Cotati is small, but its houses are anything but uniform. The downtown is laid out as a hexagon around La Plaza Park, one of only a couple of towns in the country planned that way, and the streets around it still have older cottages and bungalows with wood windows. Out from the center you'll find ranch houses built during the '60s and '70s and newer houses built in the last couple of decades. What they share is the wind. Most summer afternoons, the cool marine air that comes through the Petaluma Gap keeps on going north right through Cotati, and any loose window rattles and whistles with it. Close to 101 and Highway 116, traffic noise is the other complaint we hear most. And because so many Cotati homes sit close to Sonoma State, plenty are rentals where owners want windows that need nothing from them for years.
Our crews handle every kind of Cotati home. Most jobs are vinyl retrofits that seal far better than the old aluminum sliders, and many homeowners pair new windows with a new slider or French door. For older homes near the Plaza, we look at clad wood or fiberglass to keep the look. Either way, we measure every opening in person before anything is ordered. Phone us and we'll quote it free.
Stopping the Afternoon Wind
Wind tests a window harder than almost anything else. A steady breeze pushes air through every gap in a worn seal, every loose sash and every crack between the frame and the wall. On a lot of Cotati homes, the west-facing windows are the coldest ones in the house by late afternoon, even in summer, simply because the wind keeps pulling warm air out. New windows fix the leaks in the window itself, and a careful install fixes the gaps around it: we pull the old frame trim, fill the space between window and wall with insulation, and seal it inside and out. Window style counts too. Casement and awning windows close by pressing the sash against the seal, so the harder the wind blows, the tighter they get. Next door in Rohnert Park, homes on the open west side deal with the same breeze.
Quieter Rooms Near 101
Cotati sits right where 101 and Highway 116 meet, and plenty of homes are close enough to hear the traffic all day. Old single-pane glass and loose aluminum sliders let most of that noise straight in. Dual-pane windows cut it noticeably, and the improvement is bigger when the installer seals the air gaps around each frame, since sound travels through air leaks as easily as through glass. For bedrooms facing the freeway, laminated glass on one pane adds another layer of quiet. It's the same kind of glass used in car windshields, with a thin plastic layer in the middle that dampens sound. Our window replacement page covers the full range of glass options and what each one costs.
Common Questions
Yes. Most wind noise comes from air whistling through worn seals and gaps around the frame, not through the glass itself. New windows with fresh weatherstripping, set into a well-sealed opening, take care of most of it. Casement windows are especially good in windy spots because the wind presses them tighter against their seals.
Yes. Many of the older cottages near La Plaza Park have wood double-hung windows, and we usually match that style with clad wood or fiberglass so the house keeps its original look. We check each opening carefully, since older homes tend to settle out of square, and have each window made to its exact size.