Windows & Doors in Hawthorne: The Sill Height
Patio doors and new windows for Hawthorne homes, starting with the measured step between the indoor floor and the yard outside.
A tape measure and a level go to the sill before anything else. In a Hawthorne house, the gap between the finished floor inside and the patio outside tells us whether a new glass door can sit flush or must step down. That single reading sets the threshold, the drainage and the work needed around the opening.
Reading the step
The measurement is taken at several points along the opening, since floors and patios rarely sit level. A raised wood floor often leaves a step of some inches, while a slab can sit nearly even with the concrete outside. A large drop can be answered with a landing or a small deck, and a tiny drop needs a drain channel at the threshold so rain cannot run inward. The reading also shows whether the patio must be re-sloped away from the house.
Plumb, square and the permit
Next the wall is checked for plumb and the existing frame for squareness, because a crooked opening wastes expensive glass. A new or widened opening goes to the city building department as a permit application, with plans that show the threshold height and the header. The inspector checks the framing before it is closed. Swapping a window for another of the same size is a lighter filing. We carry the sill reading onto the drawings so the plan checker, the framer and the glass maker all work from the same figure, which prevents a door that arrives a half inch too tall.
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The floor and the wall together set it. If the floor sits well above the yard, the posts can stand on the raised foundation, which helps. On a slab we look at the edge and its reinforcement. The engineer fixes the width after both ends of the opening are inspected.
Look at the wall beside the opening. A slider rides in front of a fixed pane, a folding door stacks against one side, and a pocket door needs the wall itself to hold the panels. Your wall decides which are possible, and we draw each of them.
A beam goes over the new gap, held at each end by posts that stand on footings. Props hold the roof framing first. An engineer sizes the beam, and drywall then covers it so it reads as part of the ceiling.
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