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Serving the Tulsa, Oklahoma metro. A bow is four to six windows working as one curved unit. It costs more than a bay, fails in different places, and is quoted by the panel rather than by the opening. Here is what to expect before anyone comes out.
Or call (918) 417-1098
Expect roughly $2,200 to $6,000 installed in the Tulsa area for a like-for-like bow replacement, with five and six-panel units and clad-wood construction at the top of that range and beyond. Bows cost more than bays for a simple reason: there are more windows in them. A five-panel bow is five separate units, five sets of seals, five frames joined at precise angles and a curved head and seat to build. The price tracks the panel count more closely than it tracks the width of the hole.
Homeowners use both words for either window. Suppliers do not, and ordering the wrong one is a costly mistake, so start here.
Four to six panels of equal width, joined at shallow angles so they read as a smooth arc. Projects less deeply from the wall but spans wider. Panels are commonly casements, or a mix of fixed and operable. More glass area, more even light across a room, and a softer look that suits period and traditional houses.
Three panels at visible angles, usually 30 or 45 degrees, with a fixed center and two operable flankers. Projects further out, so it creates a deeper seat or shelf. Reads as an angular architectural feature rather than a curve. Covered on bay window replacement.
A bow costs more per opening and gives more glass and a wider view. A bay gives a deeper seat and a stronger architectural statement for less money. A bow's shallower projection often needs less structural support, and on many houses it tucks under an existing eave with no separate roof cap at all, which removes the bay's worst leak path.
Count the panels. Three at angles is a bay. Four to six in a curve is a bow. If the unit is genuinely half-round with many narrow panels, say so when you request the estimate, because it is a specialty order.
Different from a bay, and worth knowing before you decide between repair and replacement.
Three decisions that materially change the estimate.
How many panels open. An all-fixed bow is cheaper and performs slightly better thermally, but it gives you no ventilation across the widest glazed wall in the room, and in a metro where spring evenings are the best part of the year that is a real loss. The usual compromise is operable panels at each end and fixed glass in the middle.
Frame material. Vinyl is the most common and the most affordable; the joinery in a curve is more demanding than on a flat window, so build quality shows more. Clad wood is frequently specified on bows because the interior head, seat and trim are already wood and matching them looks right. Material trade-offs are laid out on vinyl window replacement.
What happens to the seat. A bow's seat is usually shallower than a bay's, so it is a shelf rather than a place to sit. Decide early whether you want it rebuilt as a finished, insulated shelf, because it changes the interior carpentry line on the quote.
One thing worth doing while the unit is out: insulate the head and seat cavities properly. They are small exterior surfaces that original builders rarely treated well, and they are the reason the room feels cold near the glass in January.
Planning ranges for this market, not offers. The full breakdown by material and style is on the window replacement cost page.
Window Replacement Near Me is a free referral service, not an installer. We connect Tulsa-area homeowners with an independent, insured window installation company and may receive a fee when you are connected. Prices here are general guidance for this market rather than an offer. Your estimate, contract and warranty come from the installer.
Enter a ZIP code and answer four short questions. One matched company calls to set an in-home visit. Say it is a bow and give the panel count when you talk to them: it decides whether the unit is a stock order or a custom build, which is most of the lead time.
Roughly $2,200 to $6,000 installed in the Tulsa metro for a like-for-like replacement, driven mainly by the number of panels and the frame material. A four-panel vinyl bow sits near the bottom of that range; a six-panel clad-wood unit can exceed the top of it.
There are more windows in it. A five-panel bow is five separate insulated units, five frames, and four mitered joints between them, plus a curved head and seat to fabricate. A bay is three panels and two angles. The extra glass area and the extra joinery are the whole difference.
Usually yes, and it is often the right call. Panels fail one at a time, starting with whichever gets the most sun, and the insulated glass unit in a single panel can frequently be replaced while the assembly stays in place. Expect roughly $150 to $450 per panel. Replace the whole bow when the frames, joints or head and seat boards have gone, not because one pane clouded.
They leak at the vertical joints between panels and, where one exists, at the roof cap flashing. A bow tucked under an existing eave has fewer leak paths than a bay with its own roof. Interior staining on the head or seat board is the early warning, and it means water has been traveling inside the assembly for a while.
Fixed glass is cheaper and marginally more efficient. All-fixed leaves you with no ventilation across the widest glazed wall of the room, which is a real loss in a metro with good spring and autumn evenings. Operable casements at each end with fixed panels between is the common and sensible arrangement.
The install is normally one to two days. The wait is the manufacturing: a curved multi-panel assembly is a custom order, so four to eight weeks from signed estimate is typical, and can be longer for clad wood or a non-standard radius. Confirm the lead time in writing before you sign.
Panel count, radius and what is behind the trim decide the price. One matched installer, one in-home visit, one written estimate.
Or call (918) 417-1098