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ES Windows Kitchen Remodeling: The Miami Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a kitchen remodel around your existing ES Windows units, you need a contractor who understands how those frames, mullions, and load-bearing wall connections actually work in a South Florida home. Mason Remodeling Co Miami does exactly that: full kitchen remodeling with ES Windows-integrated projects ranging from $16,520 to $53,100, depending on scope. Most Miami homeowners discover this matters the hard way: they open up a wall and find rust at the window-to-counter seam, or they realize the new island layout blocks two operable ES Windows sashes entirely. That’s the moment you need someone who has pulled permits in Miami-Dade, knows the wind-load code requirements for window-adjacent structural work, and won’t pretend the windows are someone else’s problem.
We’re an independent Miami contractor, not affiliated with ES Windows, but we work around and integrate their products on nearly a third of our kitchen jobs in Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Kendall, and Pinecrest.
Which ES Windows Models This Applies To
ES Windows makes several residential lines that show up in Miami kitchens: the ES-2000 single-hung, the ES-7000 impact-rated casement, and their fixed picture units often paired over a sink. Each has a different frame depth, and that number matters when you’re installing new cabinetry, a tile backsplash, or a stone countertop return against the window. The ES-7000 impact casement, for example, sits nearly a full inch deeper into the rough opening than a builder-grade window a previous remodel might have used. If a cabinet designer measures to the drywall edge and not the actual frame projection, the new upper cabinets will not clear the window’s crank handle. We see this on nearly every remodel where the cabinet layout was drawn before the window spec was confirmed.
How to identify what you have: look for a small silver or black sticker on the interior frame side jamb. It lists the series number and a date code. If the sticker is gone (common in older Miami homes where sun and humidity have done their work), measure the visible frame depth from the drywall face to the glass plane. ES-2000 frames typically run under 3 inches; ES-7000 impact units run 3.5 to 4.25 inches depending on glass package. We stock bracketry and trim profiles for both major series on our service trucks. For specific glass package replacements, we order from ES Windows directly or use a quality aftermarket equivalent when lead time is an issue; OEM glass for impact-rated ES units can take four to six weeks coming into Miami, and we tell customers that before they commit.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your ES Windows Kitchen Remodeling Is Failing
- Water staining on the drywall below the window, especially at the counter return. In Miami, this usually means the original flashing was not stepped into the wall system correctly, or a previous remodel buried the weep holes behind a new backsplash or stone return.
- The window won’t stay open, or the sash drops suddenly when released. On ES single-hung and casement units, this points to a worn balance or a crank mechanism picking up corrosion. Near the coast, salt air shortens that hardware lifespan by years.
- Condensation or haze between the glass panes. The insulated seal has failed. That’s not fixable from the outside: the glass package gets replaced. Miami’s humidity makes this worse than most markets because the pressure difference between wet outside air and dry inside air never really lets up.
- Discoloration or softness where the window meets the countertop substrate. This often signals a leak that has already reached the cabinet box or subfloor. We’ve opened walls in Pinecrest where the window looked fine from the living room side and the damage behind was two feet across.
- You can hear street traffic through a “closed” window. That means the weatherstripping and seals have compressed past functional, which for ES impact units also means the storm-performance claims no longer apply. In a hurricane zone, that’s a safety issue, not just a noise complaint.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full kitchen remodel in Miami that involves working around or replacing ES Windows units runs $16,520 to $53,100. The range is wide because a two-week cosmetic refresh with existing cabinets is a very different job from a full gut with structural work around a wall of ES-7000 impact units. For reference within that scope:
- Cabinet installation: $4,720 to $15,340
- Countertop installation: $2,360 to $7,670
- Backsplash installation: $945 to $2,950
- Kitchen island installation: $3,540 to $11,800
What you get with us is the same thing on every project: a written price before any work starts, a line-item breakdown of parts and labor, and a 365-day written guarantee from the completion date. If something fails within that year, we come back at no charge. No dispute process, no fine print.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely do a few things before calling: check the sticker or measure the frame depth so you know your ES Windows series, clear debris from visible weep holes on the exterior frame, and snap a dozen photos of the window from inside and outside. That gives us a real head start. What you should not do is try to remove an impact-rated ES window from a kitchen structural wall on your own, especially on a second story. Those units are heavy, they are tied into the wall with more than caulk and shims, and the moment you cut the wrong flashing detail you’ve created a water entry point that Miami rain will find within a week. We’ve torn out enough DIY flashing jobs in Coconut Grove to know the pattern: the window goes in fine, the first heavy August storm finds the gap, and the homeowner calls us anyway, now with water damage layered on top.
Tell me what you need done. I’ll tell you what it costs and when it’s finished, and I’ll mean both.
FAQs
Plan for 15 to 25 years of service life depending on exposure. Kitchens that face east toward Biscayne Bay or the Atlantic typically see frame seal breakdown closer to the 15-year mark because of salt and sun loading. Interior-facing units can run longer if the weep system stays clean.
Depends on what failed. Balances, cranks, and weatherstripping are repairable parts we keep in stock. Failed insulated glass means replacing the glass package. A compromised frame around a Miami impact unit usually means full replacement because the structural rating dies with the frame.
A cosmetic kitchen refresh runs two to three weeks. A full structural remodel with window replacement, new cabinets, counters, and tile typically runs six to ten weeks. The window lead time drives the schedule more than anything else in Miami right now. Call (850) 780-8123 and we’ll give you a straight timeline before you sign anything.
Yes, we keep ES-2000 and ES-7000 balance assemblies, crank mechanisms, weatherstripping, and trim profiles on our trucks. We also stock cabinet hardware from KraftMaid and work with Cambria and Silestone for countertop slabs, so most kitchen-related work happens without ordering a single special part.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Miami at Mason Remodeling Co Miami, serving Miami and nearby areas.
