since it is easy for me to tell what approximately what year they were manufactured, going back 40 years, it is not as easy for new HI’s to do the same especially today with 1000 + Window Manufacturers.
Marcel
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Guys -
Reality time for new or naive guys. In the current market we’ve got houses sitting vacant a year or so. A home inspector comes in and tells someone the house is 5-10-15 years older than its listed at due to the HI’s guestimate of how old the windows are, and even other HI’s are gonna think you’re out in left field. If the deal went south for any reason there are an awful lot of vindicative sellers, realtors, others that will make burying a bone in your butt their lifes goal. AND quite truthfully I can’t blame them. That just sounds silly.
Yesterdays inspection showed the house built in 1968…the inspection sticker in the electric panel showed 1964 and the insulation tag in the attic showed 1964…
I hope I don’t get a bone in the butt for that one…I hope I never get a bone in the butt…
Reality time is this, my clients have me inspect their potential home which is disclosed to be X years old. During the course of the inspection, I notice one or more items that lead me to believe its older than advertised. Number one, I think they should be aware of this “possibility”. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t buy the home, only that it could be older than they thought. I can’t imagine this causing a deal to go South if presented in proper contex, as with may items. On a 100 year old home, who’s gonna care, on a 28 year old home, it might be important. I would always stress also, that the listing sheet can be off due to many reasons, and more than likely this isn’t going to cause any concerns, just more info on their home.
Just for information purposes, if the window is a double paned insulated glass, if you look closely along the metal spline that is sandwiched in between the panes of glass there is a tiny date stamp. You will need glasses or extremely good eyes. I do not report on ages of windows but on the physical condition but that is me. I find there are about 10 or so ways to determine the age of a home. I first go to the County property appraisers website and the age is on the records. Typically it will eyb (for estimated year built) and then ayb (for actual year built). Varioius software they use will vary but it is generally on there somewhere. I also look in the HVAC closet for the insulation installation sheet, inside the toilet lids, the serial numbers on the HVAC, the final inspection tag from the county inspector (if still around) often inside the Circuit breaker panel there will be a sign off sheet for final, and sometimes the homeowners had the date actually scratched into the concrete somewhere. There are others but I am only on my second cup of coffee and can’t think of any right now. I am sure there are some others that can offer items. The window spline only works if the window panes havent been replaced and may be different throughout the house.
In my case the county had the home built in 1968 but the inspection stickers show 1964
That is exactly how I would present it to the clients too. Let them decide what to do about it. I did one yesterday that the the owner and their realtor listed as 1992 when it was actually completed in early 91. Is that a big deal, don’t care, Im not buying it. I simply tell the client and let them figure out what they want to do about it. Could it come back on someone, sure, but not me.
The County Assessor websites have the information about the age of the house. They will tell the year it was built as far as I know in most cases.
I just didn’t need this visual Tony.:shock: