Casement Windows

Homeowners searching casement windows Allentown PA usually fall into two camps. The first is replacing the builder-grade casements that went into the subdivisions spreading across Upper Macungie, Forks, and Lower Nazareth from the 1990s on, where the crank has stripped or the sash corners have gone soft. The second is swapping a stubborn double-hung for something that seals tighter, usually over a kitchen sink or in a bonus room above the garage where nobody can reach the old window. Both camps want the same thing: a window that shuts like a refrigerator door.

That is what a casement does well. When you turn the crank closed, the lock pulls the sash against weatherstripping on all four sides, so wind has no sliding joint to work at. On the west edge of Lower Macungie, where fields run all the way to South Mountain and nothing slows a January gust, that compression is what keeps the curtains still. The same sash swung open in July becomes a scoop that grabs a breeze passing along the side of the house and turns it into the room. Two of them on opposite walls will move air through a whole floor without a fan.

Our region adds two wrinkles. Humid summers mean interior screens sit in the path of every open window, and pollen season coats them by mid-May, so a screen you can lift out and rinse matters more here than in a drier climate. And freeze-thaw is hard on any sash that is mostly glass: a poorly made corner lets meltwater into the joint, which is why the local pro we connect you with looks at the bottom rail of every existing casement before talking about new ones.

A casement is one big lite in a slim frame, so the glass package carries more of the performance than on a divided window. Double-pane Low-E with an inert gas fill is the starting point; on a lake wall or a wind-facing wall in the Slate Belt, ask to see a triple-pane option side by side. Glass beside a tub needs to be tempered, and near Route 22 or the interstate a laminated pane quiets road noise where you sleep.

Hardware is where casements differ most from each other. A single-point lock holds a small sash fine; anything tall wants a multi-point lock that pulls the sash tight at top, middle, and bottom with one handle. Cranks come fixed or folding, and a folding handle stays clear of blinds. Ask about wash-mode hinges that let the open sash slide toward the center of the frame so you can reach the outside glass from indoors.

Replacing a casement with a casement is usually an insert into the existing frame, provided the frame is dry. Replacing a double-hung with a casement is more often a full-frame job, because the old frame was built for a sliding sash and may not give the hinge side a solid, square surface to bear on. Your matched installer will also step outside and look at what the sash will swing into: a deck rail, a hedge, a walkway where someone could catch a corner at head height.

On the day, each unit arrives assembled with the operator installed. The crew sets it, checks that the sash closes with an even gap all the way around, and adjusts the hinge arms so the lock engages without forcing. Expect them to cycle every window several times before leaving, because a casement that needs a shove on day one will need two hands by the third winter.