7 Signs It Is Time to Replace Your Windows (and 3 Times Repair Is Enough)

A lot of homeowners start pricing new windows when one pane fogs up. Others live with drafty, sweating, single pane windows for years because they assume replacement is the only option and put it off. Both are expensive mistakes in different ways. The trick is figuring out whether your problem is the glass or the window.

7 signs it is time for new windows

1. Single pane glass in aluminum frames

Plenty of older Sacramento houses still have them. Aluminum carries heat and cold right through the frame, and single pane glass does little to stop either. If the frame is hot to the touch on a summer afternoon and wet with condensation on winter mornings, you are paying for it on every energy bill. We compare the two in single pane vs dual pane in Sacramento heat.

2. Drafts you can feel

Curtains move with the window closed, or you can feel air at the edges of the sash. Weatherstripping helps for a while, but a frame that no longer seals is usually worn out.

3. Sashes that stick, drop or will not lock

A single hung window that will not stay up, a slider you have to fight, a latch that never lines up. Sometimes that is a part. When it is the frame warping or out of square, the fix is replacement.

4. Rot, corrosion or cracked frames

Soft or crumbling wood, pitted aluminum, cracked vinyl corners. Once the frame itself is failing, new glass will not save it.

5. Water getting in

Stains on the sill, peeling paint below the window, damp drywall after rain. Water intrusion is a frame and installation problem, and the longer it goes, the more it costs to fix the wall around it.

6. Several units fogging at once on tired windows

One foggy unit in a solid frame is a glass repair. When half the house is fogging and the frames are also drafty and hard to operate, the windows have reached the end of their life together.

7. Rooms you cannot use on a summer afternoon

West and south facing rooms that turn into ovens, furniture and floors fading, street noise coming through. New dual pane Low-E windows change how those rooms feel more than almost anything else you can do to the house.

New windows change how a west facing room feels on a July afternoon.

3 times a repair is all you need

1. One or two foggy dual pane units in good frames. We replace the sealed glass unit and leave the frame, trim and stucco alone. See can you replace just the glass in a double pane window.
2. A broken pane in a good frame. Glass only, cut to size, tempered if the location requires it.
3. Worn parts. Rollers on sliders and patio doors, balances on hung windows, latches and locks. Parts are a fraction of the cost of a new window. More in sliding door hard to open.

All at once or a few at a time?

You do not have to do the whole house in one shot. A common plan is to start with the west and south facing windows, which take the hardest sun and usually fail first, then do the rest later. Doing everything at once can keep the look consistent and simplify the permit, so it depends on your budget and how the windows are holding up.

What to ask for in a window quote

• Frame material. Vinyl is the most common choice for Sacramento homes
• Retrofit or full frame (nail fin) installation, and why
• Dual pane Low-E glass that meets the current energy code
• Tempered glass where the location requires it
• Whether the permit is included. See window replacement permits in Sacramento
• Removal and disposal of the old windows, and cleanup
• Manufacturer warranty on the window and who handles warranty service

We install name brand vinyl windows, including Milgard, and we measure every opening ourselves before anything is ordered.