Upstairs Hallway Window Replacement — The Window Everyone Forgets
Every bedroom has a new window and the hall still has the old one: drafty, a different color from outside, and sitting over a roof that makes it awkward to reach.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Upstairs hallway window replacement is the window at the end of the hall or over the front entry roof: usually the one window left out when the bedrooms were done. JMB Builders replaces hallway windows across the Twin Cities metro, matched to the bedroom windows and sized so the hall gets light and a cross breeze. Priced per window, quoted from photos or at a free in-home estimate, with a reply within one business day.
- Priced per window, often added to a bedroom order
- Matched to the bedroom windows in color and grille
- Set from the porch or entry roof below when there is one
The upstairs hallway window gets skipped. It is not in anyone's room, so when the bedrooms were replaced it was left for later, and later never came. From the street it is the one old window on the front, often a different color, right over the front door. From inside it is the cold spot at the top of the stairs and the draft that runs down the hall into every bedroom at night.
Hall windows are often small and high, set over the entry roof or the porch roof, and in a two-story they are the window that lights the whole upstairs. A good number are fixed or painted shut. Replacing one with an operable unit gives the upstairs a cross breeze from the hall to the bedrooms in summer, which the old fixed sash never did. This page is about hall and landing-free hallway windows; a window over a staircase or on a stair landing is its own job with its own page.
The install is usually done from the roof below, which is low and flat enough to work from, or from inside with a ladder outside only for the capping. The new unit matches the bedroom windows in color, grille and exterior profile. 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
- The brand, color and grille pattern of the bedroom windows, or a photo of one from outside
- Your pick of operable or fixed; most people go operable for the cross breeze
- Photos of the hall window from inside, from the street, and a close-up of the sill
- Your paint or stain color if you want us to finish the new trim
What JMB supplies
- In-home measure of the opening before anything is ordered
- The window, ordered to match the bedrooms in color, grille and profile
- Access from the entry or porch roof below, or ladders, with the roofing protected
- Old unit out and hauled away
- Rot repair at the sill if the old unit leaked onto the roof flashing below (quoted from photos)
- Sill pan, flashing and low-expansion foam on full-frame installs
- Interior stool, apron and casing matched to the hall, or jamb extensions on a drywall return
- Exterior capping or trim to finish the outside
- Photos of the finished window in your job folder
How it is priced: per window
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Insert in a sound frame vs. full-frame with new trim
- Operable casement or double hung vs. a fixed unit
- Access: from the entry roof below, from inside, or a lift on a tall front
- Rot at the sill where the old window met the roof flashing below
- Matching a specific brand and color already on the bedroom windows
- Done alone vs. added to a bedroom window order
Send one photo from the street showing the hall window and a bedroom window together, one from inside, and a close-up of the sill. Name the brand of the bedroom windows if you know it.
How long it takes
One hallway window: a morning as an insert, most of a day full-frame. Added to a bedroom window order, it is set the same day as the bedrooms.
How your project works
- 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
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
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
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
Hall window over the entry roof
The common two-story layout: a window centered over the front door, set from the entry roof. The flashing where the roof meets the wall under the window is checked while we are there.
End-of-hall window
A small window at the gable end of a long hall. Often fixed or painted shut; replaced with a casement or slider so the hall can vent, matched to the bedrooms on that side.
Fixed to operable
A fixed hall unit replaced with a casement or awning so the upstairs gets a cross breeze from hall to bedrooms. The screen is inside on a casement and outside on an awning.
The last old window on the house
When every other window was replaced earlier, the hall unit is ordered to match the existing brand and color as closely as that brand allows, so the front reads as one job.
Upstairs Hallway Window Replacement — The Window Everyone Forgets: questions, answered
Can you match a hallway window to the bedroom windows I already replaced?
Yes. Send a photo of a bedroom window from outside and the brand if you know it; the label is usually in the top corner of the frame or the sash. The hall window is ordered in the same series, color and grille pattern when that brand is available, or the closest match in color and grille from a line that makes the size. From the street the front then reads as one job.
How do you replace a window above the front entry roof?
From the entry roof, in most houses. It is low pitched and close to the window, so the roofing is covered with protection boards and the work is done standing on it. The sash can be pulled from inside first. Where the roof is too steep or too small, a ladder or a lift in the front yard does the job. The flashing where that roof meets the wall is checked while we are there.
Should a hallway window open?
Yes, if it can. An operable hall window gives the upstairs a cross breeze: open it and the bedroom windows and air moves through the whole floor on a summer night. A casement or awning seals tight when shut and does not add a draft in winter. A fixed unit is cheaper and the right call only where the window is too small or too high to reach.
Why is the top of the stairs always cold?
The hall window is often the oldest window left upstairs, and cold air falls off its glass and down the hall. Add a loose sash and a draft comes with it. A new insulated unit, foamed at the frame and sealed, stops the cold spot at the top of the stairs, and it is a cheaper fix than most people expect because it is one window.
Is a hallway window the same job as a window over the stairs?
No. A window over an open staircase or on a stair landing needs a work platform built over the stairs and tempered glass where the code requires it near the stairs, which makes it a different job. This page is for windows in an upstairs hall with a floor under them. Our stairway window page covers the landing and over-the-stairs units.
Can the hall window be added to a bedroom window order?
Yes, and it should be. It is ordered with the bedroom windows in the same color and set the same day, so there is one setup and one trip. The second and third window in a visit cost less than the first, and the hall unit is often the smallest one on the order.
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 10, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All windows pages
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