Skip to content
JMB Builders logo

Replace Every Window Before the Siding Job

You are residing the house next season. The windows should go in while the walls are open, not be patched into new siding a year later.

Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-250-3621.

To replace every window before the siding job, windows go in while the old siding is off and new wrap is on: full frame with a nailing fin, set on a sill pan and taped to the wrap, so the siding closes around a finished window. JMB Builders measures and orders the house ahead of the siding date across the Twin Cities metro. Send photos and we reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.

  • Windows flashed to the new wrap before siding goes on
  • Ordered to arrive before the siding start date
  • Photo reply within one business day, or free estimate
Replacement window with new white exterior trim on a lap-sided Twin Cities home

A siding job is the one time the walls are open. The old siding is off, the sheathing is bare, and new house wrap goes on before the new siding. If every window is replaced in that window of time, each one goes in as a full-frame unit with a nailing fin, sits on a sill pan, and gets its flashing tape lapped onto the wrap in the right order. The siding and trim then close around a finished window. No cut siding, no J-channel patched to an old frame, no caulk doing the job of flashing.

The timing is the whole trick. Windows are built to order, so the house has to be measured and ordered far enough ahead that every unit is on site before the siding crew strips the first wall. We work backward from the siding start date on the quote: lead time, plus the measure, plus a margin. If the siding is next year, the windows are ordered this year.

Who does the siding does not change the sequence. Whether it is the same contractor or a siding company you hired, the windows need to be flashed to the wrap before siding covers the fins, and the siding crew needs to know the window sizes and trim plan before they start. We write that on the quote and share it.

Get a written quote for this job

Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-250-3621.

Photos (optional)

Up to 3: one wide shot of the area, one close-up of the opening or trim, one of anything you're unsure about.

How do you want your quote?

Free, no obligation. Every quote is written and itemized, so you can compare it line by line.

What you supply

  • The siding start date, or the season you are planning for
  • One photo of each window from inside and outside, labeled by room
  • The new siding type and trim plan, or the siding quote if you have one
  • Your window style, color, glass and grille choices
  • A paint color for interior trim if you want it painted; painting is a separate line

What JMB supplies

  • An order date worked back from the siding start, written on the quote
  • One in-person measure of every rough opening before the order
  • Full-frame windows with nailing fins, the whole house on one order
  • Sill pans, flashing tape lapped to the new house wrap, foam and sealant at every opening
  • Window sizes and exterior trim plan shared with the siding crew before they start
  • Interior casing or drywall returns, primed and caulked, haul-away and photos in your job folder

How it is priced: per opening

Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:

  • Full-frame windows with nailing fins on every opening, which is the right unit for an open wall
  • Window line, series, style, color, glass package and grilles
  • Interior trim: matched casing, new profile or drywall returns
  • Exterior trim, which is usually part of the siding job rather than the window quote
  • Rot in sheathing or framing found once the old siding and windows are off
  • Second-story openings and how the siding scaffolding or lift can be shared
  • Entry and patio doors added to the same order and sequence

Send the siding quote or the siding start date with the window photos. The order date on our quote is set from it.

How long it takes

Order lead time is set by the line and worked back from the siding date. Install runs three to six working days for most houses and happens after the old siding is off and the wrap is on, before siding starts.

How your project works

  1. 1

    Send photos, get a written quote

    Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.

  2. 2

    Pick materials, or bring your own

    We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.

  3. 3

    Clean, precise installation

    The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.

  4. 4

    Walkthrough and invoice

    We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.

Situations and options

Windows in, then siding

The usual sequence. Old siding off, wrap on, every window set and flashed to the wrap, then the siding crew closes around them. One open-wall window of a few days to a week.

Windows and doors before siding

The entry door, patio door and service door go in during the same open-wall window on the same order, flashed to the wrap like the windows.

Siding is next year

We measure and quote now, order on the date worked back from next year's siding start, and hold the install until the walls are open. The old windows stay one more winter.

Replace Every Window Before the Siding Job: questions, answered

Should I replace my windows before or after new siding?

Before, during the few days when the old siding is off and the new house wrap is on. That is the only time a full-frame window can be set on a sill pan and taped to the wrap the way it is meant to be. Windows put in after siding are either inserts in the old frames or full-frame units with the new siding cut and patched around them.

How far ahead of the siding job do the windows have to be ordered?

Far enough that every unit is on site before the first wall is stripped. Windows are built to order and lead time depends on the line, so we work back from the siding start date: lead time, plus the in-home measure, plus a margin for a late truck. For a spring siding job that usually means ordering in winter.

Do the windows go in before or after the house wrap?

After the wrap is on and before the siding. The window's nailing fin sits on the wrap, the sill is taped first, the sides over the sill, and the head flashing over the sides, with the wrap above the window lapped down over the head tape. The siding then covers the fins and tape.

Should windows before siding be full frame or inserts?

Full frame with a nailing fin. The wall is open, so the old frame can come out and the new unit can be fastened and flashed to the sheathing and wrap. An insert in an old frame during a siding job wastes the one chance to flash the window properly.

Who flashes the windows, the window installer or the siding crew?

We flash each window to the wrap as it goes in, so the window is weather-tight before siding. The siding crew then installs the trim and siding around it and seals the siding to the trim. We share the window sizes and the trim plan with them before they start, whoever they are.

Can the entry door and patio door go in at the same time?

Yes, and they should. Doors have the same flashing needs as windows, and the open wall is the time to set them on a sill pan and tape them to the wrap. They go on the same order so the colors match the windows, and in the same open-wall window.

Recent JMB work, from our job log

59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.

Related jobs we do

Page reviewed October 25, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All whole-house projects pages

Where we work

Whole-House Window & Door Projects near you

Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: