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AfterCGI Windows & Doors in Key West, FL | TruePane Windows & Doors
We provide independent CGI windows and doors service throughout Key West, FL, from Old Town to New Town and every elevated piling home in between, and we also offer CGI service in Marathon. We are not a CGI dealer and we are not manufacturer-affiliated, which means our recommendations are driven by what actually holds up on a salt-soaked island with two competing rulebooks: Miami-Dade impact code and HARC historic review. If you need a CGI unit repaired, serviced, or replaced in Key West, call (954) 280-4413 and we will tell you straight what it takes.
Why Key West Residents Choose Us for CGI Service
Dale Kessler grew up watching his father fight humidity and corroded jalousie hardware in Fort Lauderdale, and he has spent the years since putting impact-rated units into coastal Florida homes. But Key West is a different animal entirely, and we have learned it the hard way: which CGI configurations clear HARC on the first submittal, which fasteners survive three seasons of salt spray, and which rough openings on Conch houses need custom sill work before a frame ever goes in. We have been retrofitting CGI impact profiles into Key West homes for over a decade. That matters because most mainland contractors show up with a catalog and a tape measure, then learn about HARC after the first rejection. We show up already knowing the answer. CGI sales & service is our specialty, but the island is our context. We do not separate the two.
Common CGI Windows & Doors Problems We Solve in Key West
- Salt-spray pitting on standard anodized aluminum frames. On north-facing windows off Fleming Street especially, we see frames that look sandblasted within two to three seasons. The marine air here never lets up. We replace the extrusion with heavy anodized or powder-coated profiles and specify marine-grade hardware from that day forward.
- Failed IG seal delamination in double-pane CGI units. Key West swings between air-conditioned interiors at 72 degrees and outdoor humidity near 90% for most of the year. That constant vapor pressure differential kills seals faster here than anywhere along the mainland coast. We identify the failed lite, verify it is still an impact-rated unit, and replace the glazing rather than selling a whole new frame.
- Jalousie-to-impact conversions that stall at HARC. Homeowners replace louvered jalousie windows with standard CGI impact sliders and get told the louver rhythm is gone, the transom proportions are wrong, or the mullion pattern does not match the original. We have already mapped which NOA-approved CGI profiles read as historically compatible to HARC reviewers, so we avoid the reorder entirely.
- Corroded hardware on CGI French doors. Installers who use generic fasteners on impact doors set themselves up for failure. In Key West, a standard zinc or low-grade stainless screw rusts through in under three years. We retrofit with 316 marine-grade stainless hardware and rebuild the threshold so water cannot sit against the frame.
- Out-of-square rough openings on elevated piling homes. Key West houses settle and breathe. Original wood openings measured 31 5/8 inches wide in 1920 and now measure 31 on one side and 32 on the other. A CGI frame forced into that opening will bind, leak, and void the warranty. We reframe, square, and flash before the unit ever arrives.
CGI Service in Key West: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Key West is the only city in Florida where a HARC-approved CGI window must simultaneously satisfy Miami-Dade’s 180 mph impact missile test and visually match the original 1890s jalousie louver rhythm. That is a dual standard no mainland distributor’s catalog addresses. It means a standard CGI Sentinel slider that works perfectly in Orlando will get bounced in Old Town if the louver spacing reads wrong. It means the half-dozen or so CGI profiles that have already cleared HARC aesthetic review on Conch homes are worth more here than a hundred pages of product literature. We keep a working list of those configurations, updated from our completed projects on William Street, Elizabeth Street, and the lanes around Truman Annex. If a homeowner walks into our estimate carrying a quote for a profile we know HARC will reject, we tell them before they spend the permit fee. That single piece of knowledge – which specific CGI impact units pass both Miami-Dade and HARC – saves Key West homeowners more time and money than almost any pricing difference between contractors. It is not written down anywhere official, and it is not on CGI’s website. It lives on the boats and in the trucks of the crews who have done this work for years. We are one of those crews.
CGI Models & Products We Service in Key West
We service the full CGI lineup in Key West: the Estate Collection, Sentinel Impact Series, Tribute Series, and the Commercial/Architectural Series. When a unit needs hardware or an extrusion, we insist on OEM CGI components for impact-rated assemblies, because aftermarket parts rarely carry the same NOA attachment engineering. There is an exception worth naming: for rollers, hinges, and exposed fasteners, we use a vetted local marine-grade stainless line where CGI’s standard hardware would corrode prematurely in this environment. That is not a shortcut. It is a correction for a product designed in a less punishing climate. We repair frames and replace glazing beads before recommending full replacement, and we never swap a failed seal unit for a non-impact lite just to cut cost. We also keep common CGI glazing beads, balance systems, and weatherstripping stocked for faster turnaround on Key West service area calls.
CGI Service Pricing in Key West
CGI service in Key West depends on what failed and how long it has been failing. A simple glazing bead replacement or weatherstripping job runs at the lower end. A full IG seal replacement in a double-pane impact unit costs more because the lite itself carries the impact rating. A jalousie-to-impact conversion with HARC drawings runs higher still, because the shop drawing review and the custom framing are part of the work. Most repair calls in Key West land between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars, and we will tell you the number in writing before any work begins. Every estimate includes the specific CGI part numbers, the labor, and a line for any HARC-required documentation. No vague allowances and no change orders later. Call (954) 280-4413 for a free estimate and we will put the numbers on paper.
Serving Key West, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Key West area and know this community well, and we also provide CGI service in Key Colony Beach. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - CGI Windows & Doors in Key West
Some will, some will not, and the difference is in the louver rhythm, mullion proportion, and frame profile. We have completed enough Old Town CGI replacements to know which NOA-approved configurations clear HARC without a second submittal. We specify those configurations from the first drawing. Call (954) 280-4413 before you order, and we will tell you if the unit you are considering has already passed.
Often yes. Elevated piling homes in Key West settle unevenly, and original rough openings from the early 20th century are rarely square, a challenge we also address with our CGI service in Homestead. Forcing a modern CGI frame into an out-of-square opening will void the warranty and cause binding. We reframe, flash, and square the opening before the unit is installed. The alternative is a window that works for one year and fights you for the next twenty.
In our experience, standard aluminum extrusions without heavy anodizing show visible pitting within two to three seasons on salt-exposed elevations. North-facing windows off Fleming Street and anything within a few hundred feet of the water are the worst. We specify heavy anodized or powder-coated frames and 316 marine-grade stainless hardware for any CGI unit going into a Key West home, just as we do with our CGI service in Coral Gables. Call (954) 280-4413 if you are seeing white powder or pitting on your frames now.
We can restore the mechanism, replace the glass lites, and rebuild the hardware on a jalousie window, but we have to be honest about what a jalousie is: it offers no hurricane protection and almost no air seal. For some Conch homeowners, restoration is the right call for non-impact zones. For any opening that matters, a CGI impact unit that mimics the louver appearance is the better answer. We will show you both options side by side and let you decide.
Salt, mostly. Miami has brackish water and coastal air. Key West is a two-mile-wide strip of coral rock surrounded by saltwater on all sides, and the air carries a fine airborne salt mist almost every day. A standard aluminum track with standard rollers will corrode and bind in two to three seasons here. We set CGI sliding doors with marine-grade stainless tracks, rollers, and adjusters, then confirm the weep system drains fully before the job is done. Get an exact quote by calling (954) 280-4413.
Service Areas Near Key West
TruePane handles CGI service throughout the Lower Keys and beyond. We cover Key West, Stock Island, Big Coppitt Key, Sugarloaf Key, and Cudjoe Key. For homeowners outside this immediate island chain, we also provide CGI service in Kissimmee and CGI service in Lake Buena Vista, with the same OEM-parts discipline and the same repair-before-replace stance. If you are unsure whether we cover your address, call (954) 280-4413 and ask.
Book Your CGI Service in Key West Today
Call (954) 280-4413 to schedule your free estimate. A live person answers, day or night, and we will book a time that works for you. If it is a repair, we will tell you what we think is wrong before we arrive. If it is a replacement, we will bring the HARC-approved CGI options that fit this island. No catalog dumps, no mainland guesses.
Written by Dale Kessler, Owner at TruePane Windows & Doors, serving Key West since 2008. If it is not right on paper, it will not be right on the wall.
Six Reasons Homeowners Choose TruePane Windows & Doors
Impact systems engineered to design pressures up to +/-100, matched to your wind zone - your openings hold when the storm arrives.
Low-E insulated impact glass from our manufacturer lines commonly cuts monthly cooling bills 20-30%.
Laminated impact glass shuts out up to 40% of outside noise - traffic, neighbors, weather.
Monitoring services run $30-90 a month. Laminated impact glass resists forced entry around the clock, with no subscription.
Florida homeowners average around 25% savings on the windstorm portion of their policy after protecting every opening - some homes qualify for more.
A full impact package upgrades curb appeal, buyer confidence and appraised value in one project.