Bay and Bow Windows in Raleigh, NC

You want to open up a dark living room, add a window seat, or replace an existing bay that has been staining the wall underneath it every winter. A bay or bow window is the most transformative single change you can make to a room, and it is also the window job least like installing a window. It projects out past the wall, which means something has to hold it up and something has to keep rain off the top of it.

Bay Versus Bow, and When Each Fits

A bay window is typically three units, a large fixed center flanked by two angled side units, projecting out at a sharp angle. It reads as more traditional and it gives you a deeper seat.

A bow window uses four or more units of equal size set in a gentle curve, so the projection is shallower and the effect is softer and wider. Bows suit a longer wall and a more formal room. Bays suit a shorter wall and give you more usable depth. Either one adds real light because you are getting glass on three planes rather than one, which means the room picks up light through most of the day rather than just when the sun is directly on that wall. Both are also common replacements for a single large picture window that has failed, and that is often the least disruptive way into one, since the opening already exists.

Support, and the Roof Nobody Mentions

The unit projects out and carries real weight, especially a bow with four or five sashes of glass. It needs proper support, either cable support anchored back into the framing above or knee brackets underneath, and on a wider unit sometimes both. A bay that has been installed without adequate support sags over a few years, and once it sags the sashes stop operating and the seals go.

Then there is the roof. Every bay and bow has a small roof over the projection, and that roof is a genuine roof with a genuine flashing detail where it meets the house wall. It needs step flashing woven in and counter flashing over it, exactly like a dormer. It also collects debris, and in Raleigh that means pine needles sitting in the valley where it meets the wall, holding water there continuously. This is precisely why we think a roofer should build one. A window company will install the window well and treat the roof as trim, and that is where the leaks that stain the wall below come from. We flash it as roofing and we tell you to keep it clear.

Bay and Bow Window Installation Cost in Raleigh

Bay and bow projects price higher per opening than a flat replacement because of the unit cost, the structural support, the roof over the projection, and the interior seat, trim and finish work.

Replacing an existing bay is less expensive than creating a new projection from a flat wall, since the opening, the header and the support are already there. We measure, assess the framing, and price it in writing with the roof detail spelled out. Financing available.

Why Choose Us

The little roof over a bay window is where most of them eventually fail, and it is treated as an afterthought by nearly everyone who installs them.

We are fully insured with general liability and workers' compensation, and we hand you proof of it along with your estimate. Bryan owns this company and has spent 14 years in the trades, so the read you get comes from someone who has done this work himself. Estimates are free and we can usually be out within one to three days. Your price is written down before anything starts, your workmanship warranty runs 2 to 12 years depending on the project, in writing, and financing is available.

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Want to Open That Room Up?

Free measurement, including the support and the roof detail. Call (984) 370-4330.