Hacking Out the Old Putty Yourself and Having Others Install the Glass
This is the best of all worlds if you have budget considerations, but don't want to mess with installing the glass.
Glaziers aren't fond of chiseling out old putty, even if they use power tools to do it. Many younger glaziers work primarily on new windows which use special caulking and metal stops to secure the glass and have little experience with older windows. Even with an experienced worker, the bulk of the labor fee comes from cleaning out the old glass and putty.
Do the grunt work and provide the glazier with clean sashes ready for glass and you'll keep your cost down and leave the more fragile work to others. You may even want to do your own finish glazing and just have the glazier cut and install the glass with points. This is also a cost saver.
