Tell me about window replacement!

[The Mad Monk]

The house I bought was built in 1930, with a couple additions (attic conversion, and a new room) sometime in the 1950s. Most of the original windows are in fair to poor condition, and need replacement.

At this point, I need to replace five upstairs windows (the sixth already has a vinyl replacement installed, two over-the-sink kitchen windows, and three swing-in style windows in the basement.

I want to try restoring the six windows in the living room, which are all original, in reasonable to fair shape, and appeal to me. Two identical windows in the master bedroom are in poor shape, but I want to restore those too, if possible. If it isn't possible, to want the replacements to match them.

SO, if anyone here has experience in repairing or restoring windows, please tell me about it. Do-it-yourself or hiring a contractor, chain or small shop, I don't care, i want to see all the options.

Thanks in advance!

[BeBMan]

Asher knows 'bout Windows *hides*

[The Mad Monk]

Har dee har har.

[Aeson]

Not sure what type of windows you have. We refinished 11 double hung windows in the original portion of the house. It was a lot of work, we did 5 the first round, and 6 a few months later. I think the house was built in the 50's. Most of the windows were in pretty good shape, but stuck a lot due to multiple paintings and worn springs.

Taking the windows out isn't too hard. Just pull off some moldings, unhook the springs (careful not to let them spin out of control when they come loose), and make sure not to drop the windows since the springs are the only thing holding them up. (Except someone had nailed the top window into the house to keep them from coming down instead of rewinding the springs. ) Took a couple hours to take them out, and nail up some plywood over the openings. We had plywood up for a couple months since we were working several other projects at the same time. (Network/cable wiring, siding, some electrical wiring) If it was just the windows, could probably have them back up in a week or two.

All the fixtures had to be replaced because they were rusting through. The springs were mostly good, just had to be refinished, grease/dirt buildup cleaned off then oiled up, and rewound tighter. (I took a couple days and sanded them down real nice because we were thinking of perhaps keeping a metallic look. Then we eneded up just painting them white. ) We covered up a 12th window with the addition, so we used it for spare parts when the others were lacking. Was good because a couple of the springs were broken, and one frame needed to be replaced. (Maybe you can use the upstairs windows you replace similarly.)

We replaced all the glass too because it was so brittle it was breaking when we stripped the putty off. Had to do it because the putty was in terrible shape, just wherever it was still hard it would crack the glass when we took it off. We tried to save some of the glass, but after a while it became clear it wasn't worth the time to try to do it carefully, since it was cracking anyways. (Sometimes just because of the heat gun even.) The rest of the glass we just broke out with a hammer (sheet of plastic underneath, towel over it), boxed up all the glass and took it to the recyclers. Breaking glass is nowhere near as fun as it sounds. Neither is cleaning up broken glass.

Then we used a heat gun and putty knives to remove most of the paint from the frames and casings. Easily the most time consuming part of the process. Hot, smelly (make sure to have some sort of gas mask with a good filter), messy, and took about a week of 3-4 hours days for 2 of us. Might be easier or harder depending on how much paint buildup you have, and the style of the windows.

Ended up taking the frames apart and using a router to get some of the harder putty out and square things up. Replaced a couple of worn/broken frame pieces. Then reassembled the frames and painted them. That was like a vacation after the paint stripping.

Put the new window panes in, tacked them in, and used some linseed oil putty to seal it up. That was pretty interesting, tough to get it right, and it takes a long time to cure so you have to be careful not to touch the putty for the next few months. First few windows took about an hour each to get the putty right, last few it was getting easy and maybe 10 minutes each.

Re-hanging the windows was easy once that was all done. We used new wood on track moldings, already had them painted, and had to wind the springs quite a bit (and go back and rewind some later), but that was a couple days work.

Mostly it was a lot of fun except the paint stripping and the poor state the glass was in.

[The Mad Monk]

Thanks, Aeson!

The frames are stained, not painted (don't know if that's original or not), and they use the pulley/counterweight system rather than springs. Most of the counterweight ropes are rotted through, and the previous owners used an assortment of pipes and boards to hold them up.

The counterweights are pretty straight forward, and I can handle those with my current tools and skills. Some frames clearly have rotted sections, and I would like to hear more on how you replaced those. Also, what kind of replacement glass did you use, and how did you get it?

All the windows except the replaced ones have two-track storm windows, many missing screens.

I have a few photos of the house here:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=5247476#post5247476

[Aeson]

Here's the leftover frame. It was replaced by the frame of the window that was covered over by the addition. This one had some termite damage. Could have filled it in and it'd be ok, but since it was in the poorest shape we just left it alone.



Thought we still had some of the leftover springs, but I couldn't find them. Here's a picture of the spring installed on the bottom window frame, and the runner which creates the window track. (Still needs to have the nail holes filled and painted.)



The fixtures we put in. Same basic design as the ones we replaced. You can also see how the putty isn't quite right. This was the first window we did, and it's pretty tough to get the putty the perfect width, straight, and keep it smooth all at the same time. In this case we were just a bit too wide, so you can see it from the inside. As opposed to if it's too narrow, you can see the frame from the other side, but that's easy to catch since that's the side you see while doing the putty work. Most of the jagged stuff is just loose putty/dirt, and the opaque is just oil from the putty that we've been waiting to clean off until the putty had cured properly.



And one of the "finished" windows in full. We still have to paint the siding and trim boards. (I want a soft orange siding, with white trim... but my Aunt doesn't seem to like the creamsicle look. She's going to go for some earthy-tone... I've proposed a watermelon/raspberry/peach (greens, blues, yellows, and mochas are out because that's the color of the houses that surround us) as alternatives, but still no... world needs more color!

[Aeson]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
The counterweights are pretty straight forward, and I can handle those with my current tools and skills. Some frames clearly have rotted sections, and I would like to hear more on how you replaced those.

Most of our frames were in decent shape. There was some termite damage, we just cleaned the holes out and used wood filler for them. If you're staining instead of painting, that might not be a good idea though.

If we'd have had to replace any significant portion of the frames, would probably have just milled our own. There are 2 pins in each corner that we popped out, then the frame pieces just slide apart with some coaxing. Depending on how much detailing there is, could be relatively easy to ridiculously hard to mill a new piece with a table saw and router (just need the proper profile).

If you have the windows from upstairs that were replaced, it could be that you could mix and match parts.

Other portions of the house that have had rot problems we've cut out all the rot, then epoxy on a patch piece of wood. For instance, the runner along the outside of the eaves that you can see in the window pic, had to have some work done on it. Can't tell now though. All the load bearing stuff has been in good shape luckily. Sand everything down and paint and it looks good.

Also, what kind of replacement glass did you use, and how did you get it?

Not sure, my cousin ordered it. I'll ask him.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...76#post5247476

Nice place you've got there. The window frames look white, so you could paint over any patchwork? I take it the top windows have 6 seperate panes of glass (on the originals)? Just 3 was kinda a pain, so I don't envy you that.

[The Mad Monk]

Yeah, they are white on the outside, but stained on the inside, so it really depends on where the fill is used. The main problem is looseness between frame pieces, I can feel it to differing extents when I lift them (no stuck ones, thankfully); the worst ones visibly wiggle.

The top windows do have six panes, one of the reasons I really like them.

I'm fairly certain the second floor windows were put in during the 1950's; they have the same width but the styling is different.

Thanks.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
The main problem is looseness between frame pieces, I can feel it to differing extents when I lift them (no stuck ones, thankfully); the worst ones visibly wiggle.

We used some wood glue when putting our frames back together, since a few of them had been a bit loose as well. Could have also used slightly larger pins probably.

I don't think there was any glue used originally, just the pins.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Aeson
We refinished 11 double hung windows in the original portion of the house. ..............
Mostly it was a lot of fun except the paint stripping and the poor state the glass was in.

I bow before your man skills.

[The Mad Monk]

Why are you bowing face up?

[Lancer]

If you want to replace the windows just remove the interior trim very carefully then measure the RO or rough opening. In old houses each RO may be different so measure them all. Bring these measurements to your local home center and order vinyl clad windows. They should automaticly take off 1/4 inch all around and you can buy shims to use in these spaces. When they come in take out the old windows and put in the new making sure not to squeeze them too much away from the corners as this will bind up the windows and make them hard to operate. So use the shims close to the corners and in between be careful not to push them together too much before nailing. Use finish nails through the wood and into the frames. Make sure all functions before replacing with the original trim. You might have to alter the trim a bit too.

[Lancer]

Also use fiberglass insulation packed loose in the spaces. If you buy the canned foam it will expand and bind your windows so avoid it. That stuff is hell to try to dig out.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by SpencerH
I bow before your man skills.

I find work can be fun as long as it's kept to 1 part manual labor, 2 parts playing at the beach.

[Lancer]