"I'm With the Acme Window Co., and I Just HAPPENED to be in the Neighborhood..."

"... but I'm not selling anything. Are you the homeowner?"

"Yes"

"Well, we're talking with homeowners of houses with older windows (looks at my decrepit and paint peeling windows) about our upcoming special on...."

"No thanks. I'm restoring them this summer."

"Oh. Ok then."

That was easy.

Look at ALL this Caulk!

Looks pretty bad, doesn't it! It's just oozing out. Lucky for us, it is supposed to look like this. The caulk is temporary, removable caulk, made to last one season, and just perfect for our needs this year. It is sealing up the holes between the old storm windows and the new window trim; this summer, we will pull off the storm windows and permanently weatherproof the windows and storms. Until then, this caulk is giving us quite a bit of savings... the house felt MUCH warmer after we installed it. Amazing what sealing off a few drafts will do!

Window Trim Up...

The window trim is up and caulked. It's amazing how much better it looks even painted white! Without the trim, the windows looked like sunken eye sockets.



It was harder than expected to nail the trim in. It would have been much easier with a nail gun, but we are cheap and muscled through with 20 ounce hammers and 6D finish nails. Also, I learned how much I hate caulk AND sticky fingers. The only way to tool the caulk against the very uneven brick was to use a finger; this felt like scraping down concrete with my fingertip all day. It's still raw.

Painting, and caulking between the trim and storm with temporary, removable caulk is next. I'll be painting the trim white, as next spring, we'll take down all the storms, rehab the windows, put decorative molding on top of the trim, replace the storms, and paint! Still no decision on paint colors, though that might be decided soon when we paint the new front door!

Window Gaps, or HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS?

We've been installing the exterior window trim this week, and so have been paying a lot of up close and personal attention to the windows. While working on the kitchen window (a window that we have never opened and that is partially blocked by a kitchen cart), I noticed something peculiar:



Yes, that IS a half inch wide gap between the sashes. And yes, it is there even when the lock is turned. And yes, I could feel the cold air rushing out of it into our kitchen, even on a 50 degree day! What in the world is it doing there?

A better look at the sash lock:


The top part has been mortised into the top sash at a diagonal. How odd! It almost appears that the entire bottom of the top sash is a replacement in the wrong size... but why?

I stuffed some of that foam insulation tubing into the gap; any better ideas for winter? And.. what in the world should I do about that window in the long run? My goals are to rehab the windows... but this particular window is throwing quite a curve on many levels. (We discovered today that the frame is rotting in places; the bottom sash has metal squares bolted onto it for stability, so it is obviously a little unsound there; and no this!).

Window Trim

The plan was to have the exterior window trim finished this weekend; a nasty cold said otherwise! I still can't talk, but am feeling better.

Here's what I accomplished before falling ill:


All of the wood is cut and primed on all sides, and is ready to be installed! It is 3/4" square pine molding; we are going to "build out" the molding in a more decorative style when we paint in the spring.

We are looking at beautiful weather (for November) this weekend, so we should have it up, caulked, and painted soon!

Finishing Our New Window- Inside

I've been working on the new window in my study. First, I needed to add wood to extend the window frame to the drywall. Theoretically, this involves a table saw to rip trim down to the exact dimensions of the gap. We don't own a table saw. Luckily, my local big box hardware store carries 1/2"x 3/4" trim... just perfect for what I needed to do.

Here's the window with it's new frame extensions... they are the unpainted wood:

And, a close up:


I attached the wood strips with finishing nails flush with the drywall. Well, I TRIED to install the wood strips flush with the drywall:


Unfortunately, the drywall bows out considerably in both lower corners. The window is plumb and level, and 80% of the drywall is right where it should be. These corners are about 1/2" off. Any suggestions for how to install the window trim so it looks right? I'm thinking I might have to cut out the offending drywall, level behind it, and replace.


After I added the frame extensions, I went over the nailing fins with drywall compound to bring those areas flush with the drywall. When we installed the new construction window, we decided to use the nailing fins and simply cut out chunks of drywall, as the holes and patches would eventually be covered by window trim:


Here's the window as it looks now... after the drywall compound dries I'll caulk around the window again and call it done!

Dealing With Windows- The Energy Efficiency Edition

The windows on our house are in need of SOMETHING to make them more energy efficient. But what? There are so many options...

Here's a picture of one of the worst offenses...


You can see that the parting bead is cracked, and the glazing is in less than desired (virtually non-existent) condition.

Replacement Windows- VINYL
There is lots of information out there about how wonderful vinyl replacement windows are. Unfortunately, most of it is from the vinyl window trade. (I have yet to find an independent study). I am not convinced.

For starters, vinyl windows have an industry stated life of 10 to 15 years... 2 years before the special Argon gas escapes and you are left with air, 10 years before moisture makes its way into the space and starts to fog the window. My wood windows have lasted for 100 years... and I would expect nothing less of any other window.

Second, vinyl windows are full of lead. The lead plus other chemicals off-gassing into the house can't be good. I will take my lead painted windows, carefully encapsulated in fresh paint or safely stripped of all lead paint, over a window that will release lead no matter what.

Third, the manufacturing process for vinyl windows can't be environmentally friendly, and the energy required to make them is certainly more than I will expend restoring old windows.

More information:
Blue Vinyl is a wonderful documentary about vinyl siding and its effects on people and the environment. Most of the information applies directly to windows. It's worth a look.

Jeanie at House in Progress has created a fabulous essay on the (de)merits of vinyl windows. There quite a lot of interesting information there. Be sure to click on the links and read the tables/charts.

Replacement Windows- WOOD
Replacement wood windows sound like a comparable option to your existing wood windows. However...

Newly harvested wood is not comparable to old wood. New wood is from quick growth forests and farmed trees... harvest young after only 30 years or so. It is much less dense than old growth wood, and rots/dents/breaks much easier. I have heard of new wood windows rotting out in 15 years. Also, the softer wood does not provide the same level of insulation as heavy, dense wood does from wind.

Wood windows are also much more expensive, are often clad with vinyl or have vinyl tracks, and still require a significant amount of energy to create. (Plus, your old windows end up in the landfill).

New wood windows are the best option, however, if it comes to replacement.... as long as you pick woods like cedar and mahogany, and make sure there is no vinyl or aluminum cladding or sliders.

Restoration
This leaves us with restoration. Your 100 year old wood windows have lasted this long; properly restored, they will last another 100 years or more. Restoration also keeps wood and glass out of the landfill.

By simply adding a properly fitted storm window to a properly functioning single paned, double hung window, you will increase the r value by more than 2, and bring it up to the r value of all but the beefiest replacement windows. Adding drapes or blinds will decrease this difference.

Our plan is to reglaze our windows and make sure they are working properly. They have aluminum triple track storms right now... eventually I want to make period appropriate storms out of wood instead. I hope to be able to compare our new wood/aluminum clad double paned Pella window with our original windows for some real life data... I promise to share it no matter how it turns out.

I'll leave the nitty gritty details on window restoration as I figure them out... stay tuned!

The Numbers
In the September, 2007, issue of Old House Journal there are some numbers crunched on monetary savings. I will leave you with them.

Estimates made with 3'x5' window; gas heat @ $1.09/therm.

Single-pane Original Wood Window with Storm Window
Cost for storm = $50*
Annual energy savings = 722,218Btu
Annual savings per window = $13.20
Simple payback = 4.5 years
*This cost is way too low for most storms. The numbers still work out in the favor of this option with a cost of $150 per storm, however

Double-Pane Thermal Replacement of Single Pane Window (No Storm)
Cost $450.00
Annual Energy savings = 625,922 Btu
Annual Savings per window = $11.07
Simple payback = 40.5 years

Double-Pane Thermal Replacement (Low E Glass) of Single-Pane Window (No Storm)
Cost = $550.00
Annual Energy Savings = 902,722 Btu
Annual Savings per window = $16.10
Simple payback = 34 years

Double-Pane Thermal Replacement (Low E Glass) of Single-Pane Window WITH Storm
Cost = $550.00
Annual Energy Savings = 132,407 Btu
Annual Savings per window = $2.29
Simple payback = 240 years

Source: http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14583&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=window+ratings

Shrink Wrapping Windows

To help Stop the Leaks at our house, I shrink wrapped the huge windows in the back addition. They are HUGE double paned windows that take up most of the back wall, and create our biggest heat loss each winter; there have been ice crystals on the inside at times.

Here's a picture of the smaller of the two monstrous windows:

Notice the small forest growing in the back yard? We've neglected it in the name of keeping the house from falling down and winterizing.

We used a store bought Window Insulation Kit and a hairdryer (bought at Goodwill for $3.99):


To shrink wrap your windows, you will need to first clean your windows. You can use a commercial product, or a mixture of vinegar and water.

Carefully apply the double sided tape to all sides of the window, following the instructions on the package. Cut your shrink wrap to the desired size (leaving an inch or two on all sides), and then apply it to the top of the window. Pull it taut to both sides and press firmly to seal. Seal the bottom last.

Take your hairdryer, turn it on, and carefully move it back and forth over the window, staying about 1 inch away from the plastic. Dry until all wrinkles are smoothed out.

If you need more visual help, Robj98168 posted a helpful video on his blog; it's for exterior shrink wrap, but it's pretty much the same.

This is the best option for windows that you won't open ever; I don't plan on taking it down until we remove those windows from the house!

Exterior Window Moldings...

When we removed the siding, we were left with ugly window trim:



All of the tan trim surrounding the window is not original; much of it is rotting, and it sticks out beyond the brick. It is also not sealed against the brick. The original windows (as seen from neighboring homes) were trimmed out inside the brick opening. We want to remove the tan trim and replace it with something much more suitable.

Here is a window without the tan trim:


This looks much better, and is more historically accurate (again, given surrounding houses). The problem is the gaps:




The quarter round molding currently on the outside of the window frame appears to be newer (it is missing the first layer of paint); it's broken in places and needs replaced anyway. My thought is to pry it off, and replace with a 1 inch deep block molding that will reach from the brick to where the storm windows will start.

Issues that need solving: Do I caulk between this wood molding and the brick? If not, how to I seal between the brick and wood?

A (mostly) Finished Windowsill

After two more Bondo applications, and a thorough sanding, we have a presentable window sill:



For those of you who don't remember, here's the "before":



It needs primed and painted now; this will wait until we decide what color/brand to use on the rest of the house. I'm not convinced that the original color (the dark brown on the window) is what I want... I'd prefer something with a little more "color".

Finally a project COMPLETED! (First one for this blog?) Off to work on the front door today, which had been neglected in the last few months. It's slow going... not a lot to show for my work!

Bondo... Part 2

An update on the window sill that I was fixing with Bondo....



I sanded the excess Bondo down with 60 grit sand paper on a random orbit sander. Here's how it looked after I was done:


A few spots left to fill, but overall a pretty good first try! A stiff bristle paint brush is excellent for removing all dust and dirt from the crevices of a repair such as this; important because Bondo needs a clean, dust free surface to adhere to.

This time, I had learned a few things about Bondo. I used an (old) spoon to mix and apply it instead of a putty knife, which allowed greater control. I mixed smaller batches of Bondo, and waited for them to hit "prime" spreading time... about 1 minute in. This is the result:



A little more sanding, and I think we will have it!

Bondo and Rotting Things (or why I hate Bondo)

One of our window sills sustained water damage over the course of the last 100 years... I'm blaming the asbestos.



Instead of immediately replacing this HUGE solid piece of wood (that is probably holding up that entire wall!), we decided to see how far the rot went.

I started scraping the rotted wood out... it was so soft and crumbly that you could use a fingernail to remove it. I used a scraper instead. Fortunately, the rot stopped a good deal short of anywhere that could be considered structural...

Here is the sill after scraping all crumbly wood out, a light sanding to remove what paint survived the water, and the application of Miniwax Wood Hardener, to harden the remaining wood.




Now the fun part... BONDO.

When I read about using it, everyone said "It dries fast.. don't make much". I figured they were talking about a 5 minute set time... NOT a 5 SECOND set time. Ok... it's not quite that bad. But I would say you have about 30 seconds to get your mixed Bondo to exactly where you want it before it is permanently where you DON'T want it.



See?

Despite my increasingly miniscule portions, I'll be spending a lot of time with the sander and chisel.

(An aside... you can see the likely original color of the windows and trim on the wood of the window. It's the dark brown. I hate to say, I'm not a fan.)

What A Change! (Siding Update)

One Week Ago:


Today:


We removed ALL of the wood from the front and east side of the house today (except the corners)!



I pried wood from the fronts of the windows:



Those white things are the original headers and sills. They seem to be in excellent condition... a little sanding and paint, and they'll be good as new! Now you can REALLY see why getting the exact size of window MIGHT be non-negotiable.

Here's a view of the door's header... it's in the same vein, though much thicker:



Tomorrow: Wood and steel siding come down off of the west side!

It's Raining, It's Pouring... So We Looked for New Windows

It rained ALL day. Steady, hard rain. My garden LOVES it. The siding removal project? Not so much!

It was the perfect excuse to run to the local salvage outlets looking for a window to replace this one:


The current window is about 4 inches too narrow and about a foot too short for the window hole in the brick. Since we are removing the siding, we need to find a replacement in the original size.

Our house has five of these windows...


All of them 28 inches wide and 70 inches tall, and in various stages of disrepair... some are possibly beyond repair and held together by metal brackets. We need to find at least one more.

We struck out three times until we got to the Habitat ReStore, where we found THIS window (and three others just like it):


It's 28 inches wide and 69 inches tall (and yes, upside down). UGH! It's also a solid wood, double paned modern window... with almost the exact same detail around the glass panes... very tempting. They have almost enough to do our whole house. But I doubt we can get away with using a window ONE INCH too short in a brick house...

Do I Pay Attention to Anything? (Or, clues I should have noticed)

I poked around the exterior of our house a bit more, looking for clues as to the condition of our brick. I noticed many things that should have tipped us off to the fact that there was an extra layer of siding....

The Front Door Jamb:


If you look closely, you can see that it is extra deep... and you can see the seam! The newer, unpainted wood is to extend the jamb out to the new siding.

A Window Frame:


The frame out is even more obvious here... I'd been thinking the window boxes were extra deep and didn't let in much light for a while. Turns out they ARE extra deep!

The Bottom of the House:


The siding sticks out a good inch or two beyond the foundation (there is a chain link fence post in the picture that takes up the empty space). This is not super normal... in fact, NONE of the other houses on my street look like this. Whether brick or clapboard, they are all flush with their foundations.

One more observation:
This is the east side of our house:


The window on the far right is not original to the house. Too bad, because it is a really cool multi-pane window.

I know this because there is no brick underneath it; it is just framed in and insulated. Also, its window sill is completely different in shape, slant, and construction than every other sill on the house. It SHOULD be the same window as the first window; the house next door is intact, identical, and shows this. Why in the world did they put a smaller (though much cooler) window there? They did use these same windows on the addition; I will likely just install this window there when we remodel.

We will likely have to find a replacement window for the original... too bad we didn't salvage the ones ripped out of an identical house across the street a year ago! (We had no idea we would need them then).

Bamboo Window Shades

I installed a few bamboo window shades in our kitchen and living room today. It's amazing what nice window coverings will do for a room.

Before:


After:


The living room after:


The curtains ended up VERY purple in the picture... they are actually the same color as the kitchen walls. That's what using the backlight function on your camera will do for color, I guess.

If you have never installed bamboo shades before, it is extremely easy: they hang from two hooks you screw into the upper part of your window frame. Simply hold the shade in place to mark the holes, drill two small holes, screw in the hooks, and hand the shade.

We are excited to use them this summer to keep our house more cool (by keeping the sun out).