Start with conditions, not a product
Flashing method, sill condition, frame material, the glass package, and trim restoration all pull as much weight as the unit being installed.
Build a complete scope
- What is installed now and whether original sash merits restoration
- Whether older paint layers govern how the work may be carried out
- Openings measured one by one in a pre-war house
- Frame material and thermal break for a genuinely cold winter
- Air sealing at the opening, trim restoration, disposal, and warranty
Grand Rapids Context
That furniture-era housing boom left Grand Rapids with entire blocks of homes built to match the window openings and sash proportions common in the late 1800s and early 1900s, concentrated in neighborhoods like Heritage Hill -- one of the largest urban historic districts in the country, with roughly 1,300 homes dating from 1844. A window-replacement plan in one of those homes has to account for original opening sizes that a modern standard window often won't match without custom framing.