replacement windows

[nswef]

Our house was built in 1962. The windows are double hung with aluminum spring lifter ( not sure if that's the right term) We have triple track aluminum storm windows and currently have wooden frames on the inside that I've covered with 3M film. They all have helped, and I hate the idea of vinyl windows. I had read about a system that replaces the aluminum risers to keep the original window frames intact. Any ideas?

[catherine]

I hear you. In our NJ house, we had probably exactly what you have. We knew that they probably needed to be replaced, but there's something about old windows that I really like, and to your point, to replace them with vinyl was not something I was interested in. I would have gone whole hog for Andersen premier wood windows but DH would never have supported spending a ton of money on them.

Anyway, not my problem anymore. Up here, the previous owners did install new vinyl windows--rather cheap ones, too (oh well) but at least they kept the original 6-pane casement windows in a couple of the rooms. Yes, they're drafty, but we do what you do--seal them with plastic in the winter.

Why are you looking to replace them?

[iris lilies]

Someone went through our Hermann 1941 house and replaced every damn window with vinyl shit. Even the little bathroom window. I just accept that as something I have to live with, my cross to bear.

To make myself feel better I think about the original windows in my condo. With weights. Wood windows with weights. Yes they need reglazed and taken out and parts rebuilt, but they are original and they are magnificent! Ha ha for anyone who gets this reference to a .Seinfeld bit.

[beckyliz]

We replaced ours in our old home - they were original from 1977 and very leaky. Yes, we did vinyl. It was better than what we had and what we could afford.

[jp1]

I agree that old wood windows are gorgeous. If we had them I would want to keep them, acknowledging that it would probably be a sunk cost in terms of resale value. Our townhouse, built in 1977 originally had aluminum frame single pane windows. Standard here since we don’t really get extreme weather. The owner before the guy we bought from replaced them with decent quality vinyl. We’ve gone to open houses in our development where the units have the original windows. Obviously they are not lovely. I dont love our windows but they do a good job.

[Yppej]

I still miss my wood window that I could screw an A/C unit into. Now I have to sleep upstairs when it's hot so the unit isn't pushed in the window by a thief, which could easily happen on the first floor.

[ToomuchStuff]

Years ago, from a home improvement store that is no more, I bought a window kit for a bathroom remodel. I went to put it in on Thanksgiving and found out it had two left sides.
I wish I knew the name of the kit, because it allowed me to use the bathroom window panes, put some part of the kit in the rope area to hold open, and aluminum sides that cover the weight holes, so then you eliminate the weight mechanism, and fill those pockets with insulation.
It made the window much tighter, easier to open and close. So they are out there.

[nswef]

Thanks everyone. The windows are in excellent shape, just dreadfully drafty, thus the storm windows and inside plastic storm windows. I like Toomuchstuff's idea of insulating the holes. We already have the aluminum spring thing that's covered with a wee track of aluminum so no weights and ropes. ...I remember seeing a kit that replaced the aluminum track that but can't find it on the internet yet and then there is finding someone to do the work. Our handy man who has retired was not at all interested in doing that job, he felt we should just replace them. I disagreed...At 72 every worker we've had lately at the house asks, "how long do you plan to stay here?" Makes me laugh..our plan is to stay until we die here, God willing!

[catherine]

At 72 every worker we've had lately at the house asks, "how long do you plan to stay here?" Makes me laugh..our plan is to stay until we die here, God willing!

Yeah, DH and I had a reality check when we replaced our old kitchen fixtures with recessed lighting, and when DH asked the Home Depot guy how hard it is to replace the LED light bulbs in recessed lights, the guy said, "don't worry--they'll outlive you!"

So now I know that one of the benefits of aging is knowing the answer the question to "How many old people does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: "Who cares? They'll be dead anyway."

[nswef]

Thanks for the laugh!

[jp1]

I’d heard that about led lights as well. The technology must have improved over the last 20 years. Back then I was an avid bike rider and used those blinks led lights when riding. They typically lasted about a year or two before I had to replace them. Maybe it was all the jiggling and bumps from NYC’s potholed streets?

In our current house we have LED lights everywhere but they are mostly screw in bulbs for floor and table lamps since they didn’t build houses with many overhead lights back in the 70’s.

[ToomuchStuff]

Wait, what? (overhead lights in the 70's)

Ok, so my 1920's bungalow, which was the builders showplace for a while (had their daughter stay there, and had two outlets and one light, in the house, according to neighbor that was the second owner of their house in late 20's), but not in the 70's?

[SteveinMN]

We replaced ours in our old home - they were original from 1977 and very leaky. Yes, we did vinyl. It was better than what we had and what we could afford.
We've been replacing ours as they fail, slowly but surely (1974 house here). And we replaced the builder-grade wood windows with a "better" line of vinyl windows. Even at the price of the windows we bought wood windows would have been close to junk (and would require maintenance down the line); fiberglass was just a dream. When you start multiplying by 15 panes, it adds up in a hurry. They are better than what we had.

We stopped a full-scale replacement, however, when we learned the money was better spent insulating the tops of the walls (that's where we lose most of our heat and makes the place feel drafty). Alas, we haven't done that yet, either.

[Teacher Terry]

Our house in Kenosha had 30 windows and we were slowly replacing them with vinyl because my husband wasn’t a fan of changing storm to screens on a 3 story house twice a year. They also were much less drafty. I tried to change my slider and bedroom windows unsuccessfully here. A window company that will do it all for 5k can’t get the slider up the stairs and won’t pull it up over the balcony.

A glass company that can partially assemble it in the condo wants 10k. They think it will go up the stairs. That’s ridiculous. It’s bronze color and I wanted white so my son is painting it. Others have had the same issues if you are on the 3rd floor. If you are on the second companies will use a cherry picker to bring it up through the balcony. I don’t pay the heat anyways except for indirectly through my Hoa fees.

[jp1]

Wait, what? (overhead lights in the 70's)


Our bedrooms and living room don't have any overhead lights, just switches on the wall that turn on/off an outlet. We looked at a few other houses from the same era that all were the same way so I assume this was a thing back then. Maybe the only light fixtures available back then were ugly? The house I grew up in was built in the 20's and the overhead lights were all hideous circular florescent tubes so we rarely used them, opting for table lamps instead.

[sweetana3]

We got Marvin fiberglass replacement windows and love them. Instant quiet (we live 2 blocks from an interstate), no more drafts, clean on the inside easily, no painting required. Our house was cheaply built in 1997. We bought because of fabulous location and have been slowly upgrading. Cannot buy a lot for almost a mile around our house and none would have the walkability index.

But we have replaced the siding, windows, roof, furnace, water heater, masterbath, triple glass back door, counter and fixtures. Next is the potential kitchen.

ps: our city has its first container home. Fabulous house by Travis Price but on the most awful urban lot. Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.https://www.zillow.com/indianapolis-in/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C% 22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Indianapolis%2C%20IN%22% 2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-86.37055106012467%2C%22east%22%3A-85.83084769098404%2C%22south%22%3A39.6740765218887 6%2C%22north%22%3A39.983400326092415%7D%2C%22regio nSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A32149%2C%22 regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atru e%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value% 22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A600000 %2C%22max%22%3A700000%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22 %3A1987%2C%22max%22%3A2319%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisibl e%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%7D

[rosarugosa]

The Purist's Wooden Windows - A Cautionary Tale
Our house had annoying crappy wooden windows with aluminum storms, some of which we could not even open or close, when we moved here in 1985. We replaced them all in or around 1994, with Marvin wooden true divided light windows. (I can tell true divided light windows from the imposters just driving down the street). At the time, I did a lot of calling around and researching (no internet yet!). One guy told me I was crazy, and that vinyl replacement was the only way to go. We never spoke again. I was a purist and everything had to be wood. We put in 28 beautiful windows!
We are a bit older now than we were in 1994 (haha), and 28 wooden windows with true divided lights are not as much fun to prime, paint and scrape as they used to be. That would be OK because I'm actually pretty good with the Zen of relentless drudgery, but there has been a lot of deterioration and rot, much more than I would have expected from an allegedly premium product, and I almost - but only almost - kind of wish we had taken a closer look at those vinyl windows.

[rosarugosa]

We got Marvin fiberglass replacement windows and love them. Instant quiet (we live 2 blocks from an interstate), no more drafts, clean on the inside easily, no painting required. Our house was cheaply built in 1997. We bought because of fabulous location and have been slowly upgrading. Cannot buy a lot for almost a mile around our house and none would have the walkability index.

But we have replaced the siding, windows, roof, furnace, water heater, masterbath, triple glass back door, counter and fixtures. Next is the potential kitchen.

ps: our city has its first container home. Fabulous house by Travis Price but on the most awful urban lot. Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.https://www.zillow.com/indianapolis-in/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C% 22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Indianapolis%2C%20IN%22% 2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-86.37055106012467%2C%22east%22%3A-85.83084769098404%2C%22south%22%3A39.6740765218887 6%2C%22north%22%3A39.983400326092415%7D%2C%22regio nSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A32149%2C%22 regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atru e%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value% 22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A600000 %2C%22max%22%3A700000%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22 %3A1987%2C%22max%22%3A2319%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisibl e%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%7D

This really interests me because we have looked at some of the newer Marvin products. Would it be too rude for me to ask for a very rough ballpark on cost? Like $500 per window, or $1000 per window? I suppose that if we do decide to stay here forever, another round of lower maintenance windows may be in our future.

[sweetana3]

rosarugosa, we probably had it done 15 years ago and it was a part of the huge project. Was 7 windows and about $5,700 back then. Although that triple french door with built in blinds was around $7,000. There is a long back story to that big door but we are extremely happy with it.

The previous windows and door were a cheap wood Pella product. The door actually rotted out and it was only installed in 1997. A previous house we had that was built in 1939 had wood trim that was like concrete. Paint might peel but the wood did not rot. However, the windows were steel single pane. Had a combo of inside and outside storm windows. After we sold, the windows and doors were all replaced. Of course, they also took out the glass kitchen and bathroom.

[razz]

House maintenance is costly but upkeep is essential to maintain value and comfort.

[rosarugosa]

rosarugosa, we probably had it done 15 years ago and it was a part of the huge project. Was 7 windows and about $5,700 back then. Although that triple french door with built in blinds was around $7,000. There is a long back story to that big door but we are extremely happy with it.

The previous windows and door were a cheap wood Pella product. The door actually rotted out and it was only installed in 1997. A previous house we had that was built in 1939 had wood trim that was like concrete. Paint might peel but the wood did not rot. However, the windows were steel single pane. Had a combo of inside and outside storm windows. After we sold, the windows and doors were all replaced. Of course, they also took out the glass kitchen and bathroom.

Thanks, Sweetana.

[iris lilies]

Our bedrooms and living room don't have any overhead lights, just switches on the wall that turn on/off an outlet. We looked at a few other houses from the same era that all were the same way so I assume this was a thing back then. Maybe the only light fixtures available back then were ugly? The house I grew up in was built in the 20's and the overhead lights were all hideous circular florescent tubes so we rarely used them, opting for table lamps instead.
Funny, I am having fun shopping for 1920s fixtures for my condo. I consider that time a rich plethora of choice.

But when i am trying to figure out somewhat appropriate lighting for my 1941 cottage in Hermann, I come up against a dead end. I don’t like any of them. What a difference 20 years makes.

[iris lilies]

We got Marvin fiberglass replacement windows and love them. Instant quiet (we live 2 blocks from an interstate), no more drafts, clean on the inside easily, no painting required. Our house was cheaply built in 1997. We bought because of fabulous location and have been slowly upgrading. Cannot buy a lot for almost a mile around our house and none would have the walkability index.

But we have replaced the siding, windows, roof, furnace, water heater, masterbath, triple glass back door, counter and fixtures. Next is the potential kitchen.

ps: our city has its first container home. Fabulous house by Travis Price but on the most awful urban lot. Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.https://www.zillow.com/indianapolis-in/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C% 22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Indianapolis%2C%20IN%22% 2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-86.37055106012467%2C%22east%22%3A-85.83084769098404%2C%22south%22%3A39.6740765218887 6%2C%22north%22%3A39.983400326092415%7D%2C%22regio nSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A32149%2C%22 regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atru e%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value% 22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A600000 %2C%22max%22%3A700000%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22 %3A1987%2C%22max%22%3A2319%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisibl e%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%7D

Is that the one on Bellefontaine? This link takes me to the front page of Zillow.


I enjoyed the quick tour of Indy houses for sale.

[nswef]

I am finding this very useful. Marvin has been mentioned twice in a good way, Pella, not so much. Steve, How did you check on insulating the top of the walls? I'm thinking that our attic, insulated (1960) and floored with 1 inch oak, would make insulating the top of the walls difficult. Our cold really seems to come from the windows...and the doors which are another whole issue. Solid oak, I love them, but they are drafty, so I am looking at replacing the storm doors, but the same issue as with the windows, wondering if just putting new ones in the same space will do any good. But, you all have given me some plans!

[Rogar]

I don't know if it's been covered, but I replaced my steel frame with aluminum storms a few years ago. I got a higher grade vinyl and as far as my tastes go they look fine after maybe 10 years of Colorado weather. One thing that was disappointing was that the vinyl frame takes up about 2 inches more window space on each side than the original. So the window open is smaller. I've see ads for more modern thin frames. The windows also have a slight blue tint which has some sort of energy value I've forgotten. I don't know about absolute energy savings, but the house feels warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer

[sweetana3]

Iris Lilies, yes the container house is on Bellfeontaine. Gentrification taking place one house at a time. One of the few inner city areas with a large group of modern (column flat roof) homes. This is to be the first container house but others are planned. Found this new article: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/lifestyle/home/indys-first-shipping-container-house-just-listed

[sweetana3]

We replaced most of the light fixtures in our 1939 house with ones we found in other old houses or auctions, etc. At the time, we found a young man who had a lighting repair business and he restored them for us. Various types of these: https://www.vintagehardware.com/proddetail.php?prod=25792&optn0x0y0=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqvaNBhDLARIsAH1Pq51yrqMKCLDs8eaTPkwR iscFnrAb3dRX8-jlfDBampLJ34vkIfXFn-caAn_pEALw_wcB

[iris lilies]

We replaced most of the light fixtures in our 1939 house with ones we found in other old houses or auctions, etc. At the time, we found a young man who had a lighting repair business and he restored them for us. Various types of these: https://www.vintagehardware.com/proddetail.php?prod=25792&optn0x0y0=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqvaNBhDLARIsAH1Pq51yrqMKCLDs8eaTPkwR iscFnrAb3dRX8-jlfDBampLJ34vkIfXFn-caAn_pEALw_wcB

Yes, those are art deco, 1927+. I look at similar things for my condo. I suppose I could do something deco for my 1941 cottage, it’s just that my cottage is very, I mean extremely, SIMPLE in concept. Those chandeliers would be out of context for it.

[ToomuchStuff]

When was your place completed, verses when did we ramp up for the war effort (where even some new stock probably went into metal for war efforts)?

[iris lilies]

When was your place completed, verses when did we ramp up for the war effort (where even some new stock probably went into metal for war efforts)?
Completed in 1941. built by the owners themselves with their quirky re-use of materials from their farm.

All others of similar era on the block completed 1948-1958.

[iris lilies]

I see a lot if Jeld-wen wood windows around my neighborhood.

[SteveinMN]

Imagine a wall of windows with no where to look and the lot next door is not theirs.
DW would love to put more windows into this house. What stops us is the money and the fact that there is no view here worth bigger/more windows. They exist in this city, but not on this lot.

[SteveinMN]

Steve, How did you check on insulating the top of the walls?
Xcel Energy (our local energy provider) offers free energy audits for air infiltration/heat loss/inefficient heaters/lack of insulation, etc. We paid extra for the "blower door test" which forces air through your house to identify what areas are experiencing the biggest thermal change.

[SteveinMN]

I got a higher grade vinyl and as far as my tastes go they look fine after maybe 10 years of Colorado weather. One thing that was disappointing was that the vinyl frame takes up about 2 inches more window space on each side than the original. So the window open is smaller. I've see ads for more modern thin frames.
Some windows are designed to drop into the existing opening after the house is completed; those typically have less glass area than the kind where they have to take the old window out completely to fit the new one in.

It also is true that some window brands use thicker frames -- and that, sometimes, even the size of the window has a stake in it (biiiiig windows need a sturdier frame to keep from bowing over time). Our neighbors replace all their windows in one shot with "replacement" windows and the loss of light from the smaller panes of glass is apparent. We did not make that mistake when our turn came ('course, it cost more $$$ too).

[nswef]

Thanks, Steve. I'm am thinking of getting that energy audit the Elec. Co. offers- I think the one is $100 and the person is local- fairly. I don't like smaller window panes either. That was the main reason I didn't want all new. big decisions and "How long will you be living here?" questions.