Mary, Are you referring to window restoration or just sealing up some existing windows? The two are going to be very different type professionals. If it it just sealing up some exterior trim on windows, a decent painter can do that. If its window restoration, that is a different ball of wax. Window restoration is a very niché marketplace. The best thing to do is start with a Google area search near your home and especially in those areas that are more heavily concentrated in older homes. Next would be to ask around any of the historic districts that are in your area and see who they might have a list for. Hope this helps.

Pictures are some times decieving but those windows don't look like they are from nor in 18th century style. I leave the windows to the historic home purists but this much I know. I would do the happy dance if hired to build new shutters like those and repaint hardware for $500 a pop. Charging that kind of money to strip and paint shutters should be a felony. If those who like to gaga over historic homes could tell the difference between my shutters and whatever is being quoted for $7k,I would refund your money. Judging by the picture, the hardware isn't even historically correct reproduction,much less origional. Did I mention that hype is way over priced? I don't mean to miniumize the value or beauty of the home,it's truly a satisfying experience to own such place,not to mention living there. I'm only saying it isn't Drayton Hall and the contractor is not intitled to wages as if if were. Let my lashing commence.

Stolenidentity, we are not using the flat rubber roof at all. We might use it as a patio IF it ever gets fixed right. Our patio door to the roof is crap and falling apart, so that's another reason we don't use the flat roof. Alot to get fixed......... I would love to put a small screen porch or greenhouse on a small part of the roof, if possible. I know the whole roof needs to be ripped off and new fiberboard put down, or whatever. Thinking that's a good time to put a small porch there or greenhouse since its on the south side of the house. Still looking at options. Its unbelievable that a lot of the roofing companies don't even return my call. I leave message that we either need it patched or replaced, and would like to get an estimate. We've gotten ONE estimate and 2 ballpark estimate, with probably 6-7 calls to different roofers. I think the flat roof has the smallest amount of pitch in the middle. Whoever originally put it on should have put more pitch on it, that's for sure. also, because the highest pitch is in the middle, some of the water flows toward our patio door ,which isn't good.

Good point to talk about relative values. However, it seems to me that a failed controller board or boards (apparently costing $800 and maybe $1400 to have replaced) is more akin to having a blown motor in a car, or maybe major damage from hitting a deer where your insurance company wants to total the vehicle. Those are much bigger financial hits, ones that as Lily'smom says, were you get to "the thought process when deciding to replace a car." Now if we were talking about, say, a Miele induction range priced at $7k ($7500 with the 5 year warranty), it makes arguable economic sense to go ahead with an $800 or even a $1400 repair. A six year old Miele range, with a $1500 repair, might very well be worth around $3000 to $4000. For a six year-old Elux, though, it is a good deal less clear, which is where cjzimmer seems to be asking for help. Here's my 2 cents on the questions asked. Sounds to me like the stove is the EW30IS65 slide-in model. At least, that was the only induction range that I recall Elux selling as a two-oven induction range back in 2011. (IIRC, it had the regular oven and the "baking drawer" in place of a warming drawer and that was how Elux could call it a "two oven" stove.) If memory serves, the stove was priced at around $3200 back in 2011. What's it worth now? Maybe $1600? Maybe a lot less. Seems to me that we had a posting here a couple of years ago from somebody who picked up one from Craig's list for about $1000. On the other hand, if you were going to buy the current version Elux slide-in (EW30IS80), the asking price is usually $3200 but sometimes turns up on sale at around $2900. Compared to that price, an $800 or even $1400 repair looks more economically rational. Trouble is that this is the point where we run into a lot of uncertainty. As Lily'smom points out, maybe other components will start failing. Then again, maybe they will not. Conversely, do I want to spend $2900 on a new stove that also might have a major failure in another six years? Or, to borrow Kaseki's formulation -- would you be willing to pay $450 per year to lease a stove and then go lease a new one when it dies? Another alternative would be a less expensive replacement range. Two examples that come to mind are the Elux freestanding that Lily'smom is getting (also recently purchased, I believe by 3katz4me). Seems to run around $1800. That, of course, is a frestanding range and might not be to cjzimmer's liking. So, for a slide-in, there also is the Frigidaire induction slide-in range (FGIS3065). Made (afaik) in the same factory which produces the Electrolux ranges. The Frigidaire slide-in often seems to be sale priced at under $1500. Otherwise, the next least expensive slide-in induction models are the GE (PHS920) and the two Samsung slide-in induction ranges, all seemingly priced around $2200 to $2500. Will these ranges --- or the $3+k Bosch slide-in (HIIP054U, soon to be replaced by the HIIP055u), the $3k JennAir/Kittchenaid cloned slide-ins, and the new LG induction slide-in --- be more reliable, longer lived than the Elux/Frigidaire products? No way to know. We know that some of them will fail early (plenty of online complaints about that, too). But what percentages? Impossible for us to say because there is (as yet) no readily available -- available to us, that is --- long term statistical data. So, "in your shoes," my inclination would be to go with a less expensive model from a reputable retailer and read the extended warranty terms very carefully.