Columbia Window Co.: Window Replacement, Bay Windows & Patio Doors

Replacing every window at once is the big-ticket job, and the install method sets the price as much as the window does. An insert (pocket) replacement leaves the old frame and interior trim in place and sets a new unit inside it. It's quicker and cheaper, but you lose some glass area. A full-frame replacement takes the opening down to the rough framing. That shows any rot, lets the installer flash the sill properly and gives back the full glass size.

On a brick ranch with sound wood frames, inserts are usually fine. When the sills are soft, or the old frames are out of square, full-frame is the honest answer. Ask for the method in writing for each opening, not one line for the whole house.

See Retrofit Window Replacement in Columbia. Manufactured homes take different units: see Mobile Home Window Replacement in Columbia.

A bay window is three units, a wide fixed center flanked by two angled sides, usually at 30 or 45 degrees. A bow uses four to six equal units on a gentle curve. Both stick out past the wall, so they need a seat board, a head board, a small roof or canopy, and support from cables or brackets tied back to the framing. The installer should check the header above the opening before quoting, because a bay often replaces a wider span than the window it's taking out.

See Bay and Bow Windows in Columbia.

Patio doors come as two- or three-panel sliders, hinged French doors, and sliding French styles that look hinged but glide. Every panel has to be safety glazing: the code treats glass in doors as a hazardous location. The part you don't see matters most. A sloped sill pan under the threshold and flashing tape at the jambs keep wind-driven rain out of the subfloor, and that's where old patio doors usually fail.

See Sliding Glass Doors in Columbia, or French Doors in Columbia for hinged pairs.

Windows account for 25% to 30% of a home's heating and cooling energy, according to the Department of Energy. In Columbia the cooling side counts for a lot, so look hard at SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient), the share of the sun's heat a window lets in. Columbia falls in ENERGY STAR's South-Central zone, where a certified window needs a U-factor of 0.28 or lower and an SHGC of 0.23 or lower.

The parts that get you there are a low-E coating tuned to block heat, argon gas between the panes, and a warm-edge spacer at the glass edge. Triple pane is available, but in a cooling-heavy climate a good double-pane low-E unit often does most of the work.

See Energy-Efficient Windows in Columbia. If street or airport noise is the bigger problem, Soundproof Windows in Columbia covers laminated glass and inserts.

These are the standard windows on most Columbia ranches and two-story homes. On a double-hung both sashes slide and tilt in for cleaning. On a single-hung only the bottom one moves. Balances inside the side jambs hold the sash where you leave it, and when they wear out the window slams shut or won't stay up. Double-hung costs a little more and lets you open the top for airflow. Single-hung has one fewer moving part to leak or wear.

See Double-Hung Windows in Columbia.

A casement hinges on the side and cranks out. An awning window hinges at the top and swings out from the bottom. Both close against compression weatherstripping, so they seal tighter than sliding sashes, and a casement opens its whole sash area, which helps a bedroom window meet egress size. Awnings suit spots over a sink or high in a bathroom wall, and they can stay open in a light rain.

See Casement Windows in Columbia; for bedroom escape openings, Egress Windows in Columbia.

Picture windows don't open, so they're the cheapest per square foot of glass and the tightest seal. Transoms sit above doors or other windows, and arches, half-rounds and quarter-rounds fill shaped openings. Shaped units are built to a template of your opening, which adds measuring time and lead time. A large picture window close to the floor may need tempered glass, so that belongs in the quote too.

See Picture Windows in Columbia.

Horizontal sliders fit wide, short openings: low ranch-house bedrooms, spaces over counters, basement-level walls. One sash glides on a track past a fixed one, and there are no cranks to break. The track collects grit and pine pollen, so a slider that drags usually needs cleaning and new rollers before anyone talks about replacing it.

See Sliding Windows in Columbia.

Vinyl is the most common replacement frame: low upkeep, good insulation, and the lowest price. Fiberglass costs more, is stiffer, holds dark colors better and moves less with heat. Wood looks right on older houses and is what historic districts tend to favor. Most new wood windows come clad in aluminum or vinyl outside, because bare wood needs paint to survive Columbia's damp summers. InterNACHI's life-expectancy chart gives vinyl and fiberglass windows 20 to 40 years and wood 30 or more, and calls it a guideline, not a promise.

Each frame has its own page: Vinyl Windows in Columbia for price and upkeep, Fiberglass Windows in Columbia for dark colors and stiffness, and Wood Windows in Columbia for older houses.

Plenty of windows need parts, not replacing. Broken spiral or block-and-tackle balances, worn pivot bars, stripped casement cranks, sticking locks and flattened weatherstripping can all be swapped out. On old wood windows, a sash that's painted shut or has a broken cord can usually be freed and rehung. If the frame is solid, a repair visit is the cheapest fix there is, and a good installer will tell you when that's all you need.

See Window Repair in Columbia. Doors that drag or won't lock are on Sliding Glass Door Repair in Columbia.

Fog that you can't wipe off from either side means the seal on the insulated glass unit has failed and moist air has gotten between the panes. How long a seal lasts depends on how well the unit was built and glazed. The fix can be just the glass: the installer measures the unit, orders a new one with low-E and argon, and sets it in your existing sash. Here's our rule of thumb: one or two fogged units in sound frames, swap the glass; fog spreading across a house of 20-year-old windows with soft sills, price full replacement.

See Foggy Window Repair in Columbia.