Single hung
Double hung
Horizontal roller
Casement
Sliding glass doors
Impact garage doors
PGT
CGIFree in-home measure and quote - PGT, CGI and CWS impact lines compared on your actual openings, style by style
Get your free estimateCGI Window Installation: The Houston Owner’s Guide
If you have a CGI window that needs installation in Houston, we stock and install CGI-compatible window units with most jobs running between $850 and $2,400 per opening, fully installed. We carry CGI parts and replacement units on our trucks for the most common series, and we can usually get a Houston crew to your home within a few business days once we confirm your window’s model and measurements. Most homeowners discover they need us when a window that survived Hurricane Harvey or the 2021 freeze suddenly won’t lock, won’t seal, or shows condensation between the panes that won’t dry out.
CGI builds impact-rated windows meant to take a hit and keep protecting the house. In Houston humidity and heat, the most common failure is a degraded seal or a balcony roller that has given up after years of salt air and hard sun. What starts as a slightly stiff window or a faint whistle near the frame becomes a real problem the first time rain drives against that side of the house. That is where we come in.
Which CGI Models This Applies To
CGI’s lineup in the Houston market includes the Estate Collection, the Targa series, and the Sentinel sliding glass door line, plus older discontinued models that still sit in thousands of homes across Memorial, Bellaire, and The Woodlands. The good news is that identifying your model is usually fast. Look for the manufacturer label on the frame’s inner edge. On a sliding window or a hinged casement, tilt or slide the sash open and check the top rail or jamb. The label will have a series code and often a product ID number that begins with a letter indicating the line.
One compatibility gotcha with CGI worth knowing: Estate and Targa frames look nearly identical from the outside, but the balance assemblies and sill track profiles are not interchangeable. A Targa sash will not seat correctly in an Estate frame even if the glass dimensions are within an eighth of an inch. When you call us, we will ask for a photo of that label plus the visible glass width and height. From there we can tell you whether we have the right OEM part on the truck or need to order it. For most Houston homes, we recommend OEM CGI parts over aftermarket equivalents, because the fit and the impact rating matter here. A generic balance can make a Targa window open smoothly for six months and then fail right when the warranty from the aftermarket supplier has quietly expired.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CGI Window Installation Is Failing
- The window is harder to open or close than it was a year ago. This is usually a balance assembly or roller that has lost tension or worn flat spots. In Houston, thermal cycling and humidity accelerate this on west-facing walls, where a window can see a 40-degree temperature swing in a single afternoon. A window that fights you now will not fix itself.
- Condensation appears between the panes and stays there. That is a sealed unit failure. The argon or krypton gas between the glass has escaped through a failed edge seal. In Houston’s humidity, that fog is a clear sign the window’s insulating value is gone. The glass will need replacement, but the frame is often perfectly fine.
- You can feel air moving around the closed sash on a windy day. This typically points to worn weatherstripping or a misaligned sash due to house settling. Houston’s clay soils expand and contract with the rain and drought cycle, and a house that moves half an inch can throw an impact window out of square enough to break the seal at the corner.
- The locking mechanism no longer engages smoothly or at all. On CGI windows, the multipoint locks are precise. A lock that scrapes or refuses to throw usually means the sash has shifted or the lock body has accumulated corrosion from years of Gulf humidity. This is also a security issue, not just an inconvenience.
- You see daylight through any part of the frame or track. That means the window has moved or the installation weather barrier has failed. Water follows the light, and in Houston water gets into a wall fast. This is the one symptom we treat as urgent.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Most CGI window installations in Houston run between $850 and $2,400 per opening, fully installed. A simple sash replacement or balance repair on a Targa or Estate window usually lands in the $250 to $600 range. A full frame replacement with a new impact-rated CGI unit, including removal of the old window, flashing, installation, and interior and exterior trim, typically falls between $1,600 and $2,400. A Sentinel sliding glass door replacement runs higher, often $3,200 to $5,800 depending on size and whether it is a two-panel or three-panel configuration.
What drives the range is straightforward: the size of the window, whether it is a fixed or operating unit, whether the frame is being reused or replaced, and whether the opening needs any carpentry repair once we expose the rough opening. Older Houston homes, especially bungalows in the Heights, often have rotted sills or openings that are no longer square, and that adds labor. What never changes is this: you get a written price before any work starts. No change orders, no end-of-day invoice surprise. That written price covers the part, the labor, the cleanup, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise on the finished work. If something is not right within the first year of our installation, we make it right. No debate, no countdown.
DIY or Call Us?
There are a few things an owner can safely do before calling. You can clean the track with a dry brush and inspect the label to get us the model information. You can check whether the weep holes at the bottom of the frame are clear, because clogged weep holes cause standing water that rots the track and corrodes the rollers. You can note exactly when the problem happens: during rain, during direct afternoon sun, only on certain walls. That tells us a lot before we arrive.
What we do not recommend is removing a CGI sash or attempting a balance replacement yourself. Impact windows are heavy, the balance systems carry real tension, and a sash that slips during removal will take out glass, trim, or the person under it. The same goes for cutting out a failed sealed unit: the glass is laminated and bonded, and prying it from the frame is not a weekend fix. We have seen homeowners spend more money repairing damage from a DIY attempt than the repair itself would have cost. If your window is failing, call us at (254) 401-4583. We will identify the model and the part and give you an honest installed price before anyone touches the wall.
FAQs
A properly installed CGI window in Houston should last 20 to 30 years, but the moving parts like balances, rollers, and weatherstripping often need replacement at the 8 to 12 year mark because of our humidity and heat. The glass itself can last decades if the seal stays intact. Call us at (254) 401-4583 and we can tell you what condition yours is in.
Yes, in many cases we repair rather than replace. Balances, rollers, lock mechanisms, and weatherstripping are all replaceable parts we carry for CGI Targa and Estate models, and a single part swap often costs a fraction of a new window. If the glass unit has failed, we can replace just the insulated glass without changing the frame. The right call depends on what failed, and we will tell you straight.
A sash or balance replacement typically takes one to two hours, and we do that in a single visit. A full frame replacement usually takes four to six hours for the first window and roughly three to four hours for each additional window on the same job. We protect the floors with drop cloths, wear shoe covers, and clean up before we leave, including a photo of the finished cleanup.
We keep the most common CGI replacement parts on our trucks: Targa and Estate balances, replacement rollers for the Sentinel door line, lock assemblies, and weatherstripping. For less common sizes, we order direct and that usually adds three to seven business days. We will tell you at the estimate stage whether your part is on the truck or on order.
Written by Keith Yamada, Owner, Lightwell Windows Houston at Lightwell Windows Houston, serving Houston and nearby areas.
Six Reasons Homeowners Choose Lightwell Windows Houston
Laminated glass and reinforced frames hold up to wind-driven rain, hail and flying debris, so your openings stay sealed when the weather turns.
Low-E insulated impact glass from our manufacturer lines commonly cuts monthly cooling bills 20-30%.
Laminated impact glass shuts out up to 40% of outside noise - traffic, neighbors, weather.
Monitoring services run $30-90 a month. Laminated impact glass resists forced entry around the clock, with no subscription.
Tighter seals and insulated glass even out hot and cold rooms and stop the drafts at the frame.
A full impact package upgrades curb appeal, buyer confidence and appraised value in one project.