Hello again

[MN cowgirl]

Just thought I would finally get back to posting on here.   Its been a busy summer and fall.  I have attended a Beginning Experience weekend so now I can be a facilitator.   Met a gal at the weekend that had lost her husband to suicide and was having a hard time of it.   We took a long walk and had a good conversation that I hope helped her. 

My daughter is due Dec. 2nd with my first grandchild but is having trouble with low amniotic fluid so she may be induced as soon as this Friday.  So I will soon , FINALLY BE A GRANDMA!!!

I have been trying to go through boxes of stuff and have given alot of clothes and things away.  Theres still alot to go through but I figured thats what winter snow storms are for.   Im having the hardest time with very old things, some antiques, that I know the kids will never want should I pass, but I can't seem to sell or give away.  So, there they sit in a trunk, year after year.  

I need to replace some windows in this house, and am wondering about what kind of window and what brand I should be looking for.    I have heard some have had trouble with Pellas but others don't.   Anderson have some that are made for replacing old windows.   Should I get all vinyl?   suggestions?

[Kay/NC]

So glad you are back, and congratulations on your first grandchild, too. 
Our daughter's due date, as originally calculated is Decmeber 3rd, so we will have to keep up with each othetr on this one...she has been put on bed rest as of eleven days ago, and so far is doing well enough to hopefully make it a bit longer.

I am sure your conversation helped that lady in coping with her sadness and the ambivalent feelings that follow a suicide.  It is kind of you to try to help others in their time of extreme need. 

I agree with you that there is plenty of time to go through boxes in bad weather...it is just too beautiful out now to be stuck in a cramped closet.  Maybe you can eventually find a place for some of those antiques, so you can enjoy them...focus on your own life and don't worry about what the kids will do decades from now. 

On the windows issue, i have been taught that it is much more economical to restore older wooden windows whenever possible, and use good storm windows over them.  A good house painter will know how to re-glaze them (I actually do my own, for next to no cost), and storms cost a fraction of what a replacement window does. 

There is virtually NO diffference in R-value of a new, double- or triple-gl;azed window and a regular wooden one with a well-fitted storm.  Wooden windows, when well-maintained, easily last for a hundred yuears or well beyond.  Modern window construction simply cannot compare, and many windows do not last but a decade or so.   

[turkey feather]

We bought new storms windows for our house instead of replacements except for a couple that were not really in good shape. We were advised this was the way to go and it is much cheaper. The new storm windows are very good.

It is good to hear from you. I think we all probably have family things that we doubt the kids will want but we can't get rid of yet.

[Kay/NC]

One thing that a lot of homes show with replacement windows is that the styles just do not match the house.
Once you have studied this subject as an element of design, your realize how the sizes of panes on each sash reflect the glassmaking technology odmthe era, which is why you see more numerous, smaller panes in older homes up to a point, when sheet glass became possible. Even the old diamond- shaped panes of some eras were driven by how glass was blown and spread out in a circle for cutting...diamonds being easier to yield from a circle than squares or rectangles.

It is a fascinating subject...one restorers can write books about and teach whole courses on. The main thing to know is that modern windows are just not the big energy savers they are represented to be. There is not enough energy savings between the two to ever justify replacements.

There is a factor of wood unavailability that drove a lot fo the transition from wood to vinyl framing...also, never wanting to paint says and frames. Still, none of the vinyl ones really looks like wood..sort of the difference between vinyl and wood siding,anything plastic v anything natural.

This house had not a single window, and only a couple of surviving interior doors, when we found it. We thus had no choice but to buy modern units, which meant the house would never be a restoration project, merely a remodeling one. Since I had to buy new, I opted whoever possible for casements...when you open them, the entire opening is open for ventilation...with double hung windows, the most you ever get as an opening for air is half the overall window dimension.

Even rotted sills and sash parts can be restored relatively easily. A good trim carpenter can do them and you will never know they
are not originals. As I said above, a good housepainter will strip old, dried- out glazing fromthe panes, and re- do it. It isn't hard to do yourself...just takes time and a bit of patience.

Physically, if I can do it, any normal person can. You won't believe how much it changes the look and air- tightness of an old
window to get a new glazing bevel in each sash. I juat re- glazed a window at the store...even a cheap quality replacement window woild have cost at least $600, if not more. The glazing compound to re- do it will cost me under $10, and the paint to freshen it up a
fraction of that. Worth investigating....

[soilbabe]

We are now slowly replacing replacements! I just hate the look of storm Windows. And I hate the functionality of them. One room at a time we are replacing windows with vinyl double hung. Our Windows are 8 ft tall. The replacements tip in for cleaning. All of what you say may be true about energy efficiency but for me the cost of replacements and the slight concession in appearance is worth the trouble. We have 27 windows in this big old house. Even though the decision was already made for us before we bought it I would still do good quality replacements for our situation.....mainly due to lots of high winds here in winter....

[soilbabe]

I forgot to say "welcome back,cowgirl". Glad to hear from you!

[Kay/NC]

I totally understand the tradeoffs in the window department...our decisioin was made for us, too, since there were NO windows in this house when we started working on it.  Just be aware that the newer ones aren't made to last several lifetimes, maybe not even a single one.... 

[linda/IL]

31 windows here!!  I'm not sure maybe 32-lost count.  We replaced all but one so far & have used the vinyl replacements except for the new porch which were a wood tip in.  All the vinyl are tip in also.  Our old windows were painted shut or the glass was cracked; replacements were a much better choice.  And there's no way I want to hang on a ladder to put on storm windows on a tall 2nd floor! 

I'd go to a good, private, reputable lumber yard and get their opinion on the brand of windows.  I can't remember what the name of our big one in the DR but the place gave expert advise and I trust them.   I think sometimes the box store can get some different opinions according to whoever is working at the time.

So glad  you're back here MN!  Enjoy that new grandchild!  Next Christmas will be really fun!

[Ruby Lou]

So with the nasty weather we had here overnight, when I got up and walked past my 4 or 5 year old windows, the breeze caught me.  Guess I need to put my plastic up.  Wish my husband would have called the guy who put them in, except that we rent a farm from his mom and don't wont to put up too much of  a fuss.  Windows don't fit tight, the "handle" part that goes across the bottom isn't even so apparently the windows are twisted.  He won't get anymore of our window business, but guess I have to put up with a breeze blowing through.  Thats what they make window plastic for I guess.