Where I gather my thoughts on the days window restoration projects, old houses, and rants. Hopefully, providing some education on antique windows along the way.

Monday, September 28, 2009

It's time to close your storm windows

Here in New England, the weather has turned decidedly colder. Before you turn on the heat, close your storm windows. And if you get really crazy and ambitious clean the storm windows before you close them.
The majority of storm windows have two glass panels and one screen panel. The proper way to close them is to have the outermost panel at the top, the middle glass panel at the bottom. The screen, your choice where you leave it for the winter. Or, if your screen is torn, ripped, loose, hard to see through, take it to your local hardware store and have them put in new screening so you'll be ready for those bugs next Spring.
If you get ambitious and decide to clean your storm windows, remove the screen panel first, then the glass ones. Depending on the manufacturer, the panels have tabs that fit into slots and there is always a way to slide them up or down, angle them to get the panel out of the frame. With the panels out, clean the gunk in the channels and at the bottom. Spray some WD 40 in the channels. Check to make sure there are weep holes for the water to run out at the bottom of the storm window. If the gap between the bottom of the storm window and the sill is big, fill it in with caulk, but again leave weep holes.
Closing your storm windows correctly will save you lots in heating costs and make your winter more comfortable. Oh, and lock your windows! The lock is not just for safety. It pulls the two sash together and closed and forms part of the weather sealing system.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Every day a little paint

Lately I seem to be trending putty failure that turns out to be paint failure. A few estimates I've been on lately seem to have what looks like chipped glazing but is in fact the paint separating from the glazing putty. In my experience, the glazing companies are not exactly forthcoming about what "top coating" to apply to their products. Sarco recommends oil primer over their glazing but when asked "what about if I'm doing a shellac/varnish finish with no paint?" they have no answer except to use an oil primer. I guess if I were painting windows I would use oil primer as a default. My guess is no one has told the painting companies this recommendation.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Making 'em work

Will I ever get tired of watching customers delight in opening and closing their windows once we have worked on them? Probably not. It's really sad that so many people put up with windows that don't open, are hard to open, crash down when they are opened, etc. when a little maintenance is all that is needed to get them back to full operation.
Today we replaced broken or frayed ropes in a lovely 1920's condo. The owner had previously thought she had to replace her windows since they wouldn't open or stay open. Yikes! And, for about $75 a window she has all the functionality restored. Not a bad investment after living with dangerous windows for about 8 years now. I would have liked to put in weather strip and reglaze the sash, but the homeowner was on a tight budget so we did the minimum to get the windows to work better. This is what you do in these economic times. And hey, the smile is still rewarding!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

How gullible are you?

I've been collecting brochures from replacement window companies and it astonishes me the claims that are made. "Attractive, durable, virtually maintenance free and professionally installed" is the boast of one major manufacturer. Attractive? To who? Durable? Well, I just saw some of this brand of window that were ten years old and the lower rail on the upper was falling off. Maintenance free? So what about the chalking plastic that is leaving white streaks down the glass? Professionally installed? Is that what you call a guy with a can of spray foam? I know, I know, there are some good installers.
And I just love the brochures that tout the benefits of one company over another. The Marvin brochure shows a picture of "the view through typical replacement windows" and the view through their Infinity series. Either way you got big heavy areas of frame where once there were light delicate profiles that let in the maximum amount of light - something builders of old accomplished through well built windows, not just more and more windows. And isn't it a scary thing to know that Fibrex is stronger than Ultrex? What exactly are these substances and what nasty processes were involved to make this stuff? Trees I understand... pultruded fiberglass? Wood flour and resin? OK, I know I'm crazy to want things made out of real substances just like I'd rather eat popcorn with butter rather than "topping."
My favorite is "Never think about replacement windows again." Yes, this is in a brochure. Talk to anyone who put in replacement windows five or more years ago. Do they never think about replacement windows? Usually what I hear is "the plastic clips broke and now I can't get the window open so I will have to replace that one." Or "my windows are fogged and I'm tired of not being able to see out of them so I will have to replace them soon." Most people just move so they probably won't have to think about replacement windows again ... in that house.
What really gets me is that almost all of these window manufacturers make storm windows, but they spend no money marketing storm windows. Why? I suspect the margin on storm windows is a lot lower than replacement windows. And no one wants to admit that the same or better energy gains can be had by replacing storm windows and leaving the beautiful old windows in place rather than contaminating your old house with pultruded resin flour ultrex products.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Historic vs. Antique Windows

I love having our work publicized (like the recent article in the Salem News) but I worry that we talk about the big, fancy projects and the public gets a false impression that only the Important (with a capital I) houses are worthy of restoration or have budgets big enough to afford this kind of work.

In reality, 98% of our work is average, everyday houses. The cost for average windows is a lot less than quoted project prices in the newspaper. But, there is no way a reporter is going to come out and write a story about Average Joe and his typical restoration project windows. And certainly I don't expect to have a story written about my ten minute fix of a 1979 casement window I did for a woman who couldn't get anyone else to come out for such a small project. We call these goodwill projects.

Historic windows, or those that are in significant houses and press worthy are good for the portfolio, but antique windows are our bread and butter, and quite frankly I like them better. I like houses that people are living in and opening and closing their windows and admiring how well they work after all those years.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Why I Love 1920's Houses

Every time I get asked to do an estimate for a house built between 1920 and 1930 I'm reasonably certain I'm going to find windows that can be restored.

During this era it seemed like window factories finally had it figured out. The construction of the sash is good mortise and tenon, the jambs are securely constructed and the pocket covers for the weights are well made. This is less common in houses built in the 1880's- 1900's. It seems like then there was still a good deal of experimentation with jamb construction. We'll often find pocket covers cut in odd places, often looking like they were hacked at instead of precision made. The top and bottom corners of the frame aren't held together well, and sometimes not secured to the framing. Usually we can work with it, but the solidness of the 1920's construction is a thing of beauty.

So, if you have a house built during this period, think long and hard before replacing the quality made materials (no matter how shabby they may look after decades of paint and neglect) with modern replacement windows.

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