Balancers are essentially a counter weight that allows the moveable sash on a single or double hung to open (vertically), and remain in the open position. For every movable sash there are two balancers, one on each side.

Some of the most common issues that arises with balancers are the following, the window unit will be harder to open & close. Erosion on the internal spring of the balancer can cause an unpleasant squeaky sound. Finally, the window unit will not remain open, due to the total failure of both of the balancers (usually due to the internal springs breaking).

Casement operators are a handle based opening mechanism that uses either one or two operating arms. The operating arm(s) attach to the bottom of the moveable sash from the operating shaft in the internal housing of the operator, located on the bottom of the window frame. A user operated handle connects to the operating shaft and allows the user to open and close the window.

The main issue that can arise from operators are the wearing down of the sprockets on either the internal operator shaft or the operating arm. This causes the failure of the opening and closing of the casement unit. The user is usually able to rotate the handles a full 360 degrees with little to no movement from the window unit itself.

Sliding patio doors should have smooth opening and closing operations. When they don’t, it is very obvious and sometimes extremely difficult to open the door. Each moveable patio door sash has two sets of wheels located on the bottom on the door, that sit atop a track in the sill. Some issues that prevent the smooth operation of a sliding patio door are erosion on one or both of the sets of wheels, divots on the track, swelling of wood on framing membrane during certain seasons (Wood framing membrane only).

Other issues which arise with patio doors can be from the locking mechanisms' internal parts breaking due to wear and tear. Which prevents the user from locking and unlocking the door.