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AfterCGI Windows & Doors in San Francisco, OH | TruePane Windows & Doors
TruePane Windows & Doors provides independent CGI service and repair across San Francisco, specializing in the older Victorian and Edwardian flats that make up most of this city’s housing. We are not a CGI dealer and we are not authorized by the manufacturer, which means we fix what needs fixing rather than steering you toward a replacement that might violate local historic-district rules. Call (888) 635-0804 for a straight answer about your CGI windows or doors.
Why San Francisco Residents Choose Us for CGI Service
Our crew has handled our Window Installation in San Francisco and serviced CGI windows and doors across the city’s Victorian and Edwardian housing stock for over a decade. We know how CGI’s clad-wood and aluminum lines hold up in salt air and fog-belt rot zones, and we know how to repair them without triggering the city’s historic-preservation code issues. Dale Kessler grew up in Clintonville watching his father spend thirty years on older homes with original wood frames, and he learned early that a window either fits the opening or it fights the house. That is the standard we bring to every CGI job in San Francisco: measure the opening, probe the sill, and tell you the truth about what the frame needs before anyone quotes a price.
We are a second-generation glazing company with roots in our own neighborhoods, not a franchise playbook. Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed, and every job carries the Done Right Promise: if it is not done right, we make it right, no paperwork fights and no arguing. We register both warranty layers in writing before the truck leaves your driveway.
Common CGI Windows & Doors Problems We Solve in San Francisco
- Fogged IGUs in CGI 8700 Series aluminum windows. We see this regularly in the Sunset and Richmond fog belt, where 8 to 12 years of persistent marine-layer moisture accelerates edge-seal failure on north- and west-facing units. The brine in the air works into the seal, and one morning the glass looks like it has a permanent cloud in it. We replace the IGU with OEM glass and reseal the unit.
- Rot at the exterior bottom rail of CGI Tribute Series clad-wood double hungs. In Victorian flats, original sills stay wet from marine-layer condensation. The interior can look perfectly sound while hidden decay eats the fir behind the clad aluminum. We find it with an awl probe, not a guess, and then we cut it out, epoxy the rail, and reset the sash.
- Stripped operator gears on CGI casement windows in bay assemblies. The constant salt air plus frequent use by renters in three-unit Edwardians wears these gears out years earlier than the same hardware inland. We rebuild or replace the operator with OEM parts and set the sash so it closes square.
- Failed corner welds and stress cracks on CGI aluminum picture windows. These show up in load-bearing bay structures, often only discovered during sash removal on 1880-1915 frames. The corner takes more load than the weld was ever meant to carry. We repair the weld, replace the glass, and often add a reinforcement the original install never had.
- Binding patio door rollers. Fog-belt condensation corrodes roller bearings, especially on ground-floor units facing the Pacific or the Bay. The door starts dragging, then it starts chewing up the track. We replace rollers with hardware matched to the existing CGI track profile.
Every fix starts with the same question: what does this opening actually need? On a historic bay assembly, that answer is almost never a vinyl swap.
CGI Service in San Francisco: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here is the detail that matters for CGI owners in San Francisco that you will not find on a generic service page. The San Francisco Planning Department’s historic-district rules effectively prohibit standard CGI vinyl replacement windows on the majority of Victorian and Edwardian flats in the Castro, Mission, Western Addition, and Noe Valley. That means our most common CGI job is not swapping in new units. It is repairing or clad-wood retrofitting the existing sash so the building keeps its landmark compliance. A window that fits right should not need caulk to do the work the frame was supposed to do, and in this city, keeping the original frame means you keep your building’s approval. Contractors working the Sunset and Richmond fog belt also learn that original fir sills can look intact from inside while being completely punky on the exterior face. That is the slow, cold fog-moisture rot pattern unique to San Francisco’s west side. We probe every sill before pricing, because if we do not, the job bleeds into structural carpentry nobody budgeted for.
On a Queen Anne two-flat on Liberty Street in Noe Valley, our tech found a pair of CGI Tribute Series double hungs with completely rotted exterior bottom rails. The interior looked fine, but the fog-belt rot had hollowed out the fir behind the clad aluminum. We cut back the decay, epoxied the rails, replaced both IGUs with OEM glass, and reinstalled the original sash. That kept the building’s landmark compliance intact and saved the owner from a $4,000 replacement the city would have rejected outright.
CGI Models & Products We Service in San Francisco
We work on the full CGI residential line: the Estate Collection wood windows, the 8700 Series aluminum windows, the Tribute Series wood/clad windows, and the 9500 Series impact windows. Our approach on every model is the same: OEM parts first, aftermarket only where OEM is obsolete or unavailable, and only parts that match original clearances. For common Estate and 8700 units, we keep OEM CGI balances, weatherstripping, and replacement IGUs on the truck, so a San Francisco service call often finishes same-day without a second appointment. For obsolete Tribute hardware, we use vetted aftermarket equivalents that fit the original mounting points. For more on how we handle CGI product lines, see our CGI sales & service page.
CGI Service Pricing in San Francisco
CGI service pricing in San Francisco depends on what we find when we get the sash out. A simple IGU replacement on an 8700 Series unit typically runs between $180 and $340. Rot repair on a Tribute clad-wood bottom rail runs higher, usually $450 to $800 per sash depending on how far the decay has traveled. A full bay-assembly restoration with multiple sashes, epoxy work, and reglazing can land between $1,200 and $3,500. Every free estimate includes a written line-item quote, a sill probe on any clad-wood unit, and both warranty layers registered in writing before we start. No surprise line items on the bill, no change orders after the fact. Call (888) 635-0804 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Serving San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Francisco 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 - CGI Windows & Doors in San Francisco
No, in most cases you cannot. The San Francisco Planning Department’s historic-district rules prohibit vinyl replacement windows on the majority of designated Victorian and Edwardian flats, including large parts of the Castro, Mission, Western Addition, and Noe Valley. Your legal options are typically wood or wood-clad units, or repairing the existing CGI sash. We stay current on these rules and will tell you before you buy anything whether a replacement will pass review. Call (888) 635-0804 to talk through your specific building.
The persistent marine layer in the Outer Sunset means near-constant humidity, and the salt-laden air corrodes the roller bearings faster than our Door Installation in San Francisco would face in Walnut Creek or Fremont. Once the bearing starts to seize, the roller drags instead of rolling, and the track begins to wear. We replace the rollers and often clean and reseat the track the same visit. That is usually a same-day repair with parts on the truck.
Yes, in most cases the glass alone can be replaced without pulling the whole frame. The stress crack usually traces back to a failed corner weld or an out-of-square rough opening. We replace the IGU with OEM glass and address whatever caused the stress, so the new glass does not crack the same way. Call (888) 635-0804 for an assessment of your bay assembly.
We use an awl probe pressed into the exterior face of the sill and rough sill. Sound fir will not let the awl sink. Punky, rot-damaged wood gives way. In San Francisco’s fog-belt, especially on west-facing and north-facing elevations, the exterior face can be hollow while the interior looks untouched. We probe every clad-wood sill before we quote a repair.
Yes, for common Estate Collection units we keep OEM CGI balances on the truck. If we do not have your exact balance, we source it from CGI directly or use a vetted aftermarket match with identical clearances. Either way, the window gets balanced properly so it does not slam or drift. Estimates are free, call (888) 635-0804.
Service Areas Near San Francisco
TruePane serves San Francisco and the surrounding communities, including Parkway, Arden-Arcade, Ladera Heights, Commerce, Rosemont, and West Athens. Our San Francisco service area covers the full city, with most of our CGI work concentrated in the older neighborhoods where the original sash remains. For CGI work further south, see CGI service in West Palm Beach and CGI service in Fort Lauderdale.
Book Your CGI Service in San Francisco Today
If your CGI windows or doors are fogged, binding, or showing rot in a San Francisco historic flat, call (888) 635-0804. A live person answers, and we will schedule your free estimate at a time that works. Most repairs finish in a single visit.
Written by Dale Kessler, Owner at TruePane Windows & Doors, serving San Francisco since 2008.