Planning Ahead for Perfect Door and Window Transitions

Planning ahead for perfect door and window transitions to your finishes takes extraordinary attention to detail and expert understanding of the products being used, how they are installed, and your shell and finish construction. Most window dealers can sell you windows and doors and (hopefully!) put them in competently, but they are rarely going to take an active part in your construction planning and detailing.

In modern architecture where everything is built around the glazing systems with minimal seamless transitions and hurricane code sizing and anchoring restrictions, it takes collaborative coordination. Often, shell construction must be adjusted 6 months to a year before finishes go in.

Your structural beam heights and column placement may need to shift by a few inches for everything to come together. A 121" sliding door may be 20% more expensive than a 120" sliding door due to hurricane testing requiring an SGP interlayer instead of PVB, or additional structural reinforcing. 144" may be your absolute maximum frame height—and with a 3" sill riser, that puts the top of the frame 141" from your finished floor…

Thicker stone cladding may require double or triple bucks. Product testing limitations may reduce your opening size by several inches less than what the architect drew—which affects alignment of the entire structure. I’ve had them be as much as 10" short of the planned size.

Planning Ahead for Perfect Door and Window Transitions