What to Do About the Windows

After I’ve restored my brick front, it will be time to replace the windows. I’ve been looking forward to their demise for a long time Let’s have fun exploring exactly how bad they are.

The top few inches of the openings are built down with haphazardly stacked-up boards. Then the window jambs are racked so the windows can’t actually close. See the black line on the sash? That’s weatherstripping. The smudgy dirty white wedge above that is caulk that I gooped in there to get basic function for a few years.

This wall was plaster right on brick, no air cavity, so it got really cold in the winter and I insulated it. Now it’s built in about 2 extra inches. I finished the edges of the drywall crudely with corner molding and covered the messiness around the window with the 1/8″ particle board that I had used to protect the flooring. Crude, but cheap.

At I started off believing that since every window in the house was a bad modern replacement and half of them were installed so they wouldn’t close, my only choice was installing good modern wood windows. I already went this route on the back of the house.

Then a historic preservation carpenter friend threw an idea at me that opened up another question mark: what about tracking down window sash that’s actually period correct? This would mean fixing whatever rot and other damage we discover (and I know for a fact that there is rot) and undoing the damage I caused 4 years ago pulling off parts of the jambs and having the counterweight cavities filled with this  foam.

I’ve now gotten prices both from him and from a local dealer for Marvin windows, which would match what I already installed on the back of the house. The carpenter looked for original sashes for his own Philadelphia rowhouse and is now having reproductions made instead. Unfortunately, both options would cost quite a bit more than I expected. But all things considered, it looks like the modern windows (self installed) will cost less. Plus, it’s looking more likely that I’ll be moving out of the Crooked House sooner or later, and getting double paned windows with a prestigious brand name will probably appeal more to the hypothetical next owner.

So I’m back to Plan A. Like we did with the back windows, we’ll redo the framing so the opening is bigger and the new window is the size of the original. I’m planning to salvage the original exterior woodwork and use it again though the sills may be too rotten to reuse. The muntin style will match those first 2 windows I got on Craigslist even though it’s cheating a little bit on the historical accuracy thing. And once all this is done, I’ll be able to have woodwork inside and out that fits the windows the way it should.

And get ready for a big update next week because if everything goes as planned, the awnings and aluminum capping will meet their demise this weekend – and once that’s in motion, there’s no turning back.

I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so scared!