Window Replacement in a Cedar Siding House — Wood Trim, No Capping
A stained or painted cedar house with wood windows that are done, and you do not want aluminum wrapped over the trim to fix it.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Window replacement in a cedar siding house is done with wood, not aluminum: the cedar lap or shingles are cut back around the opening, the new window is flashed to the sheathing, and new cedar or PVC brickmould is fitted to the siding instead of capping. JMB Builders does it across the Twin Cities metro, insert or full-frame. Priced per window, quoted from photos or at a free in-home estimate, with a reply within one business day.
- Priced per window, insert or full-frame
- Cedar or PVC brickmould, no aluminum capping
- Flashing lapped behind the cedar, not caulked over it
Cedar siding houses, lap or shingle, stained or painted, are mostly from the 1970s through the 1990s around the Twin Cities, and the original wood windows in them are at the end of their life. The trim is usually cedar brickmould or flat cedar casing nailed over the siding, and the window flange, if there is one, was never lapped into any house wrap because there often was none.
The easy way to replace them, an insert with the old wood trim wrapped in aluminum capping, looks wrong on a cedar house. The capping is flat where the wood had profile, it dents, and the caulk joint between aluminum and cedar opens up. The right way is to treat the trim as wood: cut the siding back a saw blade's width from the new trim, flash the window to the sheathing with a sill pan and jamb and head flashing, set new cedar or cellular PVC brickmould, and leave a caulked gap to the siding that can move with the wood.
Where the frames are sound, an insert still works and the existing cedar trim is kept and repaired, with new stops inside. Where the sills are rotted or the frames are out of square, it is full-frame. Staining or painting the new trim to match the house is quoted as a separate line — or leave it primed and caulked and finish 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
- Your pick of window style, exterior color and glass
- Whether the new trim is cedar to stain, cedar to paint, or cellular PVC painted to match
- The stain or paint color on the house, or a scrap of trim, so the new trim can be matched
- Photos of each window from outside with the trim and siding in frame, one from inside, and a close-up of the sill
What JMB supplies
- In-home measure of every opening before anything is ordered
- The windows, ordered to size
- Old windows and trim out and hauled away, siding cut back cleanly around each opening
- Rot repair at the sill, sheathing and jack studs (quoted from the photos)
- Sill pan, jamb and head flashing lapped to the sheathing, with a drip cap over the head trim
- New cedar or PVC brickmould or flat casing, back-primed, fitted to the siding with a caulked gap
- Interior stops, stool and casing to finish inside
- Photos of the finished windows 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 with the existing cedar trim kept vs. full-frame with new trim
- Cedar brickmould to stain vs. painted cedar or PVC trim
- Lap siding vs. cedar shingles, which take longer to cut back and weave in
- Rot in the sill, sheathing or siding below the window
- Replacing split or rotted siding courses around the opening
- Staining or painting the new trim to match, as its own line
Send one photo of each window from outside with a foot of siding around it, one from inside, and a close-up of the bottom corner where the sill meets the siding.
How long it takes
Full-frame windows in cedar lap siding: three to five a day, depending on the trim. Cedar shingle walls are slower. Every opening is trimmed and weathertight the day it is opened.
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
Full-frame with new cedar brickmould
The old window and trim come out, the siding is cut back, the new unit is flashed to the sheathing and new cedar brickmould is set with a drip cap. Stained or painted to match.
Full-frame with PVC trim
Same install with cellular PVC brickmould or flat casing instead of cedar. It never rots and takes paint well, which suits a painted cedar house. Not for a stained house, where the trim should be wood.
Insert, cedar trim kept
Where the frames are sound and the cedar trim is in good shape. The new unit sets in the old frame, the trim is repaired and re-caulked, and no capping is used.
Cedar shingle walls
Shingles are cut back course by course and new shingles woven in against the new trim, so the patch disappears once it weathers or is stained.
Window Replacement in a Cedar Siding House — Wood Trim, No Capping: questions, answered
Can you replace windows in a cedar sided house without aluminum capping?
Yes, and we recommend it. Capping is aluminum coil bent over the old wood trim; it flattens the profile, dents and makes a caulk joint to the cedar that opens up. On a cedar house the new trim is wood or PVC brickmould fitted to the siding, with the flashing behind the siding doing the waterproofing and a caulked gap at the siding that can move.
Do you have to cut the cedar siding to replace a window?
For a full-frame install, yes, a narrow band around the opening so the new flashing can lap onto the sheathing and the new trim can sit against a clean edge. For an insert, no: the new unit sets inside the old frame and the existing trim stays. Cut cedar is sealed on the cut edge and the gap to the new trim is caulked.
Should the new window trim on a cedar house be cedar or PVC?
Cedar if the house is stained, because PVC cannot be stained to match wood. Cedar or PVC if the house is painted; PVC never rots and holds paint longer, cedar matches the grain and profile of the existing trim. Either is back-primed or sealed before it goes on.
Why did the windows in my cedar house rot at the sills?
Most cedar houses from that era have no house wrap, and the window was nailed to the sheathing with the trim caulked to the siding. When the caulk opened, water ran behind the trim and sat on the sill and the sheathing. The new install puts a sill pan and flashing under the window, lapped so water that gets behind the siding drains out instead of in.
Will the new trim match the stain on the rest of the house?
New cedar takes stain differently from cedar that has weathered for twenty years, so the match is close on the day and gets closer as it ages. We stain to the color you have, or you stain it yourself. On a painted house the match is exact once the trim is painted.
Can you replace cedar siding boards that are rotted around the window at the same time?
Yes. Split or rotted courses around an opening are replaced while the siding is open for the window, which is the cheapest time to do it. Larger siding repairs on the rest of the wall are quoted as their own line.
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
Window Replacement in an LP SmartSide House — Trim Boards and Flashing
A house sided in LP SmartSide, maybe only a few years old, with builder windows that fogged or leaked, and trim that has to go back on the way the siding maker says.
Read moreWindow Replacement, Vinyl Siding House — Unzip, Flash, New J-Channel
A vinyl-sided house with windows that have failed, and you want them done without a stripe of mismatched new siding around every opening.
Read moreReplace Old Wood Windows With Clad Wood Windows — Wood In, Clad Out
The old wood windows are rotting outside, but you want wood trim and wood sash inside. Clad wood keeps the wood where you see it and covers it where the weather hits.
Read moreFull Frame Window Replacement — Old Window Out to the Rough Opening
The frame is rotted, the sill is soft, or you want the most glass the opening allows. Full frame takes it all out and starts over at the studs.
Read moreCedar Siding Repair — Rotted Lap and Shake Boards Replaced
Cedar that has gone soft at the bottom courses, split at the nails or been drilled by woodpeckers — replaced board by board, flashed right and primed, so the house stays cedar.
Read more1.5 Story Dormer Window Replacement — Upstairs Knee Wall Bedrooms
The upstairs windows in the dormers are drafty and hard to reach, and the bedrooms up there are the coldest rooms in the house.
Read morePage reviewed October 10, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All windows pages
Where we work
Window Replacement & Installation near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: