Windows and Doors

How Windows Should Be Installed

We get called for leaking windows regularly and in nearly every case the unit itself is fine. What failed was a sill pan that was never installed, head flashing that was left out, or caulk doing a job caulk cannot do. A window is waterproofed by flashing that drains water back out, not by sealant.

• Sill pan first, with a raised back dam so water cannot run inward
• Jamb flashing lapping over the pan
• Head flashing lapped under the barrier above so water sheds outward
• Sealant at jambs and head, and deliberately not across the sill, so the pan can drain
• Correct shimming so the unit is square and operates without racking

Ask any installer to describe their sill pan detail. If the answer is only caulk, find another installer.

Choosing For North Texas

• Solar heat gain coefficient matters more than U factor here. Our problem is keeping heat out, and it is the number most sales presentations skip past
• Vinyl is cost effective and performs well thermally. Fiberglass handles heat expansion better and costs more
• Full frame replacement lets us correct the flashing. Inserts keep the existing frame, which means keeping whatever flashing problem it has. If the window leaks, an insert is not the fix

Doors have the same failure mode plus a threshold that takes standing water. We pan every exterior door and check that the grade outside drains away from it.

What We See Across DFW

In the 1990s and 2000s subdivisions, the original builder windows are reaching the end of their seals now. Fogged glass between panes is the common call, and it is a failed seal rather than dirt, so cleaning does nothing.

Older houses closer to the city cores bring different problems. Original wood windows, plaster returns and openings that are no longer square after decades of slab movement on clay soil. Doors in those houses often stick because the frame is racked, and a new slab in a racked frame sticks the same way. We check the opening before quoting a unit.

Heat drives the specification. Attic and wall temperatures in a North Texas July are why we push solar heat gain performance ahead of everything else, and why we look at what the sun does to west facing glass before you pick a package.