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Frequently asked questions
General
Setting up FAQs
Most people assume restoration is the right thing to do. Often it isn't. Many original windows are held together by layers of paint with rot underneath, and restoring them means spending real time and money on a window that wasn't worth saving, then replacing it a few years later anyway. Some windows are worth restoring; many aren't. We'll tell you straight which is which.
We rebuild your window as an exact replica: same wood, same mortise-and-tenon joinery, same profiles, built on restored 19th-century millwork machinery, the way the original was made. It's indistinguishable from the original, except it's sound instead of rotted. Replacing in kind is preservation. You keep all of the home's character and none of the rot.
No. We are experienced in working with Mills Act and historic-designated properties require period-accurate windows, and an exact replica built with original methods and materials is what those guidelines call for. Matching original profiles is exactly what we do. Reach out through the estimate form and tell us what you're working with.
We have thousands of templates from historic homes and build using the same methods the originals were built with: mortise-and-tenon joinery, real wood, and restored 19th-century millwork machinery. That machinery is the reason the profiles come out right — modern equipment rounds off the details that make an old sash look old.
No. You can be anywhere in Southern California and still hire us. We work in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties. For large historic projects, we also take on jobs nationwide. Your windows are built to exact measured specs in our shop and delivered to you, so distance usually isn't the problem. The real question is whether the work calls for an exact wood replica.
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