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Re: Old House - Replace or Repair windows? Posted by Snowmobile [Email]  (#686)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Snowmobile) on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:24:35
In Reply to: Old House - Replace or Repair windows?, Randy Thatcher   [Profile/Gallery]
, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 05:54:10
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I would generally agree with brick8 in that the window industry is full of bs wrt old homes and most of the products are low quality. You have to pay a lot of money for good new windows, and paying a lot does not guarantee quality either.
We have a 100+ year old house and have restored all the original windows in the traditional manner, but with some (invisible) weatherstripping upgrades. They all work like new windows (hint, wax the tracks) at a fraction of the cost of replacement. The old windows have lasted 100+ years - why would I replace them with junk that will fail in <20 (with marginal energy savings at best)? Properly restored old windows with traditional storms (or high quality sliders, not the crap from the 70's) are not leaky. Many new installations are poorly executed and can introduce problems.
I think it comes down to the value of the windows you have. The 40's was the beginning of a transitional time from traditional labour intensive methods to newer more cost-oriented methods. Basically you have to make that call if they are worth your (or someone else's) time based on your specific house, the design + condition of the windows. Where you have new windows above + below, it may be desirable to have them all match.
Getting them off isn't really that hard. Be careful of lead paint (and fumes), but, with that in mind, thin prying tools and a heat gun will get them apart and cleaned up. If there are screws etc holding storms on (in addition to paint), heat strip the fasteners carefully (ie perfectly clean out the slots) before unscrewing and unscrew them while hot and use a sharp screwdriver...
see link below for a good quality window source (compared to typical vinyl) if you decide to go new... there are good sources for custom wood windows also. None of these are cheap!
good luck!
http://www.thermotechfiberglass.com/
, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 05:54:10, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:24:35 <-- Viewing This Message
, Mon, 30 Jul 2012 04:47:22
, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:37:04, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:51:53, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:12:08, Mon, 23 Jul 2012 09:10:33
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