Commercial and HOA
What a local installer does that a national program can't: site visits, punch lists, warranty service
Nothing here is about being friendly. It is about six pieces of process (the measure, the order, the install sequence, the punch list, the warranty claim and the parts record) and what happens to each one when the crew is not local.
- Measured before quoted
- Width and height at several points, smallest controls
- Fabrication
- Built to your opening; a re-order is a fresh lead time
- Two failure points
- Shimming off the lock line, and high-expansion foam in the shim space
- A claim needs
- Address, opening, glass etch code, photograph, order record
Step one
The measure visit is the product
Everything downstream is fabricated from the numbers taken that morning.
A replacement window is built to a size that cannot be adjusted later. There is no trimming a vinyl frame to fit, and a unit that arrives an eighth of an inch too wide is not a shimming problem; it is a re-order and a fresh lead time. That makes the tape the most expensive tool on the job, and it is why a measure visit is a scheduled appointment rather than something a salesperson does on the way out.
What gets recorded, per opening:
- Width and height taken at more than one point, with the smallest controlling. Openings in a settled house are rarely the same top to bottom.
- Square, plumb and level checked, and the amount of out-of-square written down rather than remembered.
- Existing frame material and depth, and whether the frame is sound enough for an insert or has to come out entirely.
- Sill condition and slope, and whether the trim can be lifted far enough to see the substrate.
- Bedroom openings flagged against the escape and rescue requirement, and hazardous locations flagged for safety glazing.
- Interior and exterior finish at the opening, because that decides the repair scope.
- Access: ladder, staging, gate width, and how the unit reaches the opening.
- Photographs of each elevation, filed with the order.
A national program that quotes from a form and measures later has moved the risk of that measurement onto the schedule. The measurement still has to happen. It just happens after the price is signed.
Step two
Ordering: made to your opening, on the manufacturer's calendar
Once the order is released it is a manufacturing run, not a warehouse pick. The order carries the size, the series, the operation type, the glass build-up, the colour inside and out, the grid pattern and the hardware finish. Per unit, not per house.
Two things follow from that, and both are worth hearing before you sign rather than after:
- The lead time belongs to the manufacturer. A date invented to close a sale is still the manufacturer's date underneath, and the crew is the one standing in the driveway when it slips.
- Special colours, custom shapes, oversized units and non-standard glass run on their own schedules. One arch-top in an order of standard units can set the start date for the whole house.
Keeping the order record is the quiet part. Series, size, glass package and colour, filed against the address, is what makes a matching unit orderable in year nine instead of approximated.
Step three
Install day: sequence, and the two mistakes that cost the most
The sequence is not improvised. Protect the interior, remove the old unit, inspect the opening before anything new goes in, set the sill pan with its back dam and end dams, flash the jambs and head into the weather-resistive barrier in shingle order, set and shim the unit, fasten it to the printed schedule, insulate the shim space, then seal and finish inside and out.
Two failures inside that sequence account for a large share of the service calls this trade generates, and neither is visible at handover:
- Shimming at the wrong points. A window is shimmed so the frame stays square and the sash meets the lock evenly. Shim it to the wall instead of to the unit and the sash binds, the lock stops engaging cleanly, and the weatherstrip wears on one side.
- The wrong foam in the shim space. Low-expansion foam is specified for window and door openings for a reason. High-expansion foam bows the jamb inward, and a bowed jamb turns a new window into a sticking window within a season.
The other non-negotiable is the dry-in rule: any opening that gets opened is closed before the crew leaves, weather permitting or not. There is no version of this job in which a hole in the wall stays open overnight.
Step four
The punch list, written and walked before the truck leaves
A punch list is not a complaint form. It is the last thirty minutes of the job, and it is the difference between a small item fixed by the crew who caused it and the same item becoming a phone call three weeks later.
Walked together, opening by opening, and written with a location, an owner and a date against each line. What lands on it, typically: sash operation and lock engagement, screen fit, sealant tooling, a paint touch-up at a return, a piece of trim that needs re-setting, and the debris sweep. Signed by both sides, with a copy left behind.
A crew that lives forty minutes away can come back for a fifteen-minute item. A programme that routes service through a national queue will schedule the same item as a truck roll, and that is why it does not happen.
Step five
Warranty service in year six, and what a claim actually needs
There are two warranties on any window job and they are answered by different people. The manufacturer's warranty covers the product. The labour warranty covers the installation and is written by the contractor, which is why its term and its exclusions vary from company to company.
When a sealed unit fogs, the claim goes to the manufacturer, and it moves quickly or slowly depending on what you can hand over:
- The address, and the opening identified in a way both sides recognise (front elevation, left of the door, upper floor).
- The etch or stamp in the corner of the glass or on the spacer, which identifies the fabricator and the production date.
- A photograph showing the condition, taken with light behind the glass.
- The order record, which is where the series, size and glass package live.
With those four, a replacement unit can usually be ordered off the first call. Without them, the first visit is a data-collection trip and the part is ordered after the second.
Step six
Parts in year nine: balances, rollers, keepers and screens
Glass rarely fails first. Hardware does. Balances lose tension, rollers flat-spot, sash locks and keepers wear, and screen spline and mesh give up long before the frame does. All of those are series-specific: a balance is matched to a sash weight and a frame profile, not to a brand.
Which makes the order record the actual warranty asset. Series, size, colour and glass package, filed against the address, means a part can be identified from a phone call. Where that record does not exist, identification starts with photographs of the hardware and the etch code, and sometimes with pulling the sash.
Before you sign
Six questions that separate a crew from a call centre
- Who measures, and does the measure happen before or after I sign?
- Who installs: your own crew, or a subcontractor you have not named?
- Is this an insert or a full-frame replacement, opening by opening?
- What is the fastener and flashing detail at the sill, and who inspects it?
- What is the labour warranty term, and who answers the phone on a service call?
- Where is the order record kept, and can I have a copy of it?
The answers matter more than the brochure does. Six manufacturers make good windows. What varies between contractors is the measuring, the flashing, the punch list and who picks up in year six.
If you would like our own answers before anyone climbs a ladder, our about page sets out how we measure, specify and order a job.
Service and warranty
What people ask us after the crew has gone
Four things move a claim on the first call: the address, the opening identified in a way both sides recognise, the etch or stamp in the corner of the glass or on the spacer that identifies the fabricator and the production date, and a photograph taken with light behind the glass. The order record supplies the series, size and glass package. Without those, the first visit collects data and the part gets ordered after the second.
Because the unit is not picked from stock, it is manufactured to the size on the order. Releasing a corrected size means the unit re-enters the production run, and it comes back on the manufacturer’s lead time rather than on the crew’s. That is the reason measuring is a scheduled visit and not something done on the way out the door.
That is an installation question rather than a product one, so it sits under the labour warranty. Binding a season or two after install usually traces to shimming that was set to the wall rather than to the lock line, or to high-expansion foam in the shim space bowing the jamb inward. Both are correctable, and both are the contractor’s to correct.
Next step
Book the measure visit and see the process for yourself
The first visit is a measure and a conversation, not a presentation. Every opening is measured at more than one point, and the smallest measurement controls. We write the openings down, tell you which ones want an insert and which want full frame, and put the product list in writing before anyone talks about a total.
- Nothing quoted until the openings have been measured
- Our own crews install what we sell
- The order record stays on file against your address
Prefer to talk it through? The shop line is (775) 391-8487, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Book a measure visit
Request received
We will call you back on the number you gave us to set a measure visit. If you would rather talk now, the shop line is (775) 391-8487, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.