Replacement or installation
Look at the wall, not the brochure. An opening that is already the right size, with a frame that is dry and square, is replacement or door replacement. A new hole, a wider hole, or an addition is window installation or door installation. Mixing the words on a form is fine. Mixing the prices is how projects go sideways, so we separate them after the measure.
What to have ready
- A list of rooms, not only “the whole house.”
- Notes on which windows stick, fog, or leak, and which doors no longer latch.
- Access to basement windows and to the outside of a patio door.
- Any previous permit paperwork if the basement is already called a bedroom.
- Pets planned for, and a clear path to the openings.
How to read a specification
Frame material, operation, pane count, coating, colour, and screen. Those six lines describe a window better than a brand slogan. Pane count and coatings are explained on energy-efficient windows. Operation — hung, slider, casement, awning — changes hardware and how the screen fits. If a quote skips those lines, ask for them before you compare it with another quote.
Door swing and rough opening
Stand outside. If the door opens toward you, it is an outswing. Hardware, sill, and storm doors all depend on that. A rough opening is the framed hole, larger than the door slab. We measure the hole. You do not need to. Photos of the inside casing and the outside brickmould help us bring the right expectations, not a final size.
When a basement window has to become an exit
If someone sleeps in the room, assume you need an egress window until the local authority says otherwise. A clearer basement hopper is not the same project. We will not guess a dimension on your behalf and call it approved.
More direct answers are on the FAQ. The visit itself is described in how it works.