Brick to Brick Window Replacement?
Hi. My son just got an elevated lead test and we’re trying to figure out the best way of dealing with abatement. We think the windows are one of the biggest sources, despite encapsulation and good cleaning, since the outside moldings around the panes and the surrounding moldings are so old and too rotten to…
Hi. My son just got an elevated lead test and we’re trying to figure out the best way of dealing with abatement. We think the windows are one of the biggest sources, despite encapsulation and good cleaning, since the outside moldings around the panes and the surrounding moldings are so old and too rotten to really scrape well and encapsulate. (Seems like you don’t want to loosen lead paint anyway, since that’s great more hazard.) So I tihnk we should do what I believe is called a brick to brick replacement. Any referrals for companies who do this well? We are landmarked. Thanks.
A very good company for Landmark Buildings and brick to brick window installation is Ferris Construction: 718-765-1715. I used them for a Marvin Window installation and was very pleased, and recommend them often. I have found the Marvin Windows to be really great. I do agree that redoing your old windows can be a good way to go, and I tried to do so. When the paint was stripped, pieces of the wood just came away, and the windows were disintegrating and much smaller than they had been after 70 or 80 years of many applications of paint. It just wasn’t viable. I’m sure there were layers and layers of lead based paint on those windows.
Another good guide on restoration is:
http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/reports/reports
Once you reglaze and caulk the windows, that should cut down on drafts. If you add storm windows, they will be more energy effecient than replacement windows. You will also save money, create less waste, they’ll look better, last longer, etc etc. And you’ll have more light — the extra frames in replacements take up lots of room.
We have replacements (from a previous owner) and they are just awful.
OK sorry to go on and on, but here’s a how-to article with good photos to give you an idea of what’s involved in repairing wood windows.
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/how_to_restore_sash_windows/magazine/1600
Save your wood windows! This is entirely do-able and once they are repaired to good working order they will not be an issue in terms of heat loss and lead paint. Generally the easiest and cleanest way to repair wood windows is to take them out of the wall. IF you’re doing it yourself, you’d make a trough to contain all the chipping paint and you remove the paint in a contained area and cleanup as you go. This will keep your living space clean of paint chips and other dirt. I dont think dip-stripping is the best method.
But repairing your wood windows is certainly something you can hire out as well. The repaired windows work well, are historically appropriate, are more repairable than non-wood windows, are cheaper than replacements, have beautiful old glass, won’t add to the landfills, and DON’T REQUIRE LANDMARK PERMITS! You should add interior or exterior storms but even with that the project should be cheaper than replacement windows installed.
Check out Working Windows by Terry Meany on Amazon for how-to. Even if you don’t end up doing it yourself, you’ll know what to ask for when talking to potential contractors.
thanks for all this useful advice. not sure any of you will still see this post, since it’s now a day old, but anyway…
mopar, it’s not my mom’s place where we live in the summer. her house is all unpainted pine and in pretty rural Martha’s Vineyard. We have the lead inspector coming today so i’ll have a better sense of where the lead is worst (and i”m definitely going to have the soil tested, although we haven’t been out there in recent months because of the darn mosquitoies.)
But i wanted to follow up about the windows. I’m a little confused about what the LPC will and will not allow. Lots of our neighbors with similar houses having replaced their windows because of concerns about lead and for better insulation. Originally we were more concerned with the latter although now the lead is the more pressing issue. When you saw that the LPC will only approve window replacement in cases of extreme deterioration, do you mean that you can only replace the actual window but not the surrounding exterior casing (not sure of the right terminology but the molding that keeps the sash in place)?
That exterior wood is what is so rotten on many of our windows. The paint is quite chipped and flaking, but i’m hesistant to scrape–because the wood is in such bad shape–but also because i don’t want to loosen all this potential lead paint. On many of the windows the munions (the wood between the panes) is also old and soft and covered with flaky paint. It seems like when we open and close the windows, these parts shake and loosen and land in the well where they can be touched by little hands or just blow in.
Also, even with weatherstripping, there’s still a decent draft. It seems like double paned glass and better fitting windows, is the only solution to better insulation/cutting down on heating costs. I do love the old windows (from 1870s) with all their original weights and in good working order so I’d love to keep them if I could, but I also want to do what’s safest and most energy efficient for our pocketbooks and the planet.
Thanks so much!
PTF
Also, I read one of your old posts. Could the lead have been coming from your summer residence?
A clarification:
If your windows are original and they are painted, then it is the INSIDE of the windows that can be causing the problem, not the outside. The best solution could be to dip and strip the windows, not replace them. In addition, you can very easily repaint the outside to get rid of flaking and eliminate that problem (since the outside is not a moving part that creates dust).
If the windows are replacement vinyl or aluminum windows, it’s not that likely that the outside of the windows are the problem, and even if it is, again, it is easily remedied by painting and encapsulation.
In other words, encapsulation of lead paint works on inert surfaces. It is not effective on surfaces that rub together, such as doors, window frames, and cupboard doors.
Agree with Mopar. In addition to having the window sashes removed, stripped and repainted off-site, you can also use a peel-away type product to remove paint from the other wood elements (frame, casing, etc) which contains the lead paint as opposed to creating chips or dust. Be mindful that LPC will not ok window replacement unless yours are deteriorated beyond repair, and that every old building with old windows has lead paint on them, so replacement is not a given.