Single hung
Double hung
Horizontal roller
Casement
Bay & bow
Sliding glass doors
Entry doors
Impact garage doors
PGT
CGIFree in-home measure and quote - PGT, CGI and CWS impact lines compared on your actual openings, style by style
Get your free estimateFast, Reliable Window Installation Across Piedmont
Window installation in Piedmont usually falls into two camps: the straightforward replacement of a failed sash, and the deeper job of matching original millwork from a 1920s home without losing the period character. Both start with the same thing here: a written price before we order anything. Most Piedmont window installations run between $850 and $2,400 per opening depending on size, material, and whether custom profiles are required. That number is fixed in writing before work starts, no exceptions. If you’re calling from a hillside street near Crocker Park or up by the high school, we know the houses and we know the review process. Call (831) 480-4124 for a free estimate.
Why Lightwell Windows San Francisco Is Piedmont’s Preferred Window Installation Company
Piedmont is not a volume market. The homes are custom, the streets are steep, and the design review board notices things most crews would never see: a muntin profile that is too wide by an eighth of an inch, a handle that reads 2020 on a 1929 Colonial, a sill that got flashed the same way as a stucco tract house in the flats. Keith Yamada has built this location around those details. Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed, and every visit starts with shoe covers and drop cloths before a tool bag comes through the door. It is the C.A.R.E. standard: Clean up like it is our own home, Ask before we move or touch anything, Respect the family’s time and quiet hours, and Explain the price before the work.
We carry eight manufacturer brands, PGT, CGI, CWS, ES Windows, ECO Window Systems, Mr-Glass, Therma-Tru, and ViewLux, so the recommendation fits the house, not the installer’s preferred vendor. Each Lightwell location is independently owned and operated, and this one serves Piedmont directly from the Bay Area office that coordinates scheduling. A live person answers the phone 24/7, not a recording.
Styles & brands we work with
Double Hung Windows in Piedmont
Double hung windows in Piedmont are rarely a swap for a standard catalog unit. On the 1910 to 1940 homes that dominate the streets off Highland Avenue, Wildwood Avenue, and the winding roads above Grand Avenue, the upper sash was built to a profile that modern manufacturers simply do not stock. Piedmont’s design review enforces preservation of those original profiles, so installation often requires custom millwork to match divided lights and period hardware. We run a vertical-grain Douglas fir profile to match the original muntin width usually 1-3/8 inches on the 1920s Tudors and Med Revs, then fit an insulated glass unit inside it. A typical double hung replacement in Piedmont, with the custom work included, runs $1,200 to $2,400 per opening.
What the job involves
We remove the old sash but keep the original jamb wherever it is sound. Rotted sills get new wood milled to the original profile, not a vinyl cap. The finished window operates like the original did, with the same sightlines from the street.
When Piedmont homeowners call us
Usually it is a sash that will no longer stay up, a sill that has gone soft on the west side, or a design review correction letter. Sometimes it is a bedroom window that lets the marine fog seep in and the room smells like an old basement. Kids’ rooms on the windward side are the ones we hear about most.
Vinyl Windows in Piedmont
Vinyl windows in Piedmont have a narrower path than elsewhere, and that is worth saying plainly. A generic White vinyl double-hung will fail design review on a 1920s house because it cannot match original wood sightlines or period hardware. But vinyl makes sense in specific places: additions, detached garages, mudrooms, and some 1950s and 1960s houses in the lower pockets near Oakland Avenue that were built without historic restrictions. For those jobs, a quality vinyl window from ViewLux or PGT installs cleanly, seals tightly, and costs far less than custom wood. Expect to pay $650 to $1,150 per opening for vinyl replacements in Piedmont when they are appropriate for the structure.
Where vinyl is the right answer
A 1962 split-level off Moraga Avenue does not have the same review exposure as a 1927 Tudor on a prominent corner. Vinyl works there, and it is the honest recommendation when the goal is better insulation at a modest price.
Where vinyl loses the review
On a period house with divided lights, vinyl’s wider frame and muntin profile reads as a replacement from the street. The review board will ask you to revise. We would rather tell you that before you order than after the permit is filed.
Trusted Brands We Service in Piedmont
We install and service windows from PGT, CGI, and Therma-Tru, among the eight brands we carry, and we keep a working stock of hardware, weatherstripping, and balances for the common profiles we see in Piedmont homes. That means a broken sash cord on a double hung does not turn into a six-week wait for a part from a distributor. We can often source what the design review requires because we have already ordered it for another house on a parallel street. The advantage of carrying eight brands is not variety for its own sake; it is that we are not trying to fit a home into one product line.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Window Installation Problems We See in Piedmont Homes
- Design review rejection of standard replacement units. The board knows what a 1927 divided-light window should look like, and a catalog vinyl double-hung will not pass. We submit profiles and hardware samples before ordering so the permit does not stall.
- West- and south-facing sill rot from wind-driven rain. On steep lots, rain comes at the house sideways. Some Piedmont homes lack the overhangs that protect sills elsewhere, so a flashed opening still rots within five years if the sill is not sloped and sealed correctly.
- Sash weight and pulley failure on original double hungs. The cast-iron weights and cotton cords in a 1920s double hung were built well, but cotton rots. When the upper sash drops, the fix is either restoring the weight system or converting to a spring balance hidden in the original pocket, nothing that reads as new from the outside.
- Visible muntin width differences after a “matching” install. Off-the-shelf impact-rated glazing without custom millwork produces a muntin that is visibly wider than the original. The design review catches it, and the homeowner pays twice. We mill the profile to match before the glass goes in.
Pricing for Window Installation in Piedmont, CA
Most window installations in Piedmont run between $850 and $2,400 per opening, with the higher end covering custom double hung work on period homes where millwork and hardware must match the original. Vinyl replacements in non-historic homes fall at the lower end, $650 to $1,150 per opening. The variables are size, wood species, glass package, and whether design review submittal is required. We give you a written line-item price before ordering anything, and that price does not change unless you change the scope. Call (831) 480-4124 to schedule a free estimate. A live person answers.
We Also Serve Cities Near Piedmont
Our Window Installation team works throughout the East Bay. In addition to Piedmont, we regularly serve Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and Lafayette. Each of those cities has its own review standards and housing stock, and we know them all.
Serving Piedmont, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Piedmont area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Window Installation in Piedmont
Piedmont’s design review generally does not permit vinyl windows on homes from the 1910 to 1940 period when the original character is protected, because standard vinyl frames and muntins cannot match the original wood sightlines and period hardware. Vinyl is typically accepted only on additions, non-historic structures, and homes built after the review overlay took effect. We can help you determine which applies to your house before you order. Call (831) 480-4124 and we will walk the site with you.
Plan on eight to fourteen weeks from approval to installation. The design review submittal itself usually takes two to four weeks, and the custom millwork run adds four to six weeks after approval. Lead times set the calendar, not labor. We submit everything, profiles, hardware, glass samples, before ordering so you are not paying for units the city has not seen.
Yes. We can restore the original weight-and-pulley system where the pockets are intact, or convert to a hidden spring balance that sits inside the original jamb pocket and leaves the window looking untouched from the exterior. The visible hardware, locks, pulls, sash lifts, can be matched or restored as well. This is a common request on the 1920s houses off Highland and Wildwood.
On Piedmont’s steep streets, west and south elevations take wind-driven rain head-on. Many 1910 to 1930 homes were built with minimal overhangs, so the sill becomes the first line of defense. When the sill is not sloped to shed water outward, or the flashing is not stepped correctly behind the stucco or siding, repeated saturation rots the wood within five years even when the opening was flashed. We bed new sills in a sloped profile with a drip edge and back-flashing designed for the exposure. Call (831) 480-4124 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
No. Florida Product Approval is a Florida-specific certification for hurricane zones and has no bearing on window installations in Piedmont or anywhere in California. What matters here is compliance with California’s Title 24 energy code and, for period homes, the city’s design review standards. We handle both, and the price is in writing before anything is ordered.
On a steep lot off Highland Avenue, our crew replaced a rotted double-hung sash on a 1927 Tudor. We reset the original jamb, matched the original 1-3/8-inch muntin profile in vertical-grain Douglas fir, and installed a custom insulated glass unit with low-E glass and a laminated glass interlayer to keep the divided-light look while cutting heat gain. The city approved it before we ordered a single stick of wood. That is the whole job. The design review is not an obstacle; it is a specification. When you work to it from the first day, the install goes smoothly, the board signs off, and your home still looks like your home. A light well is what brings daylight deep into a building, and that is what a well-installed window should do for your home.
Written by Keith Yamada, Owner at Lightwell Windows San Francisco, serving Piedmont since the company joined the Cedarwell network in 2010.
Call (831) 480-4124 to schedule your free window installation estimate in Piedmont. A live person answers, and every price is in writing before any work begins.
Six Reasons Homeowners Choose Lightwell Windows San Francisco
Laminated glass and reinforced frames hold up to wind-driven rain, hail and flying debris, so your openings stay sealed when the weather turns.
Low-E insulated impact glass from our manufacturer lines commonly cuts monthly cooling bills 20-30%.
Laminated impact glass shuts out up to 40% of outside noise - traffic, neighbors, weather.
Monitoring services run $30-90 a month. Laminated impact glass resists forced entry around the clock, with no subscription.
Tighter seals and insulated glass even out hot and cold rooms and stop the drafts at the frame.
A full impact package upgrades curb appeal, buyer confidence and appraised value in one project.