Windows in Oregon rot on the wet west side and rack in the wind on the dry east side, and the coast adds salt to the hardware. Soft sills and failed glazing are the valley and coast report. Whistles, grit, and a sash out of square show up where the wind has a fetch. Count the elevation that is failing before the whole house becomes one order.
Older wood walls and thick trim change the install. A full-frame opening in a bungalow may not be square and may not be standard. Insert work leaves a frame that is a mistake if the sill is punky. Feel the wood. A storm panel or an honest weatherstrip repair is fair when the glass is intact and the stool is dry. A meeting rail that misses in a winter gale will not be cured by a bead of sealant.
Ask how the sill sheds the rain that sits on it for months, and what fills a deep gap in an old wall. A new unit on a rotten sill repeats the stain in the first wet stretch. South and west glass take the summer glare after a house spent the winter wet, and the seals show it. Ask for whole-unit specs, not a promise the house will use less of anything. You want the stool dry and the room closable against the weather.
Houses closed up through a wet season reveal the worst sills when someone finally opens them. Full-time houses show the failure as a stain that climbs the trim and a draft the heat cannot catch. Say which life the building has. If a claim is open, photograph the bad elevation before the trim is painted over. The lee side is a comparison, not the place to start spending the scope.
Say how many openings, which rooms, and whether the sills are soft. Name the town and which wall takes the rain or the wind. Have the deductible only if the policy is already part of this. The next wet month will put the water back on the same stool. Call the number on this page.