Behind the Build
How Windows Are Made: Glass, Vinyl, PVC, and Wood, Behind The Build at Tucker Door & Trim, Part 2
September 4, 2026 Length: 13 min Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)
In this Behind the Build episode, Stefanie Couch visits Tucker Door & Trim in Monroe, Georgia, where Window Production Manager Chris Kotlowski shows how windows are made, from cutting the glass to staging for delivery. One custom trapezoid window is followed all the way to a job site in Cleveland, Georgia.
About This Episode.
A window that is off by a quarter of an inch does not tell you on install day.
It tells you three winters later when water is leaking in.
In this episode of Behind The Build, I'm in Monroe, Georgia with Tucker Door & Trim, a two-step distributor that manufactures windows and doors inside a 290,000 square foot facility.
Chris Kotlowski walks us through the entire process of how windows are made at Tucker, from cutting the glass to staging for delivery. Chris shows us the differences in manufacturing processes between their vinyl, PVC, and wood windows. You’ll also see the Billco, GED, and Greller machines that automate tedious tasks and speed up window production.
We start by following one custom trapezoid window from the Tucker facility to Reeves Building Supply in Clayton, and on to a job site in Cleveland, Georgia, where Wilkinson Construction Management installs it.
Learn more about Tucker Door & Trim at Behind The Build takes you inside the companies that supply, build, and deliver America's finest homes.
What's inside
- Why there is no standard size to pull off a shelf, and why every Tucker window is built custom per order
- Inside the green room: glass washed through three tanks, dried with an air knife, and sealed with Duraseal
- How the Billco Glass Cutter yields the most pieces out of a single sheet of glass
- Why curved radius glass will not always be run through the machine and still gets cut freehand by a person
- Argon versus air between two panes, and what a heavier gas actually buys the homeowner
- Wood sash assembly by hand: the rubber boot seal, pre-drilling, tilt pins, and weather stripping
- PVC parts getting milled on the shapers and getting assembled into a sash before the glass ever drops in
- The automatic glazer that meters silicone so there is no squeeze out
- Vinyl sash welding and the corner cleaner that takes the slag off the weld with GED and Greller machines
- LeeAnn Gilbert on running the Tucker 3300 line and seeing a product go start to finish
- Barry Williams on designing every window Tucker builds: "it's kinda like my kids out there"
- Why a mistake on a one-of-a-kind order is a remake, not a swap out, and remakes take weeks
Key Takeaways.
- Tucker has no standard size to pull off a shelf, so every window is built custom per order.
- In the green room, glass is washed through three tanks, dried with an air knife and sealed with Duraseal.
- The Billco Glass Cutter yields the most pieces from a sheet, but curved radius glass is sometimes still cut freehand by a person.
- Wood sashes are assembled by hand with a rubber boot seal, pre-drilling, tilt pins and weather stripping, while vinyl sashes are welded and corner cleaned.
- A mistake on a one-of-a-kind order means a remake, not a swap out, and remakes take weeks.
Questions and Answers.
How are windows made?
At Tucker Door & Trim, Window Production Manager Chris Kotlowski shows glass being cut, washed, dried and sealed, then built into vinyl, PVC or wood sashes. Finished windows are labeled and loaded at the dock for delivery.
What machines are used to make vinyl windows?
Tucker uses Billco, GED and Greller machines. A Greller S400 Sash Welder welds the vinyl sash, and the Greller Sash Corner Cleaner and GED RoboClean system clean the slag off the weld.
What happens when a custom window order has a mistake?
Because every Tucker window is built custom, a mistake on a one-of-a-kind order is a remake, not a swap out. Remakes take weeks.
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