To Muntin Or Not To Muntin
This is an important question and I want lots of advice. I’m… ordering windows! Very exciting! And I want the windows I can to be at least somewhat respectful of the architecture of the house.
To review, really cheap vinyl windows. Cheap vinyl windows that are showing their age because they are 20 years old and weren’t supposed to last that long. Cheap vinyl windows that are showing their age and were installed racked (twisted into drafty parallelograms), possibly by crackheads, which I caulked shut to keep warm, with random crap and peeling caulk filling the top 3 inches of the original openings because the replacements are too short. In this picture, the wood right above my tape measure used to project slightly over the original sashes.
(In addition to getting rid of the 3 inches of ugly, I’m taking out a home equity loan that will get rid of my raise for the foreseeable future.)
So, back to my big question. I’ve already decided, with a slightly heavy heart, to get good modern wood replacement windows rather than truly historically accurate reproductions. This was because I know that the original jambs need major help. One of them is basically gone, and without that help both options cost about the same. Also, the reproduction windows would be single paned and adding storm windows would be yet another expense to get a comparable product. Plus, I can’t pretend to be too snobby to ever consider resale, and having a matched set of windows with a famous brand name on them is probably good for that. I’m not saying they’re a fiscally sound investment, but I can expect to lose less if I sell the house.
So, I started out with 2 Marvin windows that I bought on Craigslist for about 1/6 of their retail value. The 2-over-2 style is not what my house originally had, but it does appear in similar houses in the area, and I like it. I was thinking that they fit the style of my house even if they’re not historically accurate. And new windows look way too perfect, and the muntin seems to tone that down.
But now that we’re talking about the front I’m re-asking this question that I answered once when I was 26. The rear living room window doesn’t have a muntin because, duh, it would look stupid on a window this narrow.
But what about the front windows? They’re taller and narrower than what I put in the back bedroom. (This standard size isn’t exact but it’s close. Sadly, my openings are smack dab in between 2 standard sizes so I’m springing for custom. It’s only about $500 total though.)
Of course this calls for one of my signature rudimentary but to scale Sketchup Free Version screenshots. There is no frame, but I’m pretty sure the glass and the spaces between them are right. And we can see that it does work.
By the way, the original exterior sills and brick mold are going back in onto the new windows, which will be exactly the right size with no frame-in-a-frame look. Picture this photo with all the ugly gone.
So, please give me your thoughts. I need crowdsourced confidence before I write the big checks.
15 Responses
We replaced all the windows on our historically protected apartments, and they had to be close replicas of the originals. In fact, the historic preservation folks wanted us to keep each unbroken glass pane and to keep single-paned windows. I informed them that while I was all for historical accuracy, I do not intend to heat the planet more than necessary and that we would do double-paned windows. They were custom because they’re huge (the ceilings are 13′ high). The artisan who did them made the glass a single piece, which was much cheaper than doing six separate pieces for each half window. He stuck wood strips for muntins on top.
Some friends did similar, but they have removable muntins–a grid that comes off–which make cleaning much easier.
French restrictions on this stuff are crazy though. I think even in Society Hill where the city enforces laws there’s no pre designated paint colors. Though I’ve wondered abiut Beacon Hill where every house has white trim and black shutters
And do storm windows exist in France? I talked about them with my host family there because they talked about screen doors (they said deuxieme portes) and I told them how convertible storm doors work and they thought they sounded fantastic
Not around here. We close the shutters during storms.
I’ve never heard of usong storm windows for storms though. Even the triple track kind people only close for the winter
I vote for no muntins. I know it’s not historically accurate, but it lets in more light. Nothing is worse than the fake muntins that they put between glass in new windows. Who came up with that stupid idea. Real muntins would be acceptable, but without is nicer. That’s my two cents.
No muntins is more historically accurate for this house
I vote no muntins too. I prefer a simple look for your house.
Fake muntins really detract from historic houses. If you go for the divided sash, get real muntins. Otherwise stick to the original one-over-one window configuration.
Gurl you think I would get fake muntins?
I vote for no muntins. By the 1890s when your house was built, larger single pane sashes had become widely available and were considered more fashionable than having muntins. I think it it would “muddy the waters” if you chose to add muntins where they wouldn’t have been.
I also vote no muntins. (The online spell check doesn’t recognize this word and wonders if I mean “mountains” or “mun tins,” which I suppose are baby speak for muffin tins.)
In neighborhoods like yours where houses have undergone so many modifications over the years, it would be difficult to know what the originals were like. It was a working class house, as I remember, and maybe they couldn’t afford the new larger paned windows. That being said, because it is such a narrow house with tall windows, I think aesthetically the windows would look better without the muntins, which would make the windows appear even narrower.
Also, I was going to say that the appearance of the windows in the back of the house is not as important as that of the front windows.
Well, I got such a bargain it doesnt matter. And at the time the house was built its possible that one would splurge on bigger panes at the front only
I like the 2 over 2 look, especially if they are really divided windows. 1 over 1 would still look good though. I think either would look age appropriate. What a relief to get windows that fit right!