Window and door replacement is priced per opening, and that is exactly where the trouble starts: no two openings are the same job. A first-floor retrofit window in sound framing and a second-story full-frame replacement with hidden rot share a unit of measure and nothing else. Here is how installers price openings so the quote survives what is behind the trim.
Per-Opening Pricing, Built in Layers
A defensible per-opening price has four layers. The unit itself, at your cost plus markup (1.3-1.5x is typical on windows and doors; the markup covers ordering, receiving, storage, damage risk, and warranty handling). Labor per opening at your fully loaded rate against honest install times, with second-story, oversized, and specialty units priced above the base. Materials per opening: flashing tape, low-expansion foam, shims, caulk, interior trim or stops. And the job-level costs spread across the openings: setup, protection of floors and furniture, haul-away and disposal of the old units.
Track actual install times per opening type for a month and your base rates stop being guesses.
Retrofit or Full-Frame: The Fork That Changes Everything
An insert (retrofit) replacement keeps the existing frame and is the faster, cheaper path when the frame is sound. Full-frame replacement strips to the rough opening: more labor, more materials, more trim work, and the only correct answer when frames are rotted, out of square, or the customer wants to recover glass area lost to old frames.
Quote the fork explicitly. Inspect at the walkthrough, probe suspect sills, and price what you find. When you cannot see enough to be sure, quote retrofit with a written contingency: "openings found with rot or compromised framing convert to full-frame at $X per opening, approved before work proceeds." That sentence is the difference between a change order and an argument.
Doors Are Their Own Trade: Price Them Like It
Entry doors, patio sliders, and French doors are not big windows. Pre-hung entry units need shimming, squaring, hardware, threshold, and weatherstripping time that routinely exceeds a window install. Sliders are heavy, often two-person lifts with track leveling that makes or breaks the operation. Price doors from their own labor table, and price hardware, locksets, and smart-lock installs as line items.
Quote Options, Then Get the Yes in Writing
Window projects are shopped hard, and the quote that wins is usually the one that is clear, itemized, and fast. Present tiers the customer can actually reason about: the builder-grade line, the mid-line with better glass and warranty, the premium line, each as a total project price with per-opening detail available.
Then make saying yes easy: e-signature on the quote, a deposit that locks the material order (windows are custom-ordered; a real deposit before ordering is standard practice, not pushiness), and a scheduled install window. Roooster runs that flow for window and door companies: photo-documented walkthroughs, tiered quotes, digital approval, deposits, and scheduling in one system, so the pricing discipline you built actually converts to booked installs.
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