Des Moines Window Pros provides professional double-hung and single-hung windows in Des Moines, IA for residential and commercial properties across Greater Des Moines. The double-hung is the most common window in this city and by far the most over-replaced. Half the calls we take about them concern a sash that drops when you let go of it, and that symptom points at the balance rather than at the window around it.
On a post-1960 unit the balance is a cartridge or a spiral rod inside the jamb liner, and it is a stocked part. Swapping a pair of balances, a set of tilt latches and a worn liner costs a fraction of a new unit and takes under an hour once the sash is out. We quote that job and we do that job.
On a genuine weight-and-pulley window the answer differs but costs no more. New sash cord or chain, a cleaned pulley, a rebalanced iron weight and spring bronze at the parting bead will make a hundred-year-old sash run better than it has since the war, and it keeps the original glass in the house where it belongs.
Replacement wins on the failures that keep coming back. Meeting rails that no longer meet, so the lock will not throw. Bottom rails gone soft at the joint. Aluminum triple-track units where sash and storm have both given up. Nineties vinyl whose welded corners have opened at the sill. Those are not worth another service visit, and we will say so on the first one.
If you do replace, insist on a lock that pulls the rails together rather than one that merely holds them closed. A cam lock with a proper keeper compresses the weatherstrip at the meeting rail, which is the leakiest line in the whole assembly, and two locks across a wide opening is not an upsell here, it is the correct specification.
Insert versus full-frame is the other decision and it is mostly a money decision. An insert keeps your existing jambs and costs you two to three inches of glass. A full-frame tear-out costs more, disturbs the interior trim, and is the only honest option once the sill or lower jamb is rotten. We probe the sill before recommending either one.
Do not let anyone sell you triple glazing on a double-hung before the attic is finished. The third lite adds weight, which loads the balances, and it adds cost the same dollars would beat in insulation. Once the shell is tight it becomes a reasonable comfort upgrade on the coldest rooms, and we will happily price it then.
We will also tell you when the answer is simply weatherstripping. Quality sealant at the exterior casing, a new sash lock and a spring bronze retrofit at the stiles will fix a draft in a sound double-hung for a couple of hundred dollars. We would far rather do that than take four thousand dollars for work the house did not actually need.
Our licensed and insured team brings the right materials and equipment to every job — dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, polyamide thermal struts in commercial aluminum framing, EPA Lead-Safe Certified containment on pre-1978 openings — and backs the work with a written workmanship warranty. We serve Des Moines and nearby communities including West Des Moines, Ankeny, Ames, Urbandale.
What We Handle
Everything our double-hung and single-hung windows in Des Moines covers
One crew, one point of contact, and the full range of double-hung and single-hung windows work in Des Moines, IA. If it is on this list we do it in house rather than handing it to a subcontractor:
- double hung windows
- single hung windows
- sash balance replacement
- spiral balance repair
- jamb liner replacement
- tilt latch repair
- sash cord and pulley repair
- window will not stay up
- double hung window replacement Des Moines
- insert vs full frame windows
- cam lock and keeper
- meeting rail weatherstrip
- triple track storm windows
- weight and pulley windows
- double hung window cost
Not sure which one describes your situation? Describe it in plain words and we will sort it out — or browse the rest of our Des Moines services.
Materials, equipment and how we do double-hung and single-hung windows
The difference between double-hung and single-hung windows that lasts and double-hung and single-hung windows that gets redone in three years is almost always preparation and materials, not the finish you see on day one. We work with dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, spec them to the job instead of to the invoice, and write the material grades into the free estimate so you know exactly what you are buying.
Every Des Moines job runs the same way: site walk and measurements, written scope and fixed price, protection of the surrounding area, then the work itself with a daily clean-up. Years of window work in Greater Des Moines means we have already met whatever your property is going to throw at us — awkward access, older construction, an HOA with opinions.
Where we do double-hung and single-hung windows outside Des Moines
Des Moines Window Pros covers Des Moines and the surrounding communities of Greater Des Moines. Crews run out to the same nearby cities every week, so an out-of-town job does not mean an out-of-town price.
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in West Des Moines, IA — Polk County, population 68,723 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in Ankeny, IA — Polk County, population 67,887 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in Ames, IA — Story County, population 66,427 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in Urbandale, IA — Polk County, population 45,580 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in Johnston, IA — Polk County, population 24,064 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung and Single-Hung Windows in Waukee, IA — Dallas County, population 23,940 at the 2020 census
Start on the Des Moines Window Pros homepage for a free estimate, or call (844) 511-2320 and describe the job.
Why Des Moines Chooses Des Moines Window Pros
- ✓We price the repair before the replacement, and we will take the smaller job
- ✓Whole-unit NFRC ratings on every quote, never center-of-glass numbers
- ✓Sloped sill pans with back dam and end dams on every opening we set
- ✓Insulated glass unit replacement offered on any sash that is still sound
The standards behind double-hung and single-hung windows
Quality here is not a matter of opinion — it is written down. The double-hung and single-hung windows work we do in Des Moines follows published industry standards: NFRC sets the U-factor and SHGC ratings on every window label, and ENERGY STAR defines the efficiency thresholds by climate zone. If a contractor cannot tell you which standard a detail comes from, that is worth asking about before you sign.
Every double-hung and single-hung windows project in Des Moines gets the same attention, whether it is a single room or a full commercial job. We show up on schedule, keep the site clean, and stand behind the work — the estimate is free and there is no pressure.
Ready to get started? Call (844) 511-2320 for a free double-hung and single-hung windows free estimate in Des Moines, or request a quote and we'll get right back to you.