replacing windows

Hi, We need to replace most of the windows in our south slope frame house.  The exterior of the house is hideous, and we hope to get to that within the next couple of years (!!) but the interior has lots of nice old detail remaining.  Can anyone suggest how to keep the nice old look of nice old windows, without the rotting frame and gaping holes that go along with our authentic old windows?  Can a person find true paned windows that are also energy efficient?? Thanks!

elm_bk

in Doors & Windows 13 years and 2 months ago

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stevenjames | 10 years and 11 months ago

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It is wise if you go for the frameless windows for your house. These are easy to clean and maintain as well. For more information and your queries, you can go to www.modernglassdesigns.com

sabulba | 13 years and 2 months ago

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at the current time many kind of shutter with different designs are available and you can the information from the online shopkeeper who is related with the same.     http://www.shutterco.ie/

Augustiner | 13 years and 2 months ago

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Probably you are right, a properly restored original window plus storm window will give you the energy efficiency of a regular replacement window. All that means is that the replacement windows are not good. Well, we don´t know how rotten elm100s windows are.
If the wood has soaked water for years, then you can´t just spatel sand and paint, you will have to replace parts of the wood – and you will still end up with old mechanics and a window that is everything but straight and so on.
My guess is that a proper restoration of a window will hardly come out lower than 1000 dollar per window, and you still have the old glass and a not-at-all-historic-looking storm window.
So the question is what is the specification: affordable – historic – energy efficient. You will not get all of these.

cheap: do whatever, but forget about historic or energy efficient
historically correct: make it look good, compromise on energy efficiency.
alltogether is pricey: ~$ 2000 for window only without install will buy you a wooden historically correct looking window, triple pane passive house standard. Top not operable, lower part recessed and operable as tilt & turn.

callalily | 13 years and 2 months ago

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The Federal government did a study comparing new double-paned replacement windows with old original windows plus storms and found the latter were more energy efficient. There are other reasons to keep the original windows: The old growth wood they are made of is more durable than new wood. Replacement windows fill the hole with an additional frame, which cuts out light and looks bad. Fixing an original wood window can be an inexpensive DIY solution (see Anna Dorfman’s DoorSixteen blog for details — not impossible). I doubt even paying a carpenter to fix original wood windows would be as expensive as replacing them. We got an estimate for materials and installation of 15 wood Marvin windows installed “brick to brick” (meaning in the original holes) and it was $30,000\. If you don’t already have storm windows, they can be expensive. And of course, replacement windows will never look as good as the originals. If you live in a landmarked area and you have the originals, they want you to keep them. I rue the day previous owners of our house threw ours away. The vinyl replacements aren’t working, and we have to replace those.

Augustiner | 13 years and 2 months ago

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I don’t agree with Mopar. Good new windows are definitely more energy efficient than rotting old ones. Good windows are custom made, and if you are willing to spend some money you can indeed create the same look without compromises. But I would just replace them all. On the low end patching and painting individual windows will give you a visually ok result. But there is no way you can make the worn out mechanics airtight without dropping the same amount of money like a high end new solution.

callalily | 13 years and 2 months ago

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If you can find the right carpenter to repair your old windows, they can take care of the rotting frames and the gaping holes. A well maintained old window plus a storm window is more energy efficient than any new window and will potentially last hundreds of years, while the replacement windows will fail long before that. See the book “Working Windows” for details.