Window Components

The outer main frame that holds the inactive glass, the sashes, and all other components of a window together. Everything is inside of the frame. Our frames are multi-chambered for increased energy efficiency and durability.

An opposing flange on the backside of an active sash and on the front side of the meeting rail that clamps together when you close a sash and lock it into the meeting rail. This helps create a seal between the sash and the meeting rail and make it impossible to slide a putty knife between them to flip the latch on the sash.

The small vinyl or aluminum frame around glass that slides up and down or left and right inside the window main frame. All of our Desert Mountain windows come standard with aluminum reinforcement in the sash for increased security.

A bar or snap in accessory that allows us to connect 2 or more window mainframes together to fill an opening when an opening is too large for one window to fill. The mull gives both structural support & a water seal between the windows.

A snap in accessory that holds the glass within the sash of a moving window or the main frame of a picture window.

Sometimes called grids or mullions. In dual pane windows these are placed in between the two pieces of glass sealed in the air space. This facilitates ease of cleaning the glass, because you don’t have to wipe around them & because they are between the glass so they don’t get dirty. The standard version is rectangular so the edges are squared. A step up version is sculpted and more decorative because the edges are beveled.

A single elevated ridge that the rollers under a sash roll on as the sash rolls left or right.

A U-shaped track that snaps in to the inside of the 2 side jambs of a single hung mainframe. It is a track for the tilt latch on the sash to follow as it slides up & down. For a sliding window, the U-shaped track snaps into the head jamb.

Holes drilled into the outer frame of a pocket window to drain out water that has gotten inside the frame.

A pin attached to a sash that when unlocked from the jamb liner allows a sash to tilt into the room so the outside of the glass can be cleaned without going outside to clean it. On sliding windows this feature may not function, depending on whether or not the customers window treatments interfere.

A counter weight or spring system installed in the 2 side jambs of a single hung window to aid in lifting the sash and to hold the sash open at whatever point the homeowner wants.

A piece of plastic that pops out of the sash frame of the inactive sash approximately 3 to 4 inches above or beside the range of motion of the active sash of a hung or sliding window to stop the active sash from opening more than 3 to 4 inches. This is portrayed as some kind of security feature by most window companies. The truth is that this piece of plastic will break or pop out if even a 5 year old tries to open the sash. We pay an extra $4.00 per window to not have the holes drilled in the inactive sash frame of the window to install these vent latches. We do not want our customers thinking they are secure unless their window is closed & locked and we do not want the service calls to replace them because they fell out & left a hole in the sash.

The 2 vertical sides of a window main frame. This is where the window is screwed into the wall. Our windows come with jamb cavity filler to hide the unsightly screw plug covers which makes a clean appearance.

A grill pattern-used in half circle or eyebrow shaped windows only. Not rectangular squares in the glass but more the look of pie slices.

The top horizontal part of a window main frame.

An inert gas injected between the 2 panes of glass of a dual pane window. Argon is denser than regular air which slows down how fast heat transfers through the window. This affects the U-rating of a window. A lot of windows use capillary tubes to transport the windows through mountainous regions to compensate for huge fluctuations in altitude and atmospheric pressure during transport. Capillary tubes enable windows to endure these changes, but also result in the argon being pushed out of the airspace during these changes. Any window with capillary tubes cannot use the argon in the NFRC calculations for the U-rating because they don’t know how much gas remains in the window at the point of delivery. A lot of companies take advantage of this. They tell people they do not want to pay for argon filled windows because it is invisible & they will never know if it is in the window because it leaks out anyway in a few years, so why have it. It does leak out in windows that have a box spacer or intercept spacer. In a window with hermetically sealed warm edge spacer and no capillary tubes, the gas does not leak out. It will migrate through the glass & spacer at a rate of 3% per year. Think of it this way. If you poke a hole in a helium balloon it deflates quickly. That is a leak. But if you fill a balloon with helium gas it will slowly fall to the floor in a week or so. That is migration. The hermetic seal & glass takes decades to migrate through. Any window that incorporates the technology to hold the gas is a great window that is moderately improved by the gas, is still a great window without the gas. If a crappy window needs the gas to improve it’s #’s then once the gas is gone you are left with a crappy window. Another gas that is used by some manufacturers is Krypton gas. Krypton gas is a little more effective than argon, but considerably more expensive, so it’s very rarely used by window manufacturers.

The part of a window lock that you turn with your fingers to shoot a pin or cam into the catch or latch. Our Desert Mountain windows come with 2 latches (1 for smaller units that you cannot fit 2 into) for increased security. The frame is designed so you cannot slide a putty knife or any other tool into the frame from the exterior to unlock the latches.

(sometimes called pattern or textured glass)

Glass that is not clear. This glass is used in showers, bathrooms, doors or sidelights next to a door to provide privacy. This glass allows people to see shapes but no or less detail. We use 5 different types of obscure glass: granite, rain, satin etch, Flemish, & glue chip. Granite (just called obscure) is the most obscure & glue chip is the least. These options are available for all windows & sliding doors.

The part of a window lock that the latch anchors into.

Every piece of glass has 2 surfaces. The inside surface & the outside surface. Dual pane windows have 2 surfaces per sheet of glass for a total of 4 surfaces. The surfaces are numbered from the outside to the inside. For example: surface #1 on a dual pane window is the surface that is exposed to the exterior elements. Low E is applied to surface #2 so that it can’t be scratched off or eroded. When Low E is applied to surface #2 it reflects solar radiation out before it enters the airspace between the 2 panes of glass so the airspace remains cooler. The cooler the airspace the more effective the airspace is at slowing down the transference of heat.

Used for new construction. A 1 ½” flange running all around the outside jamb of a main frame recessed in about 1 ¼” from the outside leading edge of the main frame. This flange is used to screw through and into trimmer studs and sheeting on a wood frame home to anchor the window to the outside of the wall and create a convenient surface to flash around.

This is what 2 panes of glass sealed with a spacer that maintains the distance between the glass is called. If someone breaks the outer pane of a dual pane window you must replace both pieces of glass. The only way to do this is by replacing the entire sealed unit. Every dual pane window is designed so that you can pop out the glazing bead, remove the glass & replace the IG unit.

Used for remodel occasionally. This is a 1 ½” flange running around the outside leading edge of a main frame designed to overlap stucco when no stucco pop out exist to reduce the need for stucco patch. It can also be placed on the inside leading edge of the main frame to replace the need for wood casing for superlite replacement. This option exists for “Krasiva’s Desert Mountain” windows only.

In some older single pane windows the grills (or grids or mullions) in the glass may actually go all the way through the glass creating a lot of individual pieces of glass in between the bars. Every square you see is a separate piece of glass. Cleaning the glass is challenging, you have to clean inside all the squares. Years ago, dual panes were made the same way. If you had a French door with “true divided lite”, you might have as many as 30 separate dual pieces of glass in the door. Having 30 separate pieces of glass, failing at different rates was very inconvenient and costly. This is a thing of the past now.

The fixed post in the center of a single slider or single hung window. The keeper is mounted on this and is used to securely hold an active sash in place when the sash is closed and locked. Our meeting rails come standard with extrude aluminum inserted into the vinyl for increased security and protection.

This is the modern replacement for “true divided lite”. Instead of one bar that goes all the way through the glass (or the glass is cut into square s to fit inside the bars making up a square), There is only on piece of glass. Then, bars are placed in between the glass, glued onto the inside of the inner pane of glass and glued onto the outer surface of the outer pane of glass to look like the bar goes all the way through the glass. They are much more noticeable from the inside and outside because they are glued onto the surfaces of the glass as opposed to just being between the glass panes. The slightly greenish hue of Low E glass can obscure the white bars inside the airspace. Of course, “SDL” is more costly than just putting the bars in between the glass, but they look historically correct. Some customers want or need to keep that historically correct look. In this case, you use “simulated divided lite”.