Free in-home measure and quote - PGT, CGI and CWS impact lines compared on your actual openings, style by style
Sliding glass doors
Impact garage doorsPGTCGI
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Custom Windows & Doors Across Whittier
Custom windows and doors in Whittier usually mean one of two things: the opening is out of square from the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, or the homeowner wants something the big-box catalog doesn’t carry. Most projects in the 90601 ZIP run between $1,800 and $6,500 per opening, and the work typically takes one to three days once materials arrive. We’ve been setting windows in Whittier long enough to know that the framing behind the trim tells the real story. Call (888) 635-0804 and we’ll measure it properly before quoting.
Whittier sits at the base of the Puente Hills, and those hills funnel Santa Ana winds through older casement and double-hung frames in ways the flatlands cities never feel. Add in the 1920s and 1930s Craftsman bungalows near Uptown with their original single-pane sash, and you have a housing stock that needs a different kind of window contractor. Not someone with a tape measure and a catalog. Someone who brings a framing square, extra shims, and the understanding that a 3-degree-off rough opening will ruin a brand-new window if nobody catches it first.
Why TruePane Windows & Doors Is Whittier’s Preferred Custom Windows & Doors Company
Dale Kessler founded this company in 2008 on a rule that’s still on the whiteboard: if the pane is not true, the job is not done. That rule matters more in Whittier than almost anywhere else in the Los Angeles basin, because the Narrows quake left subtle racking in thousands of pre-1990 rough openings that cosmetic repairs never corrected. We don’t just measure the window. We check the opening for square, level, and plumb before we ever order a unit.
Our Whittier customers tend to be people who’ve owned their homes for twenty or thirty years and plan to stay another twenty. They remember the contractor who left a fogged seal and a door that binds in July. We earn their trust by doing the thing we say we’ll do: background-checked, uniformed technicians who measure every opening twice, quote manufacturer lines side by side on paper, and register both warranty layers before the truck leaves the driveway. That’s The Keystone Standard, and it’s in writing on every job.
Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Los Angeles office; crews serve Whittier locally. When you call, a live person answers. Not a voicemail tree. Not a callback form. That matters at 2 p.m. and it matters at 2 a.m.
Our Custom Windows & Doors Services in Whittier
Our Custom Windows & Doors team handles the full scope of residential replacement work across Whittier, but four services account for most of what we do here. The earthquake-racked framing and pre-war housing stock change the emphasis.
Custom Shape Windows
Whittier’s Spanish Colonial Revival homes near Uptown frequently have arched, circular, and eyebrow windows that don’t exist in any stock catalog. The 1987 quake racked many of those openings subtly, so the template process can’t be a tracing of the old glass. We cut templates from the actual rough opening after shimming to square, which means the new unit fits the wall, not the old mistake. A custom arch or round window in Whittier typically runs $2,200 to $5,800 installed.
Oversized Glass Panels
Hillside lots and view-facing rear walls make oversized panels common in Whittier, and the Puente Hills wind exposure changes the engineering. A large fixed panel or sliding door unit needs wind-rated glazing that coastal projects can skip. We spec thick laminated or tempered IGUs sized to the actual wind load, not the county minimum, because those gusts come down the canyons hard in October and November. Plan on $3,500 to $9,000 per large panel depending on size and glass package.
Architectural Grilles & SDLs
Original Craftsman bungalows in 90601 used divided-light sash with true muntins, and the homeowners who restore those houses don’t want a flat simulated grid that looks like a sticker. We install architectural grilles and simulated divided lites (SDLs) applied to the interior and exterior with a spacer bar, so the window looks period-correct from the street but carries modern low-E glass and argon fill. On a 1930s Uptown bungalow, this runs $2,400 to $6,800 per window depending on size and grille pattern.
Commercial Storefront Glazing
Uptown Whittier’s commercial storefronts sit in buildings that predate modern seismic codes, and the storefront aluminum systems from the 1960s and 1970s are rarely square anymore. We replace sagging headers, re-shim the frame, and set tempered glass that meets current safety standards. Smaller storefronts on Greenleaf Avenue typically run $4,000 to $12,000 depending on lineal footage and door hardware.
Curtain Wall Systems
For larger commercial and mixed-use buildings along Whittier Boulevard, curtain wall work requires engineering that accounts for seismic drift as much as wind load. We coordinate with the structural engineer, verify the anchor points, and install systems from manufacturers we’re authorized to represent. Every curtain wall job in Whittier gets a written scope with the specific glass makeups and anchoring details before we bid it.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Whittier
We’re authorized installers for more than a dozen manufacturer lines, and for Whittier work we lean on PGT and CGI for wind-rated impact glazing, CWS for commercial storefront and curtain wall, and Ply Gem when a homeowner wants a solid mid-price window without sacrificing the warranty. Stock parts for common lines are available quickly, and because we register both warranty layers in writing before we leave the driveway, a manufacturer claim never turns into a phone-tag argument. You’ll see exactly which line we priced, what it costs, and what the warranty covers, side by side on paper.
Common Custom Windows & Doors Problems We See in Whittier Homes
- Fog between double-pane panes that keeps coming back. Whittier’s inland position produces wide daily temperature swings, which stress insulated glass unit seals more than a coastal climate would. A “repair” that just swaps the sash or reseals the edge without addressing the frame squareness will fog again in one to three winters.
- Out-of-square rough openings from the 1987 Narrows quake. The earthquake racked door frames and window rough openings across 90601 in ways that look fine behind trim. A new window set into a 3-degree-off opening will bind, leak, and void the manufacturer warranty if the installer does not shim or reframe first.
- Wood door slabs that swell and stick seasonally. Whittier’s dry-wet cycles push moisture into solid-wood entry doors on the pre-war bungalows near Uptown. A door that swells shut in winter and shrinks loose in summer needs a properly sealed slab and a frame that’s actually square.
- Wind whistling through older casement and double-hung frames. Santa Ana gusts funneled by the Puente Hills find every gap in a 1960s aluminum frame. Tight weatherstripping and wind-rated glazing are not extras here; they’re the difference between a quiet house and a constant draft.
Pricing for Custom Windows & Doors in Whittier, CA
Custom window and door work in Whittier follows a real pattern. The unit itself is usually 55 to 65 percent of the total; the rest is labor, opening correction, flashing, and finish work. A standard replacement double-hung in a square opening runs $1,800 to $3,200. A custom arch or round window runs $2,200 to $5,800. Architectural grilles and SDLs run $2,400 to $6,800 per window. Oversized glass panels run $3,500 to $9,000. If the opening is out of square from the Narrows quake, plan for $300 to $1,500 extra per opening for shimming or reframing. We give a written line-item quote before any work starts, not a round number pulled from a price sheet. Call (888) 635-0804 and we’ll measure the actual openings, not the old frames.
We Also Serve Cities Near Whittier
Our crews work throughout the San Gabriel Valley and Southeast LA County. Beyond Whittier, we regularly serve homeowners in Pico Rivera, South El Monte, Hacienda Heights, and Montebello. Each city has its own housing stock and its own earthquake history, and we scope every job against the actual building, not a regional average.
Serving Whittier, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Whittier 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 - Custom Windows & Doors in Whittier
The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake racked thousands of pre-1990 rough openings subtly out of square, so stock units made for perfectly square openings often will not seat correctly. The framing behind the trim is the problem, not the window. We measure the rough opening after removing trim, shim to square where possible, and order units sized to the corrected opening or build custom where the framing is too far off. Call (888) 635-0804 and we’ll tell you what your openings actually measure.
County permitting triggers different plan-check requirements, septic and well setbacks can limit where crews stage materials, and long driveway hauls add labor time. We scope access before quoting so the bid reflects the actual site, not a city-lot assumption. If your property sits in an unincorporated county pocket within the Whittier area, mention it when you call (888) 635-0804 and we’ll plan for it from the first visit.
You need wind-rated glazing sized to the actual gust load from the Puente Hills canyons, plus a low-E coating and argon fill to cut the inland heat gain. A panel that meets coastal minimums may flex or whistle on a Whittier hillside. We spec laminated or tempered IGUs to the real wind exposure, and every install gets both warranty layers registered in writing before we leave. Call (888) 635-0804 for a site-specific quote.
Yes. We install architectural grilles and simulated divided lites with a spacer bar that reads as true muntins from the street, paired with low-E insulated glass and argon fill. The old wavy glass stays in the past, but the window looks period-correct. Have your exact pattern photographed before we quote, so the grille detail matches the original. Call (888) 635-0804 and ask about SDLs.
Because the seal failure was addressed, not the cause. In Whittier, the wide inland temperature swings stress seals, but an out-of-square frame from the Narrows quake flexes the unit every time the wind blows, re-breaking the seal within a few seasons. A proper fix means correcting the opening squareness, installing a new unit, and registering the warranty in writing. Call (888) 635-0804 and we’ll tell you what’s actually happening with your frames.
Call TruePane Windows & Doors in Whittier
We’ve seen the ranch house on the eastern flats of 90601 where the Narrows quake left a 3-degree-off rough opening that looked fine until we tried to set a plumb replacement. We reframed that opening, shimmed the void, installed an Andersen double-hung with low-E glass and argon fill, and wrapped the perimeter in flashing tape. That’s the work. That’s the standard. If you want windows and doors that are done right in Whittier, call (888) 635-0804 and schedule your free estimate. A live person will answer.
Written by Dale Kessler, Owner at TruePane Windows & Doors, serving Whittier and the surrounding communities since 2008.