Custom Windows & Doors in Kensington - Free In-Home Measure, Written Price

Fast, Reliable Custom Windows & Doors Across Kensington

Custom window and door work in Kensington starts with a county permit, not a city one. Kensington is unincorporated Contra Costa County, which means every replacement or new opening goes through the county Building Inspection Division. Our crews know that process cold. We schedule around county field inspectors, file the right forms the first time, and keep your project moving. If you’re planning custom windows or doors in Kensington, call (888) 635-0804 for a free estimate. We’ll walk the job with you, measure every opening twice, and put the quote on paper before any work begins.

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Why TruePane Windows & Doors Is Kensington’s Preferred Custom Windows & Doors Company

Kensington homeowners don’t have time for a contractor who learns county code on their dime. We’ve pulled custom window and door permits through Contra Costa County for enough years to know what the Building Inspection Division will flag before the inspector ever arrives. That matters on a hillside home where a wrong form stalls the job for weeks.

Our techs work in Kensington regularly, from the ridgelines above Arlington Avenue down to the flats near the El Cerrito border. We know the housing stock: 1920s Craftsman bungalows on Coleman Drive, Tudor Revivals on Kensington Avenue, Spanish Colonials scattered along the upper slopes. We know what original framing looks like behind those old sashes and what the county expects when we open a wall.

Dale Kessler founded TruePane in 2008 on a simple rule: if the pane is not true, the job is not done. We’ve carried that through more than years of community service, hiring local, training apprentices into journeymen, and standing behind every install with the Done Right Promise. A live person answers our phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail tree. Not a call center. Call (888) 635-0804 and you’ll get a person who can talk about your project.

Our Custom Windows & Doors Services in Kensington

We install, replace, and service Custom Windows & Doors across Kensington, with a focus on the work these older hillside homes actually need. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Architectural Grilles & SDLs

Kensington’s Craftsman and Tudor Revival homes were built with divided-light windows. True divided lites, not snap-in grilles. When you replace those windows while living in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, you need WUI-rated glazing in a profile that still reads as original. We spec simulated divided lites (SDLs) with exterior bars matched to the original sightline widths, then pair them with wood-clad or fiberglass frames that hold up to the marine fog that eats fir and redwood on exposed ridgelines. The result passes county fire code and doesn’t look like a replacement window at all.

Custom Shape Windows

Arched tops, round portals, angled transoms, half-rounds over entry doors. Kensington’s Period Revival homes have them, and the county’s fire code applies to every new opening. We bend and build custom shapes around the WUI glazing requirement, keeping the architectural proportion intact. A semicircular window over a Tudor entry on Kensington Avenue is one we’ve done more than once. No stock catalog covers these. We measure the rough opening from the actual wall, not the old sash, because Kensington framing from 1930 rarely sits square.

Oversized Glass Panels

Hillside lots in Kensington get Bay views, and Bay views want big glass. Oversized panels bring their own set of problems: wind load on exposed ridges above Arlington Avenue, thermal stress from afternoon sun on southwest exposures, and a county inspector who wants engineering on anything beyond standard sizes. We quote oversized glass with the structural package included, not as a surprise line item. PGT and CGI lines carry the wind-load ratings and WUI certifications Kensington requires. We’ll quote them side by side on paper so you see exactly what you’re buying.

Commercial Storefront Glazing

A handful of small commercial spaces operate in Kensington, mostly along Colusa Avenue and the Arlington corridor. Storefront glazing here still runs through county permits, same as residential. We handle the full scope: aluminum framing, tempered glass to code, ADA-compliant thresholds, and re-glazing for older single-pane fronts. Curtain wall systems are less common in Kensington than in flatland commercial districts, but we build and service them for the buildings that need them, with the same county-permit discipline we apply to every residential job.

Trusted Brands We Service in Kensington

We’re an authorized installer for more than a dozen manufacturer lines, including, PGT, and CGI. For Kensington specifically, PGT and CGI matter more than most because they carry the WUI fire-rated glazing and frame ratings the county requires in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Ply Gem and CWS also show up in our Kensington quotes where the architectural profile calls for them. The Keystone Standard means both warranty layers get registered in writing before the truck leaves your driveway, with durations stated. No paperwork fights later. No “we’ll get to it.” We stand behind it.

Common Custom Windows & Doors Problems We See in Kensington Homes

• Fogged seals from marine moisture. Kensington sits squarely in the fog belt that pushes in off San Francisco Bay. Persistent overnight moisture works its way into aging seals and spacer bars. We replace the insulated glass unit far more often than the whole window, and yes, that’s covered under warranty when the manufacturer’s terms apply.
• Rot behind original casing. The 1920s and 1930s fir and redwood frames common in Kensington wick moisture through failed flashing and open joints. By the time a sash binds or a sill shows softness, the rot has usually spread behind the exterior casing. We re-flash with butyl tape and replace the damaged framing before setting the new unit.
• Out-of-square rough openings. Almost every original opening on a pre-1955 Kensington home has settled. Half an inch out of square is typical, not exceptional. Stock replacement windows get shimmed and caulked into a gap. We scribe the new frame to the actual opening or correct the framing, because a window that’s forced square will bind and leak within two seasons.
• WUI code surprises. Replacing glass in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone means the county will require WUI-rated glazing and tempered glass on new openings. Homeowners who didn’t know that get an estimate that doubles at tear-out. Ours doesn’t. We check your parcel’s fire zone and write the correct glass into the quote before you sign anything.

Pricing for Custom Windows & Doors in Kensington, CA

We Also Serve Cities Near Kensington

Our crews serve Kensington and the surrounding East Bay communities, including Parkway, Arden-Arcade, Ladera Heights, and Commerce. If your home sits outside Kensington proper, call us anyway. We’ll tell you plainly whether we serve your street and get you on the schedule if we do.

Key Takeaways

• Every custom window and door permit in Kensington runs through Contra Costa County, not a city hall.
• Kensington’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone designation means WUI-rated glazing and tempered glass are required on new openings.
• Original 1920s to 1950s Kensington homes need custom or semi-custom profiles to match divided-light Craftsman and Tudor Revival sash patterns.
• We write allowances into the contract for framing, rot, and waterproofing surprises, and every change is priced and approved in writing before we touch it.
• Both warranty layers get registered in writing before our truck leaves your driveway. The Done Right Promise backs the work.

FAQs - Custom Windows & Doors in Kensington

What Opening Up an Older Kensington Home Actually Turns Up

Every Kensington remodel teaches the same lesson eventually. The wall comes open, and what’s behind the drywall is not what the original drawings promised. Outdated wiring. Undersized or damaged framing. Failed waterproofing. And once the county inspector sees an open wall, code upgrades get triggered whether you planned for them or not. This is the single biggest reason a custom window or door quote moves mid-project.

Here’s how we handle it. First, inspection. Before we quote your custom windows or doors, we look at the framing, the flashing, the sill condition, and the existing glazing. We open the wall only when we need to see what’s behind it, and we tell you what we find. Second, allowances. If there’s any chance the framing is compromised or the waterproofing has failed, we write an allowance into the contract. That allowance is a dollar amount, not a blank check. Third, written approval. If we find something during tear-out that needs work, you get a written change order with a price before we touch it. Not after. Not “we’ll settle up at the end.” A square deal means you approve the number first.

The county inspection piece is where Kensington gets specific. Because Kensington is unincorporated Contra Costa County, every permit is pulled through the county Building Inspection Division. County field inspectors serve a large unincorporated area. They do not run on a city inspector’s schedule. Our crew’s paperwork and inspection scheduling are built around that reality. We file the county forms, schedule the county inspector, and make sure the WUI glazing, tempered glass, and frame anchoring are all documented before the inspector arrives. Contractors who work primarily in Berkeley or El Cerrito get this wrong, and their jobs stall for weeks while the county kicks the form back. We have pulled enough Kensington permits to know what the county’s reviewer will flag on a hillside property before we ever submit the application.

One job above Arlington Avenue sticks with us. A 1930s Tudor Revival. The homeowner wanted the original double-hungs replaced with something that looked original but actually sealed. Our techs pulled the sashes and found the rough openings had settled out of square by nearly half an inch. Rot behind the exterior casing had wicked moisture into the jamb. We scribed custom Andersen wood-clad double-hungs to the tapered openings, re-flashed the sills with butyl flashing tape, and installed new insulated glass units with low-E glass and argon fill to hit a U-factor under 0.30. Then we called the county inspector, who signed off on the same visit. That’s the job done right.

If you live in Kensington and you’re planning custom windows or doors, call (888) 635-0804. We’ll inspect the openings, check your fire zone, pull the right county paperwork, and quote you a written line-item price with allowances for whatever the walls turn out to be hiding. Free estimates. No surprises that weren’t approved in writing first.

Written by Dale Kessler, Owner at TruePane Windows & Doors, serving Kensington and the surrounding East Bay communities.