Chinese Elms are outdoor trees. Right now, depending on where you live, it should be going into dormancy. It may be dying due to lack of a rest, or it may be trying to go into rest. If you think it is dead, give the trunk a scratch test. If it's green, it is alive. If it's not green, well I'm sorry.

Pella used to be a good source of windows. My parents have an upper line that has been in place over 22yrs. No problems whatsoever. But friends of theirs who built a few years later had nothing but problems. They had ended up replacing every single window...and it was a large house. We used extruded aluminum clad casements with wood interior fixed grills, etc. by BiltBest and are very pleased with them. My parents used them in their lakehouse and my GC is now using them in other new homes. Here (at GW) Susuancc is using them on her new home. We also have some of their french doors on the lower level (used wood on the upper verandas). We first saw them when out looking at new construction before our build. fyi, we moved in 28mths ago. Here is a link that might be useful: BiltBest Windows and Doors

You did it the hard way it seems. Microsoft now provides Windows Easy File Transfer to move things to the new computer and put them in the right place for you. What size was the USB flash drive you used, perhaps it was too small for the task?

Tinker, you earned a break - give yourself one, when you need it... "guilt-free"! (Barry Manilow's McDonalds jingle is stuck in my head, now.. I suppose I'm the only one to remember it?). I want to point out, there are "clients", & there are "potential clients". This is a rare moment, where I advocate for (good) contractors. For every lousy contractor of services, there is a lousy client that won't pay for services, has unreasonable demands, constantly changes their mind about what they want, etc. I'm not a contractor - & I know there are many that just plain stink! (We had to testify in court & have one put in jail for a while). I know that none of the members of this forum would be bad clients, lol, owning an old house means caring about the house - & being difficult is not in our best interests... Quality work is a priority when it's your house, thus good contractors get coffee service, & paid before other bills. :-) If a contractor is excellent, they will get a lot of calls - referrals alone, not including phone-book calls... How can they meet our high expectations, if they spend several hours a day returning calls to say they don't have time to take a job? If they show up late, is it "ok" if they tell you they spent the morning on the phone with people that aren't paying them - when you ARE paying them & expected them to show up before 9:00 am? (Worse if you took unpaid time off work, & waited for them like they were the cable guy!). Just saying - a bad contractor is a nightmare! A good one is like a good partner - hard to find, & when you do - you do not want to share, but everyone wants them.. ;-) That said, once you are a "client", they've agreed to take the job - they should be where, & when, they said they would. If they're not, more than once or twice... They're either lousy, or (lol), spending too much time on the phone turning away work. Is your house is going to be incredible? I don't doubt it for a minute! Will you ever want to see cute green plaid wallpaper again, EVER? Probably not. Bummer, right? It was so cute!