Mar Vista Windows & Doors for Older Homes
Window and door work for older Mar Vista houses: sill pans, head flashing and restored sashes that keep rain and damp coastal air out of the walls.
Water finds the joint between an old window and its wall long before it gets through the glass. With damp coastal air in the mix, that joint and the hardware beside it take the wear on a Mar Vista house, so each opening starts with a look at the sill: its slope, the drip edge under it and the paint at the bottom rail. Original casing comes off in one piece, gets labeled, and returns over new flashing.
Sill pans and head flashing
Before a new unit goes in, the rough sill gets a formed pan whose back edge and ends are turned up, so any water that slips past the frame drains back outside. Self-adhered membrane laps over the pan at the jambs, and a metal head flashing tucks under the building paper above the opening. Each layer sheds onto the one below it. Where stucco is cut back for a full-frame unit, the strip is patched over that lapped paper, and the finish coat is tinted to blend with the wall. Exterior caulk is the final seal, added once the layers behind it are right.
Keeping an old sash in service
A wood sash that still fits its frame can be kept. We strip loose paint at the bottom rail, consolidate soft fibers with epoxy, reglaze with fresh putty and prime every face before it goes back. New bronze weatherstripping seals the meeting rail and the jambs and leaves the window looking the same from the street. Stainless or solid brass hardware holds up better in salty air than plated steel. When a sash is past saving, its replacement is ordered to the old dimensions, with the same muntin width and frame depth, so it sits in the opening like its neighbors.
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Windows & Doors in Mar Vista: common questions
Look at the bottom of the window first. A sill that dents under a thumbnail but stays firm can be patched with epoxy and repainted, and a sash with sound joints can be reglazed and weatherstripped. Rot that runs through the sill, a frame racked out of square, or glass rattling in a loose sash points toward a matched replacement for that opening.
Every original gets measured: sash height, the widths of rails and stiles, and how deep the frame runs from casing to stop. Those figures go to the manufacturer with photos, so the new units carry the same grille layout and sight lines. Casing, sills and aprons that are still sound are kept and repainted around the new frames.
Mar Vista permits are LADBS permits, since the neighborhood belongs to the City of Los Angeles. Before filing, we pull up the parcel on the city's zoning map to see whether it lies within the coastal zone. It may or may not. If it does, a bigger opening or a new door can need a coastal sign-off ahead of the building permit, so that is sorted first.
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