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Choosing

Insert or full frame

The single largest fork in a window quote, and the one least often explained before the number appears.

In section—what stays and what goes
Two sections through the same opening. On the left an insert: the old frame stays in the wall and the new unit sits inside it, so the glass is narrower. On the right a full-frame replacement: everything is taken back to the rough opening, so the glass is as wide as the opening allows. INSERT glass you keep FULL FRAME glass you keep amber = the old frame

Insert

A new unit fitted inside the existing frame. The trim inside and the cladding outside stay where they are, the work is quicker, and the disruption is measured in hours per opening. The cost is the lower of the two.

What you give up is glass area: the new frame sits inside the old one, so every opening loses an inch or so of daylight. On a small window that is noticeable.

An insert also assumes the existing frame is sound. If it is not, the new window is being fastened to rotten wood, and the failure arrives two winters later.

Full frame

Everything comes out down to the rough opening: frame, sill, trim. The new unit is flashed and insulated against bare framing, and the glass area is whatever the opening allows.

It costs more, takes longer, and involves interior finishing work. It is also the only honest option when the sill has rot, when the opening is out of square, or when the wall has to be brought up to a current code requirement.

A window sill with the interior trim removed, bare framing visible
The trim comes off and the answer is there. This is the moment an insert becomes a full-frame job, and it happens at the measurement rather than in the showroom.

How the choice actually gets made

Not by preference. By what is behind the trim, which is found with a screwdriver at the measurement rather than guessed at over the phone. Aluminium cladding on the outside is worth mentioning when you call — it hides water damage particularly well.

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What happens at the measurement

  1. 01

    Measuring, every opening

    Inside and out. A house settles, and by the end no two openings are the same width — which is why a quote given without measuring is a guess.

  2. 02

    What is behind the trim

    Rot at the sill, a dropped header, aluminium wrap over wet wood. Found now it is a line on the quote; found on installation day it is a change order.

  3. 03

    The numbers, written down

    U-factor and solar heat gain for your climate zone, per unit, on the paperwork. Both are certified by the NFRC and printed on the glass, so both can be checked afterwards.

  4. 04

    Itemised by opening

    With the product line named. A single total for "windows" cannot be compared with a second quote, because the two may not describe the same work.

  5. 05

    What happens if the price changes

    Ask before signing, not after: what triggers a change order, and whether the quoted price holds if the measurement finds rot. This is the most common reason a number moves.

  6. 06

    Who pulls the permit

    And whether its cost is inside the quote. A permit taken out in the homeowner’s name puts the compliance on the homeowner.

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