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marilyn_carolan61

Azek sills necessary?

2 years ago

Would you spend an extra $100 per window for Azek sills? We are leaning to not but understand there are some water protection benefits. Not sure if that is more marketing hype.
The house is being resided in Hardie board with Azek trim. We are planning on doing the rams head Azek on the front windows and plain everywhere else.

Comments (11)

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    Trim tends to be the first thing that rots... but if you are doing hardie trim then you probably mitigate that. The Azek may have more intricate profiles, etc if that is important to you.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Traditional houses have sills especially if they have that heavy crown detail above the window. Most don’t have exterior aprons so you could skip that. In most traditional houses the exterior sill, casing, and header casing all align (your illustration shows the sill and header casing projecting past the side casing which used to be seen only on interiors. )

  • 2 years ago

    What you do on the front of the house should be done on all the windows.

    If you're keeping the more traditional style, then yes to the sills without an apron. If your look is more contemporary, then eliminate the rams head and the sill

  • 2 years ago

    " Traditional houses have sills especially if they have that heavy crown detail above the window "


    " Nothing cheapens the look of the house more that reducing the details. Use the Rams Head Trim on ALL the windows. "


    " What you do on the front of the house should be done on all the windows. "



    Yes, yes and yes. I agree on all 3 of these statements.


  • PRO
    2 years ago

    "I had a client that eliminated the grills on a prairie style house on all sides except the front without letting me know. He regrets it now and the home suffers for it."


    Sometimes you can't save homeowners from themselves, no matter how hard you try.

  • 2 years ago

    My neighbor was adding nicer trim to her house, added dentil above the front windows. It looked nice. Then it continued to the side and back windows, and it makes all the difference. Do the Ram’s Head on all the windows.

  • 2 years ago

    If the installed price is $100, you should do it.

    The "apron" should be deleted to allow space for the siding to tuck under the historic sill (as intended). That would be more water resistant and look more historically authentic.

  • 2 years ago

    An apron is a trim piece that belongs on the inside under the stool.

  • 2 years ago

    The existing windows have a projecting sill that extends horizontally to the outside of the vertical casing trim so make the others the same.



  • 2 years ago

    Would you spend an extra $100 per window for Azek sills?

    On the horizontal element that is most prone to weather damage and is essentially the 'foundation' of all the other window trim? Absolutely.