Great Room Window Replacement — Two-Story Stacks, Transoms Up High
The great room has a wall of glass two stories tall, the upper windows are fogged or leaking, and nobody can reach them with a ladder.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Great room window replacement is the tall stack in a two-story living room: casements or picture units low, transoms or more picture units above, joined with mulls. JMB Builders measures each unit in person, orders the stack as one job, and replaces it from scaffold or a lift inside and out, with the floor protected. Twin Cities metro to St. Cloud. Priced per opening; photo reply within one business day, or a free in-home estimate.
- Priced per opening in the stack
- Scaffold or lift inside and outside
- Floors and furniture protected
Many Twin Cities houses from the 1980s on were built with a two-story great room: a vaulted or tall flat ceiling and a stack of windows on one wall. The lower row is often casements flanking a picture unit. The upper row is transoms, sometimes arched or angled at the top, or more picture units. The pieces are joined with mull strips, and the top units are well beyond a step ladder.
Replacing them is a planning job. Inside, scaffold or a lift is set on a protected floor, which means the furniture moves off that wall first. Shades and blinds on the tall units come down before install day; taking them down and putting them back is the owner's or the window-covering company's job. Outside, the upper units are reached from scaffold, roof brackets or a lift, depending on the yard and the roof below. Glass near the floor or a stair needs safety glass under code, and it goes on the order where it applies.
The whole stack goes on one order, so the frames, color and glass match and the sight lines line up. We schedule the great room as its own day or days so the wall is never left open overnight. Painting is quoted as a separate line — or leave it primed and caulked and paint it yourself.
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 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- Shades and blinds taken down before install day
- Furniture moved off the window wall, or tell us and we plan for it
- Your choice of color, glass and which units open
- Photos of the whole wall inside and outside, and of the yard below it
What JMB supplies
- In-person measure of every unit in the stack, top row included
- One order for the stack so frames, color and glass line up
- A quote line for each opening, plus a line for scaffold or lift
- Floor protection under the scaffold and drop cloths on nearby furniture
- Old units out, mulls rebuilt, new units set level and plumb
- Sill pan, flashing, foam and sealant on every unit
- Interior stops or casing and exterior trim, high units included
- A contact name and number for questions during the job
How it is priced: per opening
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Number of units and how high the top row sits
- Scaffold, roof brackets or a lift, inside and out
- Shaped tops on transoms vs. rectangles
- Safety glass where code calls for it
- Picture units vs. casements that open
- Interior trim on tall openings and jamb extensions
Send one photo of the whole wall from across the room and one from the yard. Note anything below the wall outside, such as a deck or a roof.
How long it takes
Most great room stacks take one to two days of install once the windows arrive, set up and tear-down of staging included. Lead time depends on the brand and is written on the quote.
How your project works
- 1
Photos or free in-home estimate
Send photos of the wall for a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate. We look at access inside and out.
- 2
Measure and order the stack
Every unit is measured in person, top row from a ladder or lift. The stack goes on one order and the quote lists each opening.
- 3
Prep the room
You take down shades and clear the wall. On day one we lay floor protection and set scaffold or a lift inside and staging outside.
- 4
Top down, closed each night
Units come out and go in from the top row down, mulls rebuilt and sealed. The wall is closed before we leave each day and the staging comes out when trim is done.
Great Room Window Replacement — Two-Story Stacks, Transoms Up High: questions, answered
How do you replace windows two stories up in a great room?
From scaffold or a lift set on a protected floor inside, and from scaffold, roof brackets or a lift outside. The units come out from the top row down and go in the same way. The method depends on the room and the yard, and it is its own line on the quote.
Do I have to take my shades down before great room windows are replaced?
Yes. Shades and blinds on the tall windows come down before install day, by you or by the company that installed them, and go back up after. Everything else near the wall is covered or moved.
Can I replace only the top great room windows?
You can, and the upper units are often the ones that fog first. Keep in mind that a new unit next to an old one may not match in color or glass tint. Many owners replace the stack together so it reads as one wall.
Do tall living room windows need safety glass?
Code requires safety glass in certain spots, such as large panes close to the floor and glass near stairs and doors. The building code decides it unit by unit. We note on the order which units need tempered glass.
Should more of the great room windows open?
A replacement is the time to change it. Lower picture units can often become casements for air, while the upper row usually stays fixed because it is out of reach. We go over the choices at the measure.
Will the great room be open to the weather overnight?
No. The stack is scheduled so each opening is closed and sealed before the end of the day. If weather turns, openings are covered and closed until install resumes.
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.
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All windows pages
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