More BAD INSTALLS - If you see grout touching a door or window sill, it was poured in AFTER installation with NO WATERPROOFING. Most window companies still do this because it's fast and cheap, but it is wrong. I saw this on so many jobsites this week as I travelled South Florida and it was very disappointing.

This was probably a million dollar window package in Ft Lauderdale and seeing mixed fixed window types in a key area made me scratch my head. Super thin frames on the right and the rest of the house but on the left of the narrow frame door they used much a much thicker frame type.

Structural beams and columns can rarely be changed, so who's job is it to catch when the structural drawings conflict with your architecturals and window schedule? This is where I solve problems for GCs as your glazing consultant.

Sometimes an architectural design calls for French Doors but is it really the best choice for the occupants? This could have been a 4-panel slider, what do you think?

Planning for seamless interior/exterior transitions at your windows and doors takes extensive detail planning before construction ever starts. This is where I spent over a decade as an architectural consultant, leading an elite window dealer in Miami delivering some of the most complex $20-$70M homes.

Correct bucking installation is critical to a good window installation. They have to be properly structurally anchored, properly caulked and waterproofed, perfectly plumb, and at the correct reveal for the frames.

Many liquid waterproofing membranes require sand "to Rejection" to ensure proper adhesion of stucco. However, correct application is often overlooked. With a multitude of membranes available, each with varying effectiveness, precise application remains crucial.

Horizontal Mulls were NOT needed here. These conditions can be tricky and usually "not in the software" or "technically" the way the product was tested but with an engineer's letter and alternate installation planning you can have smaller sightlines matching vertically and horizontally

Another BAD INSTALL on a $20M house in Miami Beach. Planning ahead for these is extremely critical and hazardous. The interior and exterior wall finish thickness are rarely detailed on architectural plans, often pending interior design decisions that may not come till after windows are ordered.

What goes into a well engineered aluminum door? All three of these are used on luxury homes but can you guess cheapest to most expensive from looking at the simplicity or complexity of the engineering and design?

More BAD INSTALLS - Welcome to Miami! The shell contractor screwed up and the window dealer should have had them fix this opening. The GC should have caught it. A $15M home with nobody paying attention to details.

Understanding Hurricane Product Approvals - Pivot Door Drainage. Everything is in the details, what do you see when you look at these two different sections? The door bottom rail on the left uses face mounted weather sweeps on the inside and outside and the door on the right uses an automatic drop sweep.

Do you know what kind of FIXED WINDOWS your dealer is using? What are the tradeoffs in design, aesthetics, and size? Mulled, direct-set picture windows are often the cheapest and worst looking with so many joints and seams. Stepped Storefront windows look very commercial and collect dirt but can often provide the largest sizes.

Laser leveling for window and door alignment is critical to within 1/8" and always assume a MINIMUM 3/4" slab variation due to natural uneven curing. And I NEVER trust the shell guy's control line. I love this part of the process and really prefer to do a final field measure prior to releasing windows and doors into production for precise accuracy.

Interior/exterior FINISH TRANSITIONS of differing thicknesses at window frames are a critical detailing challenge. Here we had skimcoat stucco outside and drywall inside with a 2" U-channel framed butt glazed Slimpact window system. I had the GC create a recess in the concrete formwork to hide the frame and create a perfect transition of just glass.

An interview with an owner's rep yesterday helped me refine the value I provide: What do I provide that a General Contractor can't, or the window dealer or manufacturer? Every commercial project has a Façade Consultant but $20M-$70M homes do not, even though they are more complicated.

More BAD INSTALL PLANNING - I really like single sliding pocket doors but stone and wood cladding take careful planning for finishes and how your window and door systems transition to them. Every system is unique and many may have very minimal frames for installation which take non-standard installation techniques.

I saw this come over my feed and thought it was a beautiful use of overlapping pocket doors with the thin walls on either side and fireplace and TV in the center. Note the left sliding door track is toward the outside and the right one is closer inside. The very minor asymmetry of being out of plane isn't really noticeable where the dramatic unobstructed openings steal the show.

Why are your hinged door headers so often lower than every other header? Hinged doors are usually the limiting height factor at exactly 120" (or less! One very popular one is 119.5") and a 2" sill is below finished flooring so the top of the door will be at 118" from top of finished floor.

POCKET SLIDING DOORS are one of the most challenging conditions to plan and design for structurally and to detail how finishes will come together at the exterior and interior walls and especially the transoms. It is critical for the architect and structural engineer to closely coordinate their drawings.