Replacement windows for coastal Delaware homes

Window work we take on

Shore Home Exteriors installs replacement windows, including full-frame replacement where the surrounding frame is no longer sound. Because we also do siding, we can address the wall around the opening too, and the window goes in as part of that assembly.

Insert replacement or full-frame replacement — what is the difference?

This is the decision that determines what your window project actually is, and it is the one most homeowners have never had explained to them.

Insert (pocket) replacement

The old sashes come out and a new window unit is fitted inside the existing frame, which stays in the wall. The exterior trim and siding are largely undisturbed. It is faster, less invasive and less expensive, and it is entirely appropriate when the existing frame and sill are sound.

The trade-off is that you inherit the existing frame and whatever condition it is in, including any flashing that was done wrong twenty years ago. You also lose a little glass area, because the new unit sits inside the old frame.

Full-frame replacement

Everything comes out down to the rough opening: sashes, jambs, sill, the lot. The opening can be inspected, any rot repaired, and the new window flashed into the wall properly from scratch.

It costs more and it disturbs interior and exterior trim. It is the right answer when there is rot at the sill or jambs, when the frame is out of square, when there is a history of leaking, or when you are re-siding anyway and the wall is open.

The honest test: if the existing frame is sound, an insert is the sensible choice. If the frame is compromised, an insert hides the problem behind a new window, and the problem keeps going. A quote for either type, given without anyone looking at the sill, has skipped the question that decides it.

How do I know if my windows need replacing?

• Fogging or haze between the panes. This is a failed insulated glass seal. It cannot be cleaned and it does not reverse. Sometimes the sash alone can be replaced; often the unit is old enough that whole-window replacement makes more sense.
• Drafts you can feel with a hand near the sash edges or the frame perimeter on a windy day.
• Sashes that stick, will not stay up, or no longer lock. On the coast, hardware corrosion and frame movement are the usual causes.
• Soft wood at the sill or lower jambs. Press it. If it gives, you have a full-frame conversation.
• Water staining on the interior sill or the wall below the window, usually a flashing failure at the head or sill; the window itself may be fine.
• Condensation on the room-side glass in cold weather, which usually indicates poor thermal performance combined with interior humidity.

What the coast does to windows

Rain arrives under pressure

Wind off the water pushes rain at the head, sill and jambs under pressure. A window installation that would stay dry on a sheltered inland wall can leak on an exposed coastal elevation with identical materials. Sill pan flashing, correctly lapped head flashing, and integration with the wall's water-resistive barrier are the details that decide it.

Salt attacks hardware and finishes

Locks, balances, rollers, hinges and screens corrode faster in salt air. Fastener and hardware finishes are a genuine specification question on an oceanfront or bayfront elevation, and window screens near the beach are consumables.

Glazing and heat

An exposed south or west elevation with reflected light off water takes serious solar gain. Glass coatings that manage solar heat gain make sense on those elevations specifically. The right answer can differ from one side of the same house to the other.

What to compare between window quotes

Window sales in this industry is full of noise. Compare these:

• Insert or full-frame. Quotes for these two are not comparable, and a low number is often a low number because it is an insert where a full-frame is needed.
• How the opening will be flashed. Ask specifically about sill pan and head flashing. A quote that has no answer here is a quote for a window, not for an installation.
• Frame material. Vinyl, fiberglass, aluminum-clad wood and composite each behave differently with coastal heat, moisture and salt.
• Performance numbers (U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient, design pressure).
• What happens to the trim, inside and out, and who puts it back.
• Whether egress requirements apply to any bedroom window being changed.

Do replacement windows need a permit in Sussex County?

In unincorporated Sussex County it depends on how many: the county does not require a permit to replace two or fewer existing windows, so a larger replacement job generally needs one (county permitting requirements). Scope matters as well: a building official treats a like-for-like sash swap differently from a full-frame replacement that alters the opening. Properties inside the beach towns are permitted through that town's building office. In the Lewes Historic District, windows are a particularly live issue: style, material and muntin pattern all go through Historic Preservation Architectural Review Commission review before the permit. See the permits page for who to contact.