Windows & Doors questions, answered

The 2018 NC Residential Code lists Dare County at 130 and 140 mph ultimate design wind speed, with 140 east of U.S. Route 264. Counties not listed default to 115. That number drives the requirement that exterior glazing in a windborne debris region meet the large missile test in ASTM E1886 and E1996, and it is the test label on the unit that answers the question — not a brand name.

It can be, and it depends entirely on the frame. Replacing only the glazing, only the sash, or a glazed insert in the existing frame is a repair under the state fire marshal's interpretation. In a house from the 1980s with a salt-eaten frame, though, a new pane in a pitting frame is a bucket that keeps leaking. We look at the frame before we quote and show you what we found.

Dare County publishes the thresholds: any remodeling job over $15,000 affecting load-bearing walls or increasing the footprint requires a permit, and a licensed general contractor is required at $40,000 or more. Window and door replacement is not named in the county's published list, so the answer depends on the actual scope. We check the scope before anyone starts cutting, and we pull the permits the job needs.

The Coastal Area Management Act defines development to exclude maintenance and repairs necessary to fix damage from the elements, but the statute says that parenthetically as excluding replacement. So replacing a window and its frame can land differently from patching what is there, and in a flood hazard area a floodplain development permit with surveyor-certified elevations is required before development. We check whether your job is repair or replacement before we tell you which applies.

Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Corolla, Kill Devil Hills, Southern Shores, Manteo, Wanchese and Duck, with the southern islands — Hatteras, Buxton, Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Manns Harbor and Frisco — served on a scheduled basis. Ask us about the timing when you call, because a delivery window on Hatteras Island is a different problem from a delivery window in Kitty Hawk, and the wind decides some of that for us.

Ask us for the license number and the insurance details in writing when you request the quote, and we will send them. The scope names the units, the frame or sash decision, the hardware, the design pressure or test ratings, and who pulls the permits. If something changes once the old unit is out, we tell you and re-quote in writing before we do the extra work.