Basement Windows and a Garage Entry Door Finish a Whole-Home Upgrade

Years ago, the homeowners at this Delaware, Ohio home replaced every window in the house with Pella products, giving every room the same black-framed look inside and out. The basement windows were left out of that project, and over time their seals began to fail. Water crept in between the panes, and the frames had weathered to a shade that no longer matched the rest of the house. 

Working with Pella of Columbus, the homeowners finally addressed the basement, replacing all eight windows with new Pella® Lifestyle Series picture windows finished to match the black exterior used throughout the rest of the home. The scope also included a new fiberglass entry door at the garage, giving that side of the house a matching, dependable point of entry and rounding out a window and door project that had been years in the making.

This wasn't a first project for these homeowners. Every other window in the house had already been replaced with Pella products, which meant the basement stood out more with each passing year. The original basement windows had reached the point where their seals no longer held, letting moisture in between the panes, and their frames had faded to a color that no longer matched the black finish used everywhere else on the house. 

Because the rest of the home was already finished, this project wasn't about choosing a new look. It was about extending a look the homeowners had already committed to, room by room, until the basement was the last piece left to update.

The basement's eight windows were replaced with new picture windows, finished in the same black exterior used on every other window in the house. Because Direct Set windows don't open, they're built around a fixed frame that puts the emphasis on the glass rather than on hardware, which suited a basement wall where consistent sightlines mattered more than ventilation. 

The branch handled the interior paint finish directly rather than leaving it to a separate step, matching the color already used on the rest of the home's windows so the basement wouldn't read as a later addition. Existing trim around the window openings was left in place where possible, keeping the installation efficient while jamb extensions built into each unit handled the transition into the surrounding wall.

The new basement windows use insulated Low-E glass with an argon fill, designed to help manage heat transfer the same way the glass does in the rest of the home's windows. Grilles-between-the-glass were added in a traditional pattern and finished in black, matching the grille style already established throughout the house. Because those grilles sit sealed between the panes rather than on the surface, they hold their look without adding anything extra to clean or maintain.

Alongside the basement windows, the project added a new fiberglass entry door at the garage. The homeowners chose a smooth fiberglass door finished in white on both the interior and exterior, set in a matching white frame. Fiberglass resists the warping and rot that can affect a wood door over time, which matters for a side entrance that sees regular daily use. 

A bronze auto-adjusting threshold was installed at the base of the door, built to maintain a tight seal at the floor even as temperatures shift from season to season. Standard brickmold around the frame gives the exterior a finished transition into the surrounding wall, matching the kind of detailing already present on the rest of the home's openings.

The new entry door was fitted with a multi-point locking system that engages the frame at more than one point when the door closes, adding a layer of security beyond what a single deadbolt alone provides. To keep the garage entry consistent with the door already installed in the same room, the new lockset and thumbturn deadbolt were keyed alike and matched to that existing handleset, so the homeowners aren't juggling separate keys for two doors a few steps apart. Satin brass ball bearing hinges and a security plate complete the hardware, chosen to hold up under the frequent opening and closing that comes with a garage entry.

What began as a whole-home window replacement years earlier is now complete. The basement's failing seals and mismatched frames are gone, replaced with black-finished picture windows that match the rest of the house, and the garage has a new fiberglass entry door built to the same standard as the rest of the home's openings. Finished one section at a time, this Delaware home's window and door story is now consistent from top to bottom.