Doors and Windows — Replacement and New Openings Coordinated Under One Lead

What this work involves

The unit is the easy half. Openings have to be measured accurately, the old unit removed without wrecking the siding, drywall, and trim around it, and the opening then flashed, insulated, and sealed properly. A window with an excellent rating installed into an unsealed, unflashed opening still leaks air and water, and the homeowner blames the window.

There are two ways to replace a window. An insert fits inside the existing frame, keeps the exterior trim intact, and gives up a little glass area. A full-frame replacement takes the old unit out down to the rough opening, which is the only way rotted framing, a missing sill pan, and old failed flashing get found and fixed. The condition of the opening decides which one is appropriate, and that is a judgment made at the house, not on a phone call.

Doors carry their own list: thresholds, sweeps, weatherstripping, hinge and strike reinforcement, and a lockset that lines up because the door is hung square. Cutting a new opening adds framing to the job — a header sized for the load above, jack and king studs, temporary support if the wall is bearing — plus closing in the interior and exterior finishes afterward. Interior casing, exterior trim, and paint or stain finish all of it.

Riley's approach

Doors and windows are among the trades Riley coordinates rather than performs. The units are installed by the licensed door-and-window contractor he uses, a specialist in exactly that work, brought in at the best possible price and scheduled under his lead and the project's permit. The framing a new opening needs and the millwork that finishes it are his own hands, which is why an opening cut on a Frasch Construction job gets a properly sized header and why the casing around the finished unit matches the trim in the rest of the room. Frasch Construction is a Minnesota residential building contractor, license BC721559.

What is coordinated is coordinated for a reason. Minnesota requires a licensed electrician to move a switch or a circuit that is in the way of a new opening, and a licensed plumber if a supply line runs through the wall being changed. Riley brings the tradespeople he uses at the best possible price and schedules them before the wall is opened, so the opening is cut once.

Units are ordered to the opening that exists rather than to a plan or an old quote, because a house that has settled does not have the openings the drawings say it has. Measuring comes before ordering, and no opening is opened up until its unit is on site. If a unit arrives wrong, that is a delay; if a unit arrives wrong and gets forced in, that is a permanent problem.

Technique and craft

Water management comes before everything else. The sill is flashed with a pan or with sloped, lapped flashing tape so any water that gets past the exterior finish drains out rather than into the framing. Jamb flashing laps over the sill flashing, and the head flashing laps over the jambs, in that order — shingle-style, each layer over the one below. The unit is then shimmed plumb, level, and square, checked on the diagonals, and fastened where the manufacturer says rather than wherever is convenient.

The gap between the unit and the rough opening is insulated and air-sealed with low-expansion foam or backer rod and sealant. High-expansion foam bows a jamb and makes a casement bind, which is a common cause of a new window that will not close cleanly. Exterior sealant goes on the sides and the head and is deliberately left open at the bottom, so any water that gets in has a path out.

Then the finish. Exterior trim is fitted and sealed, interior jamb extensions are made where the wall is deeper than the frame, and casing is set to a consistent reveal, mitered and returned. Hardware is installed after the door hangs square, so a lockset does not have to be forced into alignment. On an exterior door, the threshold height and the sweep are adjusted to the actual floor so the door seals without dragging.

Special considerations in Minnesota

Cold makes air sealing the whole game. Most of what people feel as a drafty window is air moving through the unsealed gap around the frame, not through the glass. Sealing that gap properly is invisible once the casing goes on, which is exactly why it gets skipped by installers working fast. Condensation on the inside of the glass in deep cold is usually an indoor-humidity signal rather than a defect in the unit, and it is worth diagnosing rather than replacing.

Freeze and thaw punish anything that holds water. A sill that does not drain, a caulk joint sealed all the way around the bottom, or a door threshold set into a low spot will all find their way to rot and to ice at the worst time of the year. Snow depth matters too: an exterior door's threshold and sweep are set with drifting and spring melt in mind, and a patio door's track is kept clear of the pattern the snow takes off the roof.

Two code items come up constantly. A bedroom below grade needs an egress opening sized and positioned to meet code, which is checked before a basement plan is priced rather than after a wall is framed. Replacement units also have to meet the state's energy requirements, which is why the ratings on the sticker matter. Cutting or enlarging an opening is permitted work, and inspections are scheduled under that permit.

Complete transparency, and a plan that bends to you

The written scope names each opening, the unit going in it, whether the replacement is insert or full-frame, what flashing and air sealing is included, and what the trim and finish work covers on both sides of the wall. The unknowns are named too: what is behind the trim of an older opening is not visible until the trim comes off.

When rot or bad framing turns up in an opening, work stops and you see it. The repair is priced and agreed in writing that day, and nothing proceeds without your say-so. Scope is modifiable on the fly with no hassle, including adding an opening to the list once the crew and the tools are already at the house.

You also get told when replacement is not the right answer. A sound wood window with failed glazing putty and a rotted sill can sometimes be repaired for less than replacement, and a door that binds because the jamb has racked may only need to be rehung.

Before and after

The photograph below comes from Frasch Construction's own portfolio: a hallway with oak doors and oak trim above new plank flooring.

Where Frasch Construction does this work

Frasch Construction works out of Rockford, Minnesota, across five zones: the Wright County ring at home, including Buffalo, Rockford, Montrose, Delano, Cokato, and Clearwater; the Lake Minnetonka towns, including Orono, Mound, Spring Park, Wayzata, Greenwood, and Shorewood; the west metro core, including Plymouth, New Hope, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, and Osseo; the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; and the farther suburbs, including Lake Elmo, Afton, Grant, Mahtomedi, Eagan, and Savage. The full town roster appears below.