Richmond Expert Windows: Replacement Windows, Bay Windows & Sliding Glass Doors

Most whole-house quotes come down to one choice: insert or full-frame. An insert (sometimes called a pocket replacement) leaves the old frame, sill and interior casing in place. The installer pulls the sashes, stops and balance hardware, sets a new unit inside the frame, shims and insulates the gap, then caps the outside. It's quicker and cheaper, and the plaster around the window stays put.

Full-frame replacement strips the opening to the rough framing. That's the right call when the sill is soft, when water has been getting in behind the trim, or when you want back the glass area that an insert gives up. The installer flashes the rough opening with a sill pan and tape before the new unit goes in, then trims inside and out. On brick homes, the brick returns and the old wood blind stop decide how cleanly a full-frame unit seats, which is one reason a good installer measures every opening rather than reading sizes off a list.

Frames come in vinyl, fiberglass, wood and aluminum-clad wood. The cost table further down compares them.

See Vinyl Windows in Richmond, VA for a low-upkeep frame, or Fiberglass Windows in Richmond, VA and Wood Windows in Richmond, VA if you are weighing a step up.

A bay window is three units: a wide fixed center flanked by two operating windows, usually set at 30 or 45 degrees to the wall. A bow uses four to six units of equal width in a shallow arc. Either one projects past the wall, so it needs a seat board and head board, support from cables to the framing above or from brackets below, and a small roof of its own (shingle, or standing-seam metal for a cleaner line). Before cutting, check the header: turning a flat double window into a bay often means a wider opening and a bigger header, which is structural work and needs a permit.

See Bay and Bow Windows in Richmond, VA.

A sliding patio door has one fixed and one moving panel on rollers; a French door swings on hinges, in or out, as a pair or a single door with sidelites. Sliders save floor space on a deck. French doors open the full width and suit older brick homes. The glass in any door is a hazardous location under the Virginia Residential Code, so every panel has to be safety glazing, tempered or laminated. A sill pan under the threshold matters as much as the door itself: water running past a door that sits straight on the floor framing is a common way the subfloor under an old slider rots.

See Sliding Glass Doors in Richmond, VA; hinged pairs have their own page at French Doors in Richmond, VA.

Double-hungs are the window you see in rows down Colonial Revival fronts and rowhouse facades. Both sashes slide, and modern versions tilt in so you can clean the outside glass from the room. Inside the jambs, spring or block-and-tackle balances do the lifting that iron sash weights used to do. A single-hung unit moves only the bottom sash, costs a little less and has one fewer seal line to leak. Grille patterns matter on older homes: six-over-six or two-over-two grids, either applied to the glass or sealed between the panes, keep a replacement looking like it belongs.

See Double-Hung Windows in Richmond, VA. When the frame is fine and only the sashes are worn, Window Sash Replacement in Richmond, VA may be enough.

A casement swings out on side hinges and opens with a crank; an awning hinges at the top and pushes out from the bottom. When they close, the sash presses against a compression seal and a multipoint lock pulls it tight, so they usually leak less air than sliding styles. A casement is the easy reach over a kitchen sink. An awning can stay open in a light rain, which is why they show up in bathrooms and basements. A casement also gives the most clear opening for its size, which helps when a bedroom window has to meet egress rules.

See Casement Windows in Richmond, VA, and Awning Windows in Richmond, VA for the top-hinged kind.

A picture window doesn't open, so you get the most glass and the least frame for the money. It's often mulled between two operating units so the room still gets air. Custom shapes (half-rounds, quarter arches, octagons, eyebrows, transoms over doors) are built to a template or to exact measurements taken at the house, and they take longer to arrive than standard sizes. Large fixed panes low to the floor can fall under the safety glazing rules too.

See Picture Windows in Richmond, VA. Arches and other glass above a door or window are on Transom Windows in Richmond, VA.

A horizontal slider is the usual fit for the wide, short openings on ranch homes and over kitchen counters. One sash is fixed and the other rolls in a track in the sill. With no crank and no balances, there's little to wear out. Keep the track and its weep holes clear, though: a slider that collects grit and pine needles drains badly and starts to drag.

See Sliding Windows in Richmond, VA.

According to the Department of Energy, heat gain and loss through windows account for 25% to 30% of the energy a home uses for heating and cooling. Low-E coatings, argon fill and warm-edge spacers are what cut it. Read two numbers off the NFRC label: U-factor (heat loss, lower is better) and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC, the share of sunlight that gets through as heat). Virginia's energy code requires U-0.30 or lower and SHGC 0.40 or lower for windows in Richmond, replacements included. ENERGY STAR's ZIP list puts Richmond city ZIP codes such as 23219, 23220 and 23224 in its North-Central zone, where a certified window needs U-0.25 or lower and the same 0.40 SHGC. Our view: in a climate this mixed, a good double-pane low-E unit gets most of the benefit, and triple pane earns its price mainly on noisy streets or a cold north wall.

See Energy Efficient Windows in Richmond, VA.

Virginia's residential code requires an emergency escape opening in every sleeping room and in basements. Minimums: 5.7 square feet of net clear opening (5 square feet for a grade-floor or below-grade opening), with the clear opening at least 24 inches tall and 20 inches wide. Finishing a basement bedroom usually means cutting the foundation wall, adding a window well with a ladder and setting a larger unit, and that is permitted work. Swapping an existing basement hopper for a new one is simpler, and a replacement window can stay at its current size if it's the largest standard unit that fits the opening and works the same way as the old one.

See Egress Windows in Richmond, VA for bedroom escape openings, and Basement Windows in Richmond, VA for hoppers and other below-grade units.

Skylights draw more Richmond searches than any other window product. A deck-mounted skylight sits right on the roof sheathing with its own flashing kit; a curb-mounted unit sits on a raised wood box, which is common on older installs and low-slope roofs. Choose fixed or venting (manual, electric or solar-powered), or a tubular skylight for a hallway or bath. Almost every skylight leak is a flashing leak, so time the replacement with a reroof when the shingles are near the end anyway. Virginia's energy code allows skylights a U-factor of 0.55.

See Skylights in Richmond, VA. A skylight that leaks or fogs but is otherwise sound: Skylight Repair in Richmond, VA.

A storm window keeps the original sash and adds a second layer of glass outside or inside it. Exterior triple-track storms carry two glass panels and a screen. Interior storms press into the casing and disappear from the street. Low-E glass is available in storm panels as well. On a house in a City Old and Historic District, storms are often the realistic route, because the city's review board staff can approve exterior storm windows while replacing repairable wood sash is rarely allowed.

See Storm Windows in Richmond, VA.