How We Install Windows in a Florida Stucco Home, and Who Checks Each Step
Our two window details, flush and recessed, step by step: bucks, liquid flashing, fastening to the product approval, and the four checks before any stucco goes on.
Why the joint around the window matters
In Florida, a window needs a product approval before it can go into a home. The approval says how much wind pressure the window resists, and it comes with installation instructions that spell out how the window is anchored, down to the type of anchor. The Florida Building Code then asks that windows be anchored as the manufacturer publishes, "to achieve the design pressure specified", and that they be "installed and flashed in accordance with the fenestration manufacturer's written instructions."
That covers the window and its fasteners. What the code can't do is stand on site while the opening is prepared, the flashing goes on and the stucco covers it all. Water driven sideways by a summer storm or a hurricane finds the smallest gap in that work, and it can run inside the wall for a long time before it shows up as a stain, a soft spot or mold. That is why we draw the joint ourselves, pick the materials, and check it before it disappears.
Our two details are our own. We developed them together with our engineer, the same engineering firm that inspects our work on site for quality control. They came out of homes I have built and had inspected, they are now the standard on every home we build, and they are drawn into every permit set we prepare.
Two kinds of window, two details
Which detail a window gets depends on where it sits in the wall. Both start the same way: a wood frame, or buck, lines the opening, and the whole opening is sealed with liquid flashing before the window goes in.
| Flush (outside installed) | Recessed | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the window sits | At the outside face of the wall, with the stucco finished up to it | Set back in the opening, for a deeper shadow around each window |
| The window | A finned window: its fin lies against the wall | A flanged window, set inside the opening |
| The sill | The flashed buck | A precast concrete sill in a full bed of mortar, sloped away from the window |
| Flashing onto the wall | At least 4 inches | At least 2 inches |
| The outside edge | Fin and screws coated with liquid flashing, then stucco | A PVC corner bead, then a sealant bead once the stucco has cured |
Step by step
The numbers match the drawing above. On a recessed window the steps are the same, with the sill and the corner bead added.
- Check the opening. Every opening is measured against its window before it goes in. The opening is sized for the window plus a buck all around. If it is off, the block or framing is fixed: no shim may be thicker than 1/4 inch.
- Set the bucks. Pressure-treated 2x lumber lines the opening, bedded in sealant and screwed to the block or framing every 10 inches. On a recessed window, the precast sill goes in at the bottom, in a full bed of mortar at least 1/4 inch thick, sloped away from the window.
- Flash the opening. The bucks and the whole opening get a full coat of liquid flashing, continuous over every joint, corner and transition, and lapped onto the wall at least 4 inches (2 on a recessed window). It goes on evenly, with no voids or pinholes. On framed walls, the seams of the sheathing stay at least 6 inches away from any opening.
- Bed the window in sealant. A continuous bead of sealant goes behind the window's fin or flange, so the window is pressed into it.
- Fasten it as approved. Each window is fastened exactly as its Florida Product Approval installation instructions show, with only the fasteners they name.
- The screw inspection. Before anything covers the fasteners, they are checked. On a flush window, the fin and screw heads then get the same liquid flashing as the opening, so the edge of the window becomes part of one continuous seal with the wall.
- Fill the gap inside. From inside, the gap around the frame is filled with a low-pressure foam made for windows, which won't push the frame out of shape, then closed with a continuous bead of sealant.
- Stucco, then the last seal. Stucco follows the national standards the Florida code names for it. On a recessed window, once the stucco has cured, a sealant bead closes the joint at the frame, with the window's weep holes left open so water inside the frame can drain out. Sealant left in the sun is tooled and painted, so it lasts.
Exterior doors get the same waterproofing at their openings.
Who checks, and when
Four checks stand between an installed window and the stucco that covers it. The checks on site are done by my partner Martin Hoeedholt, our Head of Digital Transformation & Operations, and me. Martin is also the Florida Certified Building Contractor our permits are under, and he keeps the record of every inspection and its result.
| Check | When | Who and what |
|---|---|---|
| The sample window | At the start of the job, before the rest go in | The installer builds one typical window. I approve it on site together with our independent inspector; any change to the detail needs the inspector's approval. |
| Before anything is covered | At each step that will be hidden: bucks, flashing, fasteners | Martin and I both check it on site, or our consultant does. Work covered before it is checked is refused and redone at the installer's cost. |
| The City | On the permit | The permit is under Martin's license. The installation instructions must be on site for the inspector, every label stays on the windows until the final inspection, and where stucco goes over a framed wall, the lath is inspected before the stucco goes on. |
| Windows complete | Once the windows are in | Our independent inspector, an engineering firm we hire, checks the installation, as they do after the roof and the stucco. If a window fails, the re-inspection is on the installer. |
Set before the first quote
None of this comes as a surprise to an installer. Martin sends the details with every request for a window quote, so installers price our way of working rather than their usual one. He writes them into the installer's contract when the work is awarded, and they are on the drawings the crew works from.
It costs a little more up front: buck strips, a full coat of liquid flashing, a sample window and an inspector's visits. Against a wet wall found a few years later, behind finished stucco and drywall, it is cheap.
What to ask any builder
Whoever builds your home, these questions tell you whether anyone has decided how your windows will stay dry:
- Do you have a written window detail, and can I see it?
- Who checks the flashing and the fasteners before the stucco goes on?
- Is there a sample window at the start of the job, and who approves it?
- Are the windows fastened exactly as their Florida Product Approval shows?
- Does anyone from outside your company inspect the windows?
- What happens when an inspection fails, and who pays to fix it?
How we help
If you are planning a new home in St. Petersburg or Tampa, book a consultation. I'll walk you through both details and the rest of what goes on behind the stucco, from the roof to the foundation.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a flush and a recessed window?
A flush window sits at the outside face of the wall, with the stucco finished right up to its frame. A recessed window is set back in the opening on a sloped concrete sill, which gives each window a deeper shadow line. Each has its own detail.
Isn't caulk around the window enough?
No. The sealant you see outside is the last line, not the first. The liquid flashing behind the window, over the bucks and onto the wall, is what keeps water out of the wall if the outside joint ever opens.
Do impact windows need a special installation?
They need exactly the installation their Florida Product Approval shows: the fasteners, how far apart they are and what they go into. That is how the window was approved to resist the wind. The flashing around it is the builder's to get right, which is why we draw our own detail.
Does the City inspect the windows?
The City's inspector needs the installation instructions on site and the labels left on every window until the final inspection. Where stucco goes over a framed wall, the City inspects the lath first. We add our own checks and an independent inspector's on top.
Who checks the windows on site?
Richard McGinniss, our Founding Partner and Head of Design, approves the sample window together with our independent inspector. He and Martin Hoeedholt, our Head of Digital Transformation & Operations and a Florida Certified Building Contractor, both check each step before it is covered. Martin also puts the details into every quote request and installer contract and keeps the record of every inspection.
Who pays if an installation fails inspection?
The installer. Work covered before it was checked is refused and redone at the installer's cost, and a re-inspection after a failure is theirs too.
Does this apply to doors?
Yes. Exterior door openings get the same waterproofing as the windows.
Sources: Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th edition (2023), R609.1 and R609.7.1 (exterior windows and doors), read October 31, 2026; Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th edition (2023), R703.4 (flashing) and R703.7 (exterior plaster), read October 31, 2026; Florida Statutes 553.842, product evaluation and approval, read October 31, 2026; Florida Administrative Code rule 61G20-3.005, installation instructions for windows, read October 31, 2026; City of St. Petersburg, Window & Door Residential Compliance Form, read October 31, 2026; City of St. Petersburg, Inspection Request Options (updated October 2026), read October 31, 2026