A Case Study by Al Dueck, President, and Aynsley Dueck, Marketing Manager, of DUXTON Windows & Doors

Finding the right replacement windows and doors to suit homes with key architectural features or design requirements can be a challenge. Considerations are many; the design and style, the thermal performance, the durability of the product, and the quality of the installation, to name a few.

A homeowner did just that for her major renovation in River Heights, taking careful consideration of the design in particular.

The homeowner wanted to keep some historic elements, but largely wanted to modernize the look and feel. She had walls taken down, added an ensuite, did a complete overhaul of the kitchen, and made concerted effort to get the windows to match. The windows were quite tired and in need of replacing, well past the phase of repair.

Since this was not her first home renovation project, she knew what she was looking for. She selected high quality fiberglass windows and doors, installed by Lorin Jory and Chris King of Prairie Windows & Doors, a company that understood the design aesthetic she wanted, and could offer it at a fair price. She provided them with photos of contemporary black windows with grills, reminiscent of California-style homes, for inspiration.

With lots of back and forth, and exchanges of shop drawings to understand proportions, they landed on black windows with 1” simulated divided lites (SDLs) which are the bars applied to the surface of the glass AND have internal bars for more visual depth. They experimented with the quantity of horizontal bars going across the windows and landed on two, which is enough to add character but not so many that they obscure the view.

The type of windows selected was casements (side-hinged windows) with matching hi profile fixed windows, meaning that the opening window frames look the same as the inoperable window frames, allowing for a balanced look. Casements also have the added benefit of better air tightness (as opposed to sliding windows) and the homeowner selected triple pane low-E argon to ensure the glass was well insulated.

For the exterior, Prairie recommended a sill detail, which is a slimmer profile across the bottom of the window, to ensure the best fit of the replacement windows, inside and out. On the interior, the homeowner selected to trim the windows with drywall return rather than casing, which allows for the cleanest and most seamless finish.

In the end, “the windows had a huge impact and really anchored the look,” commented the homeowner.