Charleston Window Pros provides professional double-hung sash windows in Charleston, SC for residential and commercial properties across the South Carolina Lowcountry. The double-hung is the default window of this city and the one we are asked about most. It is also the one where the gap between a repair and a replacement is widest, which is exactly why the adopted policy requires evidence before it will accept the second.
An original Charleston double-hung is a machine. Two sash ride in a boxed jamb, each counterbalanced by a cast-iron weight on a cord over a pulley, with a parting bead between them and a blind stop outside. Nothing in that assembly is consumable except the cord, the putty and the paint, and all three are replaceable from a hardware shop.
So the first diagnosis is simple. If the sash will not stay up, the cord has parted and the fix is a pocket cover, a new cord and half an hour. If it will not move at all, the fix is usually paint at the parting bead. Neither of those is a window problem, and neither justifies a replacement order. A sash plane and a hot knife solve a surprising share of the calls we take.
The things that genuinely end a sash are rot at the bottom rail and the joint between the rail and the stile, and racking where the mortise-and-tenon has opened up. We probe with an awl rather than looking, because a sound-looking painted rail can be soft behind the film, and we photograph what the awl finds because that photograph is the evidence the policy asks for.
On a fifty-year-old-plus building in the districts, replacement means wood, true divided lites, matching material, grid, muntin dimension and profile. There is no shortcut. If a house needs the whole set done, that is wholesale replacement, and wholesale replacement goes to the Board rather than to staff. That means a submittal package and a place in a capped agenda, so it belongs in the schedule from day one.
Outside the districts the calculus is entirely different. A 1990s builder double-hung with fogged glass and broken spiral balances is a candidate for either an insert unit or new balances and sealed units, depending on whether the frame and sill are sound. We check the sill slope and the jamb for square before recommending either, and we measure the opening at head, center and sill rather than once.
Insert units are the quiet trap. They fit inside the existing frame, so they are quick, but every one of them costs you an inch or more of glass on width and height. On a house with small openings to begin with, four inserts across a front room makes the room noticeably darker. Full-frame costs more and gives the glass back.
One Charleston curiosity worth knowing: some peninsula houses have triple-hung sash on the piazza side that were built to run all the way up so a person could walk out through the opening. Those are jib windows, they are original to the type, and they should be repaired rather than replaced by anyone who understands what they are. Losing one to a stock unit is a permanent loss to the house.
Our licensed and insured team brings the right materials and equipment to every job — true divided lites bedded in glazing putty, simulated divided lite bars with a shadow spacer between panes, authentic divided lite fused-pane sash, aluminum-clad and fiberglass-clad wood frames, operable louvered Bahama and panel shutters, 7/16-inch wood structural panel opening protection — and backs the work with a written workmanship warranty. We serve Charleston and nearby communities including Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek.
What We Handle
Everything our double-hung sash windows in Charleston covers
One crew, one point of contact, and the full range of double-hung sash windows work in Charleston, SC. If it is on this list we do it in house rather than handing it to a subcontractor:
- double hung windows Charleston SC
- sash cord replacement
- counterweight sash box
- spiral balance replacement
- tilt in double hung windows
- single hung vs double hung
- sash repair historic windows
- meeting rail lock
- double hung window insert
- full frame window replacement
- wood sash restoration
- window sash weight pockets
- double hung screen replacement
- sash weatherstripping
- triple hung windows
Not sure which one describes your situation? Describe it in plain words and we will sort it out — or browse the rest of our Charleston services.
Materials, equipment and how we do double-hung sash windows
The difference between double-hung sash windows that lasts and double-hung sash windows that gets redone in three years is almost always preparation and materials, not the finish you see on day one. We work with true divided lites bedded in glazing putty, simulated divided lite bars with a shadow spacer between panes, authentic divided lite fused-pane sash, aluminum-clad and fiberglass-clad wood frames, 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 Charleston 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 the South Carolina Lowcountry 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 sash windows outside Charleston
Charleston Window Pros covers Charleston and the surrounding communities of the South Carolina Lowcountry. 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 Sash Windows in Mount Pleasant, SC — Charleston County, population 90,801 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung Sash Windows in North Charleston, SC — Charleston County, population 114,852 at the 2020 census, split across Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties
- Double-Hung Sash Windows in Summerville, SC — Dorchester County, population 50,915 at the 2020 census, with parts in Berkeley and Charleston counties
- Double-Hung Sash Windows in Goose Creek, SC — Berkeley County, population 45,946 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung Sash Windows in Hanahan, SC — Berkeley County, population 20,325 at the 2020 census
- Double-Hung Sash Windows in Ladson, SC — Berkeley County, population 15,550 at the 2020 census, partly in Charleston County
Start on the Charleston Window Pros homepage for a free estimate, or call (844) 511-2320 and describe the job.
Why Charleston Chooses Charleston Window Pros
- ✓We quote elevation by elevation, because the Board's purview is visibility from a public right-of-way and the back of a Charleston house is frequently a different product from the front
- ✓Your address gets placed in the district and building-age matrix the BAR adopted in December 2025 before any brand name is spoken, so you learn what is approvable before you learn what it costs
- ✓We will tell you when the wind code is satisfied by protecting the opening instead of replacing the glass, which on an original sash is usually both cheaper and far easier to get approved
- ✓No vinyl quoted where the policy forbids it, and no relabelling a vinyl-cored product as composite to try to slip it past staff
The standards behind double-hung sash windows
Quality here is not a matter of opinion — it is written down. The double-hung sash windows work we do in Charleston 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 sash windows project in Charleston 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 sash windows free estimate in Charleston, or request a quote and we'll get right back to you.