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PGT Home Additions & ADU: The Orlando Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a PGT home addition or ADU in Orlando, the installed cost typically lands between $45,000 and $130,000 for an addition, and $90,000 to $220,000 for a detached ADU, with garage conversions running $30,000 to $80,000. We handle the full scope: framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, roofing, and the PGT window and door packages that hold up to Florida’s humidity and hurricane season. Most Orlando owners discover their existing space is failing when rooms stop cooling evenly, doors start binding in their frames, or water stains appear at the corners of window openings – all signs the original envelope, not just the square footage, needs attention.
Which PGT Models This Applies To
This isn’t about swapping a weatherstrip. When we build additions and ADUs in Orlando, we spec PGT windows and doors as part of the envelope, and the compatibility question is which PGT product line fits the structural opening you’re creating. PGT’s WinGuard series is the most common choice for Orlando additions because it carries Miami-Dade County approval for impact resistance. The 400 Series is the budget-conscious route, while Eze-Breeze is a vinyl-glazed option some owners choose for enclosed porches transitioning to conditioned space. Here’s the compatibility gotcha most people miss: PGT WinGuard and PGT 400 Series frames have different wall-depth requirements. WinGuard typically needs a 2 3/8-inch to 2 1/2-inch wall depth at the rough opening, while the 400 Series sits closer to 3 inches. If your addition’s wall assembly is already framed at 2×4 with half-inch sheathing on both sides, you’re fine. If you’re planning a 2×6 exterior wall with furring strips, you need to know which product line you’re using before the framer sets anything in place.
For OEM versus aftermarket: PGT glass packages and frames are OEM-or-nothing in our book. The glass is laminated to meet Florida Building Code impact standards, and aftermarket glass doesn’t carry the same certifications. Hardware like rollers, locks, and screen frames is a different story – quality aftermarket equivalents exist and we stock them. But we tell every Orlando owner the same thing Isaac Pruett tells his own crew: if it holds back wind-driven rain or has to pass a code inspection, buy the OEM part. If it just makes the window slide easier, aftermarket is fine. Mason Remodeling Co Orlando is an independent service provider, not affiliated with PGT. We just know their product lines well enough to build around them correctly.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your PGT Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Condensation between the glass panes. This means the seal on the insulated glass unit has failed. In Orlando’s humidity, that fog becomes permanent, and the only real fix is glass replacement – not a repair, a replacement of the IGU. We see this most often on additions where the original window flashing wasn’t pitched correctly and water sat against the bottom seal for years.
- Doors that bind at the top or latch side. A PGT door that suddenly won’t latch cleanly isn’t a door problem – it’s a settling problem underneath it. Orlando’s sandy, shifting soil means additions built on slabs without proper soil compaction settle unevenly, and the door is the first place that movement shows up. We fix the door, yes, but we also check what moved behind it.
- Cracks running diagonally from window corners. This is the classic Orlando addition failure. The original builder tied the new slab to the existing foundation with rebar, but didn’t leave an expansion joint, so the new concrete pulled against the old. The crack shows up at window corners within the first three to five years. It’s cosmetic until it isn’t – once water gets in, you’re looking at mold in the wall cavity.
- Rooms that never hold temperature, even with a new HVAC unit. PGT windows and doors are rated for Orlando’s climate, but only if they’re installed with the right flashing and sealant. A PGT impact window installed without proper sill pan flashing leaks air around the frame, not through it. The window tests fine in a lab; the installation fails in the field.
- Visible daylight around window or door frames. That’s an installation failure, full stop. PGT frames are extruded aluminum – they don’t warp, bow, or sag on their own. If you can see daylight, someone measured wrong, shimmed wrong, or flashed wrong. It’s repairable, but it’s not a part swap; it’s a corrective installation.
In College Park, we regularly see spring failures on older additions due to exactly this – window frames that were never tied to the rough opening with enough fasteners, because the original builder was racing the afternoon rain. When the wind drives hard from the west during summer storms, those frames shift microscopically with every gust, and over a decade that movement breaks seals and loosens flashing. It’s the Orlando addition failure pattern we know best.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full PGT home addition in Orlando, you’re looking at $45,000 to $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation type, and the PGT product line you choose for the envelope. A detached ADU runs $90,000 to $220,000 because you’re adding a separate foundation, separate electric service, and separate sewer tie-in. A garage conversion is the most budget-practical path at $30,000 to $80,000, since the shell, slab, and roof are already there.
What drives the range: WinGuard impact glass adds about 25 to 35 percent over the PGT 400 Series on the window and door package alone. Foundation work on Orlando’s sandy soil costs more than in other parts of Florida because proper compaction and sometimes helical piers are required to prevent the settling issues we described above. And if your addition needs a new HVAC zone, that’s a line item most people forget to budget for.
Every Mason Remodeling Co Orlando addition gets a written price before work starts. Not a verbal ballpark, not an estimate that grows – a line-item price for the whole job, including PGT product, flashing, fasteners, and labor. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the work for a full year from the completion date: if anything fails because we built it wrong, we fix it at no cost to you. Isaac explains it plainly: “Tell me what the problem is. We’ll figure out the rest from there.” That’s the whole approach – we figure out the rest before you sign anything, so there’s nothing to figure out after.
DIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can absolutely inspect your existing PGT windows and doors yourself: look for daylight around frames, fogged glass, and cracks at window corners. You can check your addition’s exterior caulk lines where the new wall meets the old house. What you shouldn’t do is attempt any structural work, any concrete work, or any window and door replacement on an addition yourself. PGT impact windows weigh 80 to 150 pounds per sash depending on size, and mishandling one means a broken glass package worth $800 to $2,500, plus the real risk of serious injury from a falling unit. If the window needs re-flashing or the door needs re-setting in its rough opening, that’s also not a weekend project – it requires cutting back the exterior finish, pulling the unit, and rebuilding the flashing assembly to Florida code.
If your issue is a failed IGU seal, a door that’s binding, or cracks you want diagnosed, call us at (850) 920-7745. Estimates are free, and we’ll tell you straight whether it’s a repair, a replacement, or something you can live with for another year.
FAQs
PGT aluminum frames last 30 to 40 years in Orlando’s climate if installed correctly, but the insulated glass units typically need replacement at the 15 to 20 year mark due to seal failure from heat and humidity cycling. The installation quality matters more than the brand. A properly flashed PGT window will outlast the wall around it; a poorly flashed one will fail at the seal within a decade. If you’re seeing fogged glass on an addition built less than 15 years ago, call (850) 920-7745 and we’ll inspect the flashing, not just the window.
Yes, in most cases. Failed glass units can be replaced with new OEM PGT IGUs without removing the frame. Binding doors can often be re-set by adjusting the slab or re-shimming the jamb. Cracks at window corners are the exception – they’re a structural issue, not a window issue, and the repair is a masonry or slab-lift job before the window gets touched. We’ll tell you which one you have and what each path costs.
A garage conversion typically takes 6 to 10 weeks. A room addition runs 3 to 5 months including permitting, foundation, framing, and finish work. A detached ADU with separate utilities usually takes 5 to 8 months from permit submission to final inspection. Orlando’s permitting timeline varies by season – summer is slower because the city’s plan review staff takes vacations, and hurricane season can delay inspections by days, not weeks. We’ll give you a written schedule with the written price, and we hold to both.
We keep common PGT hardware on our trucks – rollers, locks, keepers, screen frame components, and balance systems for single-hung and double-hung units. Complete glass packages and full-frame replacements are ordered per job from PGT’s distribution network, which runs 2 to 4 weeks for standard sizes in the Orlando market. If we’re just swapping hardware, it’s done the day we arrive. If we’re replacing glass, we’ll order it on the first visit and set the install date before we leave. Call (850) 920-7745 and we’ll tell you what’s on the truck and what’s on order.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Orlando at Mason Remodeling Co Orlando, serving Orlando and nearby areas.
