Storm windows

Our house was built in 1924, which is on the old side for the Pacific Northwest.  It's a Craftsmen style bungalow.  When I first started looking at homes my realtor talked about how great vinyl windows are, and many of the listing took pains (hehe... panes) to point out that the windows had been replaced.

Vinyl replacement windows are not all that, and here's why:

1. You will never, ever recuperate the cost of replacing original windows through reduced energy costs.
2. Windows today are built as modular units and are meant to be installed as a single piece.  If a part of the window fails, you have to replace the entire thing.
3. The lifespan of replacement vinyl windows is proving to be relatively short, with many vinyl windows installed in the 1980s already requiring replacement of their own.
4. The average homeowner can't work on a vinyl window without highly specialized tools & know-how.

My house has the original windows, those that were installed in 1924.  The glass has bubbles and ripples in it, and it's perfectly lovely.  We adore them.  In the 8 years since I moved in (Gene moved in with me about 2 years after I bought the house), I've done quite a bit of work on the windows.  I'm a pro at reglazing a window, having done it probably half a dozen times.  The nice thing with old windows is that they're easy to work on and replacement parts are still readily available.

Despite having single-paned, old windows, our house is not drafty in the winters.  Our secret?  We have storm windows on all but one of the windows (and hope to get one made for that last window this summer).  People always ask me if storm windows are hard to manage. 

In short: no. 

Our house is a single story and I can reach any window with a plain old 6' ladder.  The only tool I need to install or remove the windows, besides the ladder, is a phillips head screwdriver.

(And yes, I detest this color for this house.)

Just use the screwdriver to loosen the wing doohickey.  Then you can use the screwdriver, if necessary, to pry the window gently out of the frame.  I've got weatherstripping around the edges of the windows, which helps prevent drafts.

Sometimes a chicken will come to supervise.

It helps to label to windows, especially since we only handle them twice per year.

Store the storms somewhere where they'll be safe until the fall.  We used to take the storms down in mid-May and install them in mid-October, but with the cold springs we've had these past few years we haven't taken them down until June or even July.

I didn't even break any of my gorgeous pregnant-lady nails.

Windows and cursing

My house was built in 1924 and is a late Craftsmen.  I bought it just 6 months before meeting my husband and it's the best purchase I've ever made.  It's not big, fancy, or particularly distinctive.  There are plenty of places where TLC is required but it's our home. 

In its lifetime my home has provided shelter to dozens of people and pets, seen children become adults, witnessed questionable taste in wallpaper, survived several good-sized earthquakes, endured poorly considered remodels of the kitchen and bathroom, and even housed a pack of college-aged boys while serving as a rental.

Despite the attempts by countless vinyl window companies over the years my home still has its original windows.  When I bought the house in July 2003, I took possession to discover that the windows were painted shut on the inside, painted shut on the outside, and the storms were painted on.

Most of the windows are in decent shape, though painted too many times.  I cut open the lower sashes when I bought the house but didn't realize that the top sashes were actually functional until recently.

The sash cords of the window in the back bedroom both broke this summer, allowing the lower sash to fall and breaking the glass.

Hi, chickens!

A curse upon the head of anyone who paints a window shut.  I hope that the AC in your car breaks on the hottest day of summer.

I had to cut the paint with a razor blade, pound it with a block and hammer, and coerce the upper sash down.  That orange goop is paint stripper.

I curse all people who paint window hardware rather than remove it.  May insouciant nursing home maintenance men dribble paint on your head when you're ancient and mute.

Why paint a sash lock?  Why why why??

The left pulley is unmolested (but the sash was painted shut over it) while the right pulley has been painted several times.  Don't do this, people.  Really.  This is what it looked like after a lot of scraping and stripping.

This sash cord probably broke because it had been painted.

Damn you, lazy guy who installed the windows of my home in 1924, for not finishing the access panels to the window weights and forcing me to cut them open with a saw that was fitted with a metal blade and borrowed from my neighbor.  May you get to the toilet in time 92% of the time.

I tried to cut it open by hand (see the light-colored vertical line?) before giving up and begging a tool from our awesome neighbor.

You, who failed to build/order a storm window for the one window in the entire house that gets the full brunt of the weather coming from the southwest, shall always be a day late or a dollar short.

This is the window after significant scraping.  The wood damage could have been avoided with a storm window.

And you, who painted over the weathered wood without prepping it, may seagulls poop in your convertible.

Again, more scraping revealed a sill in terrible shape.  The previous owner hired someone who painted over the problem rather than fix it.  I'll have to finish sanding it, fill it, then prime and repaint it.

The broken glass was the final straw: I couldn't allow another winter to trash the window and its frame. While G-man was in Virginia on a business trip I decided to tackle the project I've been meaning to do, but been afraid of, for 7 long years.

I pulled the stops off.

I stripped paint.

I removed the lower sash and cut the upper sash open.

I cut and pried open the poorly done access panels to reveal the weights.

I used a screwdriver bit as a pilot cord and replaced the sash cords.

I listened to our nexi-door neighbor's 5-year-old jabber at me all day: "Miss Jenn, what are you doing?  Miss Jenn, is that Curry?  Miss Jenn, would you get me an otter pop (WTF??)?  Miss Jenn, what are you doing? Miss Jenn, can I hold a chicken?  Miss Jenn, why did you get a dog?  Miss Jenn, what are you doing?  Miss Jenn, why are you drinking?"

OMG.  She never shut up!  My mom says it's vengeance from the now-dead neighbors I irritated as a little girl.

I've gotten new glass for the window and stripped the old paint.  I still have to reglaze the window, sand and repaint the lower sash and sill, strip and repaint the stops, seal the gaps with caulk, and put the window back together.  If we really get our act together, maybe we can build a storm window by October, which is when we normally put the storms up for the winter.

Thank goodness this was the worst window.  It was in rough shape but none of the other windows are this bad.  I'm not done but now have the confidence that I can refurbish the others as needed.