CWS Door Installation Nationwide | TruePane Windows & Doors

CWS Door Installation: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide

CWS door installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs between $950 and $2,400 installed, depending on whether you have a single-hung impact unit or a full-height sliding door. We stock CWS-compatible replacement parts on our service trucks and can usually complete the swap in a single visit. Most owners discover the problem when the door starts binding at the strike plate in summer humidity, or when the lock set stops engaging cleanly because the frame has settled out of square. You’re not imagining it – that’s the salt air and the heat working on hardware that was never quite right to begin with.

Call (754) 310-3589

Dale Kessler has seen enough CWS installs along the Intracoastal to know where they fail and why. If the pane is not true, the job is not done – and that rule applies double when you’re replacing a door that has to close square against Florida weather.

Which CWS Models This Applies To

We work on the full CWS residential line: single-hung and casement windows, their impact-rated hinged French doors, and the sliding glass door series most common in Fort Lauderdale condo conversions built between 1998 and 2015. If you’re not sure which series you have, look for the etched ID tag in the corner of the glass or the aluminum stile – it’ll show the model code and glass type (tempered, laminated, or Low-E).

One compatibility gotcha worth knowing: CWS impact doors use a proprietary sill track profile on certain sliding units. A generic replacement sill will bind or leak. We carry the CWS-spec sill extrusion and the matching weatherstrip. For hinged units, the hinge mortise depth is the thing that gets DIY’d wrong – if the replacement door slab isn’t routed to the exact manufacturer spec, the door closes but the latching point walks, and six months later you’re fighting the deadbolt. We measure every opening twice and spec the slab against the manufacturer drawing, not against what’s on the truck. On the OEM-vs-aftermarket question: for CWS, we recommend OEM glass and frame components, but there are US-made aftermarket rollers and lock sets that actually hold up better in the salt air than the originals did. We’ll quote both side by side on paper and let you see the price difference before you commit.

Signs Your CWS Door Installation Is Failing

• The door drags or sticks at the bottom edge in late afternoon. Florida heat expands the slab, and a frame that was set even slightly out of square binds worst when the afternoon sun hits it. The underlying issue is usually hinge or roller wear, not the slab itself.
• The lock set works, but the door doesn’t feel sealed. You might not see daylight, but you’re losing conditioned air. In Fort Lauderdale, the humidity is the tell – a slight chill or damp touch at the seam means weatherstripping has compressed beyond recovery.
• Water stains on interior flooring near the track or threshold. On CWS sliders, the sill drains clog with salt film and sand, and water backs up under the stationary panel. This eats the subfloor slowly. By the time you see the stain, the track usually needs pulling.
• The door slams shut faster than it used to or won’t stay open. Failed roller or hinge friction is sending the weight onto components that weren’t built to carry it. Small nuisance today, bigger problem in six months.
• Visible corrosion on the frame corner or at the weatherstrip channel. In a few blocks from the beach, CWS aluminum will show pitting at stress points even with a good finish. Once corrosion starts at a hinge point, that hinge is on a clock.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

In Fort Lauderdale, plan on $950 to $1,600 for a single-hung or casement door slab swap, parts and labor. Full sliding units with impact glass run $1,800 to $2,400 installed, and that can go higher if the existing frame has water intrusion behind the track. We write line-item quotes, not round numbers: part cost, labor, and disposal, each on its own line. That’s The Keystone Standard, and it means both manufacturer warranty layers get registered in writing before the truck leaves your driveway. No change orders, no surprise line items, and the workmanship is covered by our 90-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s not done right, we make it right. No paperwork fight, no fine print that covers neither.

DIY or Call Us?

You can safely check a few things yourself: run your hand along the weatherstripping to feel for gaps, look at the track for obvious debris or a bent edge, and note whether the dragging started after a storm or a temperature swing. What you shouldn’t do is pull a CWS impact door off its hinges without knowing the slab weight. Some of these units run 200 pounds or more. Without the right blocking and a second pair of hands, that slab comes off the frame wrong and either the frame twists or you do. We’ve been called to fix both. If your door is binding, if the latch won’t catch, or if you have water where it shouldn’t be, call us at (754) 310-3589. We’ll send a uniformed technician who measures twice, specs the manufacturer line, and quotes it in writing. Most CWS door replacements are done in a single visit.

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