Choosing, Inspecting, Installing, Repairing Doors, Windows & Skylights

Inspecting, Installing, Diagnosing, Repairing Skylights, Windows & Doors
- Window parts: sketches of & Index to names to window components & parts
WINDOWS: Guide to Major Types of Windows: window names, window photos, window properties
HOW TO INSPECT, diagnose, and repair skylights, sloped glazing, vertical glazing, energy-losing windows, and leaky basement windows
DOORS: door type examples of entrances & basement walkouts
WINDOW TYPES - Photo Guide - separate article gives table of architectural window types & details
Questions & Answers about how to recognize different types of windows, how to choose & install windows & skylights & how to inspect & repair leaks, condensation & other window problems
References

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How to buy, install, inspect, build or repair doors, skylights & windows. This article series explains how to build, diagnose, inspect, install, and repair skylights, windows, and doors. We begin with a photo guide summarizing different architectural window types & designs. We include examples of sources of window condensation, damage, rot, leaks, and other damage. For more details about window types, names and architectural features, see ARCHITECTURE & BUILDING COMPONENT ID for additional illustrations of architectural details including window & door types.

Guide to Inspecting, Installing, Diagnosing, Repairing Skylights, Windows & Doors

Sketches of & Index to Names to Window Parts

Window casing details (C) Daniel Friedman

Window weight and sash sketch (C) Daniel Friedman

Our sketches of basic double-hung window parts (above left and below left) appeared in Basic Housing Inspection and later in other window guides. Our sketch of repair of window sash cords and weights shows how older double-hung windows operated with sash weights and came from the same source. Our photo (below left) from a lumber company display illustrates some of the basic wood framed window and sash components including the window jamb, bottom rail, sill and trim - keyed to the sketch at below right.

Photo Guide to Major Types of Windows: window names, window photos, window properties

For more details about window types, names and architectural features, see our illustrated table at Window Types - Photo Guide.

Awning Type Windows

Awning-type windows (photo at left) operate by a crank and open outwards from the bottom, hinged at the sash top.

Awning windows that open out from the bottom, as most do, can be left open in light rain with less chance of water entering through the window opening itself, allowing ventilation in rainy weather.

As we illustrate and expand at Window Types - Photo Guide, depending on their pivot or axis point and opening direction, awning type windows may be defined more narrowly as austral windows, pivot windows, and projecting windows as well as identified as top opening (hinged at bottom, rain comes in when open) or bottom opening (hinged at top). At below right a sliding pivot type awning window opens at both top and bottom.

Basement Windows & Window Wells

Basement windows vary among many of the styles listed here, but because they are normally close to or even below ground level, special installation detail and attention to handling of roof spillage are critical to avoid leaks, rot, and indoor water and mold problems.

At left the illustration shows a basement window that needs a window-well installed.

See WINDOW LEAKS INTO BASEMENT.

Bay Windows

Bay windows project out from the building wall and may incorporate both fixed vertical glazing and operable sashes of any type, usually double-hung or casement style.

If the roof over a bay window is not maintained, or if the window is not properly installed, leaks and condensation are likely. This bay window uses fixed center glass and double hung sashes at either side.

Don't confuse a bay window (including a flat central segment) and a bow or curved window.

Bow Windows

Bow windows project out from the building wall and may incorporate both fixed vertical glazing and operable sashes of any type, though in the curved frame of a bow window the sash may also be specially constructed and glazed to follow that arc, or the operable units in the bow window may simply be small individual panes that operate as sliders or awnings.

At left our bow window, shown on a home in Boston, MA, is constructed with the bow extending to floor level. And at right is a smaller oriel window, also a bow but whose window opening does not extend to floor level.

Like a bay window, If the roof over a boy window is not maintained, or if the window is not properly installed, leaks and condensation are likely.

Casement windows

Casement-type windows are hinged and like awning windows, casements also operate by a crank.

But casement windows but are hinged at one side and open outwards like a door.

Dormer Windows

Dormers (photo at left) are not a window-type but rather are an expansion of space under the roof area of a building. Nearly any type of window can be installed in a dormer. Dormers as a means of gaining space and light to make an attic area into living space have been around for a long time.

Double-Hung Windows

Double-hung windows use two moveable sashes, an upper and lower unit that slide past one another. When inspecting a home for window problems don't assume that all new or recently-installed sashes are operable without doing some actual testing

Eyebrow Windows

Eyebrow windows may be fixed or operable and are built protruding through the slope of a roof surface. Our photo (below-left) shows a lovely antique eyebrow window on a roof in New York state. Eyebrow windows may also appear as small peaked installations but the classic is rounded such as we show above. An "eyebrow" window is a miniature dormer in essence but requires less supporting framer than a larger dormer.

An eyebrow window is not a dormer or dormer window (see Dormers, above).

Fixed Glass or Fixed Glazing Windows

Fixed glass windows may be vertical or sloped and in many lexicons include fixed skylights.

Our photo (left) illustrates fixed vertical glazing on a diner in Poughkeepsie, New York.

See VERTICAL GLAZING DETAILS for an example. Also see SITE BUILT DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOWS.

Ox Eye Windows

At above left the eye-shaped window in the center of our photo is an ox-eye window in the wall of the Hacienda Tenexac in Tlaxcala, Mexico, constructed ca 1532, shortly after the arrival of Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro.

Looking more closely at the wall top (click to enlarge this or any image) and you'll also notice musket firing slots built into the parapet.

Single hung windows & window sashes

Single-hung windows are similar to double-hung units but only one sash, usually the lower one, is movable.

Skylights, roof skylights, fixed or operable

Skylight in copper roof, Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman

New skylight in copper roof Vassar College (C) Daniel Friedman

Patched skylight flashing (C) Daniel Friedman

Skylights (above and at left) are an example of sloped glazing, normally built into a roof surface. Our skylight photos above show an older style wire-reinforced and vented skylight in a copper roof (above left), and at above right, a series of custom-built copper-clad skylights in a re-roofed section of a similar building, both on the Vassar College Campus in Poughkeepsie, NY. S

Skylights may be operable for ventilation or fixed.

See SLOPED GLAZING DETAILS and see SKYLIGHT LEAK DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.

Slider Windows

Slider type windows use sashes that slide horizontally like "bypass doors", one sash passing the other on the inside or outside. These slider widows on a log cabin we renovated in Minnesota were site-built, leaky, and replaced entirely.

Storm Windows

Storm windows are additional windows, fixed or operable, that are hung or installed over the main window sash to reduce heat loss through the window.

A "triple-track" storm window incorporates a movable screen and upper and lower widow sashes.

Each layer of glazing added to a window cuts heat loss through the window glass by about one third, but if the window is drafty any energy savings will be lost until the drafts are found and sealed.

Also see AIR LEAK MINIMIZATION and AIR SEALING STRATEGIES as well as ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE

And see STORM WINDOW WEEP HOLES - why we need weep holes to avoid sill rot at storm windows

For a table illustrating nearly all window types, names and architectural features, see Window Types - Photo Guide

How to inspect, diagnose, and repair skylights, sloped glazing, vertical glazing, energy-losing windows, and leaky basement windows

Steel casement windows with lead putty glazing (C) Daniel Friedman

WINDOWS & DOORS articles on window selection, installation, efficiency, leaks, diagnosis, and repair
- SKYLIGHT LEAK DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR - how to avoid leaks, rot, damage at skylights
- SLOPED GLAZING DETAILS- proper installation details for sloped windows and skylights
- SITE BUILT DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOWS - is it worth building your own window frame and installing insulated glass? Sometimes.
- VERTICAL GLAZING DETAILS - proper installation details for vertical fixed glass windows to avoid leaks, rot, condensation, heat loss
- WINDOW / DOOR ENERGY EFFICIENT, DOE U.S. Department of energy detailed recommendations for energy savings at windows and doors - supplemented by leaks to articles with additional "how to" details
- WINDOW LEAKS INTO BASEMENT - the good, bad, and ugly of leaks into basements at basement windows: diagnosis and cure

Below we show two problem windows at building basements. If your basement windows seem to be points of leakage into the building, see WINDOW LEAKS INTO BASEMENT.

Basement window defects C) Daniel Friedman

If your skylights leak or seem plagued with condensation there is a risk of hidden rot or even mold contaminated ceiling or roof insulation.

See SLOPED GLAZING DETAILS- proper installation details for sloped windows and skylights and see SKYLIGHT LEAK DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR - how to avoid leaks, rot, damage at skylights

If you are building or installing vertical windows such as the fixed glass triangular windows shown in this photograph, see VERTICAL GLAZING DETAILS - proper installation details for vertical fixed glass windows to avoid leaks, rot, condensation, heat loss

Doors: door type examples of entrances & basement walkouts

Our photo (below left) shows a modern solid-wood multi-lite exterior door used at an enclosed porch. Because of weather exposure and rain splash-up from the entry platform, and because there is no protective storm door installed at this entry, the wood door must be kept coated with paint or polyurethane to avoid water damage, swelling, or rot.

Multi Light porch door (C) Daniel Friedman

Our second exterior door photo (above right) shows an expedient, but insecure means of securing antique interior doors made from a converted ( ca 1910) swing-type garage door.

Window & Door Leaks & Damage

For some home buyers, especially of older homes, un-disclosed problems with windows and doors (leaks, rot, energy loss, operability) can be a real "sleeper" that later turns out to be a source of major headaches and big costs. At a home inspection in New York we found an entire development in which nearly every wooden window in the 1960's - 1970's homes was badly rotted. The same siding installation company had made the same mistake - hundreds of times. A flashing error at window tops and sides sent wind-blown rain into the window frame, leading to rot and in some cases termite damage as well.

Windows and doors that are leaky or poorly constructed can be a big energy loser on buildings as well. Here we provide a series of articles on the inspection, diagnosis, installation, and repair of problems at windows and doors on residential buildings.

Exterior door flashing leak damage (C) Daniel Friedman

Exterior building doors, with focus on selecting and installing energy-efficient doors are discussed in detail at WINDOW / DOOR ENERGY EFFICIENT, DOE.

At left our photo shows rot and damage that will eventually occur if a sliding glass door threshold is installed without a pan flashing and is left for a decade or more with little attention to maintenance of sealants nor paint coating.

The common pine brick mold wood trim around this door as well as a common pine door threshold were particularly prone to water absorption and rot.

Basement Walkout Doors

Basement walkout doors were originally usually site-built using sloped wood (photo, below left); if your basement door is in as terrible shape as the unit shown here, the worry about leaks into the building basement should take second place to the immediate life-safety hazard of a rotted door like this one. Modern basement walkout doors are purchased as a pre-fab steel unit from manufacturers such as Bilco™ (photo below right) and may be set on a site-built or pre-fabricated masonry stairwell.

Photograph of - simple errors like this missing downspout elbow and extension can lead to a flooded basement

Door Codes: Building Code Requirements Regarding Basement Walkout or Bulkhead Doors

Clarification from "Residential exit doors, stairways, landings, handrails and guards [ copy on file as /Stairs/Stair_Code_NYS_Bulleting_RCstairsTB.pdf ] - for New York:

RCNYS section R310, entitled “Emergency Escape and Rescue Openings,” includes section R310.3 which addresses bulkhead enclosures (“bilco” type doors). This section requires bulkhead enclosures to provide direct access to the basement.

This part does not preclude the installation of an insulated side hinged door at the bottom. In addition to the requirement for the minimum net clear opening with the bulkhead door panels in the fully open position required by R310.1.1, section R314.9 is applicable.

Since the bulkhead is an emergency escape and rescue opening, it does not serve as part of the required building egress (section R311).

The last part of section R314.9 exempts the bulkhead from the requirements of sections R312, landings, R314,stairways, and R315, handrails, when the bulkhead stairway is covered by a bulkhead enclosure with hinged doors.

Door & Window Sill Rabbet Cuts & Flashing Details

Window sill showing drip cut (C) Carson Dunlop Associates

Our window sill photo (left, courtesy Carson Dunlop Associates), shows the traditional rabbet cut or slot on the underside of the window sill.

This window sill detail is intended to aid drainage off of the window sill by reducing the tendency of water to follow, by capillary action, the underside of the sill back to drain down the building wall.

FLASHING MEMBRANES PEEL & STICK and FLASHING WALL DETAILS include details to avoid leaks at building windows

Details are at Window Flashing & Sealing Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

Anderson A-Series Casement Windows & Window Parts, web search 01/15/2010, original source: http://www.andersenwindows.com/homeowner/pdfs/A-Series_Casement.pdf
Basic Housing Inspection, US DHEW, S 352.75 U48, p.144, out of print, but is available in most state libraries; New York State version, ca 1955, source of our window parts and window repair sketches.
Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator. Mr. Cramer serves on the ASHI Home Inspection Standards. Contact Mark Cramer at: 727-595-4211 mark@BestTampaInspector.com
John Cranor is an ASHI member and a home inspector (The House Whisperer) is located in Glen Allen, VA 23060. He is also a contributor to InspectApedia.com in several technical areas such as plumbing and appliances (dryer vents). Contact Mr. Cranor at 804-747-7747 or by Email: johncranor@verizon.net
Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
- Commercial Building Inspection Courses - protocol ASTM Standard E 2018-08 for Property Condition Assessments
- Home Inspection Education Courses including home study & live classes at eleven colleges & universities.
- Home Inspection Education Home Study Courses - ASHI@Home Training 10-course program.
  Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on these courses: Enter INSPECTAHITP in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference Book, a reference & inspection report product for building owners & inspectors.
  Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference eBook, an electronic version for PCs, the iPad, iPhone, & Android smart phones.
  Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter inspectaehrb in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Illustrated Home illustrates construction details and building components, a reference for owners & inspectors.
  Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Illustrated Home purchased as a single order Enter INSPECTAILL in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- The Horizon Software System manages business operations,scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images. The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones.
"Solar Heat Gain & Windows, the facts about", NFRC, National Fenestration Rating Council, January 2005, NFRC website: www.nfrc.org retrieved 12/4/2010, original source: http://www.nfrc.org/documents/SolarHeatGain.pdf.

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

Building inspection education & report writing systems from Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd

"Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
Masonite Woodruf® Roofing or Masonite OmniWood® Siding Lawsuit Settlement Notice - PDF file
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