• Job: Window specialist and production manager, Factory Direct Remodeling, Kennesaw

Photos by KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Lisa Dorn removes a window from a Sandy Springs home. 'Everything that happens with windows through our company is me,' she said.

(ENLARGE)

Lisa Dorn, windows specialist and production manager, Factory Direct Remodeling, Kennesaw.

• What I do: Lisa Dorn does windows — lots of windows: 28,000 of them so far. She installs new and replacement windows for Factory Direct Remodeling, a Kennesaw-based remodeling contractor.

She runs the company's window division, so it's Dorn, 40, who measures, orders, delivers, installs and repairs windows in houses throughout metro Atlanta.

That includes replacing old windows with new ones. Dorn removes the old window by prying away the trim (which often gets reused), loosening the window tracks and pulling it out — sash, track and all. The new windows fit neatly into the opening in the wall, and Dorn screws them into place, pops in the new sashes and replaces the trim.

"I pull every window and set every window," said Dorn, who usually has one or two helpers for other tasks on each job.

For an old wood window, the whole process takes about 15 minutes per opening, she said. Aluminum windows, which often have metal flanges that are tucked under the exterior siding, can take twice as long, because she has to heat and remove the glass, then cut away the metal frame.

Many jobs can be finished in one day, she said. Her personal best is 47 windows in one day.

In addition, Dorn does carpentry — framing walls on room additions — and she has been trained to install room-addition kits, usually for sunrooms, though she rarely does that. Dorn also installs doors.

Sometimes the work includes repairing damage from wood rot or termites before a new door or window can be put in place. And sometimes it means making adjustments for walls and floors that may not be level, square, plumb or a standard size.

Her repertoire includes "anything in an opening," such as bay and bow windows, sliding-glass doors or French doors.

"When you remodel, you are dealing with products made by somebody else, and you have to make them look great," she said. "I know how good my day is going to be after the first window."

• What got me interested in this: Dorn learned the skills of her trade from her father, who, when she was 11 or 12, converted a duplex into a single-family dwelling for their family.

When Dorn and her siblings came home from school, she said, her father had tools for them to help demolish the old kitchen or do other projects in the house.

"We'd tear out the cabinets," she said. "That's a blast for a kid."

"He was an amazing carpenter," she said, and she still calls him when she gets stuck on a job.

• Best part of my job: "My

homeowners," Dorn said. "I meet new people, and I love going to new places every day."

She added: "I'm very proud of the work I do. As I'm leaving, I sometimes stare back and say, 'I did that.' I want my homeowners to be pleased."

• Most challenging part: Sometimes the job can be overwhelming when there is extensive damage from termites, fire or storms, she said. And sometimes homeowners can be impatient — for example, when Dorn's distributors are slow to deliver windows.

That's when Dorn uses all of her customer-service skills, she said. "I want to make them all happy, but which squeaking wheel do you go to first?"

• What people don't know about my job: "That she's a woman and she can do it," answered Marilyn Harper, Dorn's caulk and trim helper on a recent job in Sandy Springs.

Dorn agreed and said that when she pulls up to job sites, homeowners sometimes say, "You're going to do it?"

"I have been shunned a little at first," she said, but respect builds when customers see her on the job.

• What keeps me going: "I know what my day is," she said. Dorn usually meets the customer when she measures for the windows, so she knows what to expect on the job.

"I love what I do, [even though] I work a lot of hours," she said.

• Preparation needed for this job: Dorn said she learned her construction skills on the job, starting with working with her father.

Technically a subcontractor for Factory Direct Remodeling, Dorn must carry her own liability and workers' compensation insurance. But she doesn't have to be licensed as a general contractor, and the job doesn't require a college degree.

The company is licensed and bonded and performs background checks on the people it sends out. "You're working in people's homes," Dorn said.

Dorn said she has to be versatile to deal with different types of windows and building situations. "You have to make people confident in you and explain what's necessary" in improving their homes, she said. "You have to have a heart — care about people."

Dorn attended Black Hawk College in Illinois, where she studied secondary education, psychology and sociology. She has been with Factory Direct Remodeling for 13 years. Before that, she worked for several construction companies; was a manager at her mother's restaurant in Illinois; and was in the Marine Corps for four years, where she was a bulk fuel specialist and worked with the military police.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.