When the frame is the problem, replace the frame.
Most window replacements are inserts — a new unit set inside the existing frame. That works when the frame is still square and sound. But plenty of Albuquerque openings are past that point: frames racked out of square by decades of expansion and contraction, rot where water found its way in under a sill, original aluminum so far gone the new window would be anchored to the problem. That’s full-frame territory.
Full-frame installation strips the opening back to the rough frame and rebuilds it: old unit, old frame, and trim out; the opening checked, squared, and sealed; the new window — typically Energy Quest vinyl, locally manufactured for this climate — set into a sound opening that will hold it for decades. It’s more work than an insert, and it’s the honest recommendation only when the opening actually needs it.
When full-frame is the right call
- Rot or water damage in the sill or frame — an insert would seal the problem in
- Racked openings — the frame is out of square and nothing sits right in it
- Failing original aluminum — corroded, bent, or separating from the stucco
- Downsized glass — an insert shrinks the visible glass; full-frame keeps the full opening
Not sure which your openings need? That’s exactly what the free, in-home estimate decides — opening by opening, not house by house.
