Our Argenta Craftsman Home has these steel casement windows. I was a painter for many years and I can say that I have never seen a house this old with the windows in such good shape. I think every window in the house opens with the exception of maybe one. And that is due to it being wedged shut because of the brick settling. They shut tightly and all. But, even though the glass panes are almost a half inch thick they are not energy efficient. The air passes freely between the inside and outside. Outside noise also seems to pass into the house freely. Only some of the windows have screens. The screens work like cabinet doors on the inside. You have to pull open the screens which are like doors to open the windows. The window situation must be improved. In my thinking fixing the windows are part of the front porch and overall brick work.
I have three plans in mind as follows:
1. There are a couple of companies that make Plexiglas inserts that mount inside the window frames which will make them air-tight. What you could call custom made interior storm windows. The downside is that we would not be able to open the windows. But the widows would be much more efficient and the noise level would be lower. This would be the lowest cost improvement.
2. Pull off the interior trim of the windows and completely rework the whole frame of each window unit. In the Historic Preservation Briefs of the National Parks Service there are extensive directions for the restoration and improvement of steel casement windows. This may cost more than replacing the windows with top of the line modern casement windows. Here is a link to the National Parks historic preservation brief that covers steel windows:
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief13.htm But given my experience as a painter, I could probably do this level of workmanship. In addition to the re-work work we would figure out some way to have the interior storms and screens. If I did the work the monetary outlay would be low, but the commitment in time would be very high. I estimate 30-40 hours per large window unit to do it federal grade.
3. Replace the windows with modern top of the line casement windows. According to our friend and neighbor Tom, an Architect who works in the state historic preservation office, this ain't gonna happen. Becky and I were gung-ho about Argenta getting the federal historic district designation to preserve property values, but that means the historic district commission has rule over us in such matters. If they say "NO" then "NO" it is. I have copied from the preservation brief what is the only condition where replacement would be allowed:
Repair of historic windows is always preferred within a rehabilitation project. Replacement should be considered only as a last resort. However, when the extent of deterioration or the unavailability of replacement sections renders repair impossible, replacement of the entire window may be justified.
So our choice will probably be #2: Re-work each window completely. Then find some system that will give us screens, energy efficiency, and noise reduction.
Approximate cost?: $500 each window? $1,000? $250?
Times something like 15 windows. That estimates to be... $3,750- $15,000. Actually that would be cheaper than replacements. It would just take an eternity of time. I was just dreaming of having these new Pella casement windows with screens that were beautiful and functional and Tom just killed that dream with a bureaucratic "ha-ha". But the necessary results are screens, efficiency and quiet. I bet the actual cost comes in at $250 per window and the time of 30 hours each. this means I would be messing with these windows for a year.
If we did something that required changing storm windows with screens, spring and fall, a storage cabinet would have to be constructed somewhere handy to specific dimensions to hold them. But letting the idea of new windows die makes room for ideas of screens and insulating windows. I should be able to think of something for half the cost of new windows. The more money we have to spend on each window should equal less time I have to spend in restoration.
Our Argenta Craftsman Home has these steel casement windows. I was a painter for many years and I can say that I have never seen a house this old with the windows in such good shape. I think every window in the house opens with the exception of maybe one. And that is due to it being wedged shut because of the brick settling. They shut tightly and all. But, even though the glass panes are almost a half inch thick they are not energy efficient. The air passes freely between the inside and outside. Outside noise also seems to pass into the house freely. Only some of the windows have screens. The screens work like cabinet doors on the inside. You have to pull open the screens which are like doors to open the windows. The window situation must be improved. In my thinking fixing the windows are part of the front porch and overall brick work.
I have three plans in mind as follows:
1. There are a couple of companies that make Plexiglas inserts that mount inside the window frames which will make them air-tight. What you could call custom made interior storm windows. The downside is that we would not be able to open the windows. But the widows would be much more efficient and the noise level would be lower. This would be the lowest cost improvement.
2. Pull off the interior trim of the windows and completely rework the whole frame of each window unit. In the Historic Preservation Briefs of the National Parks Service there are extensive directions for the restoration and improvement of steel casement windows. This may cost more than replacing the windows with top of the line modern casement windows. Here is a link to the National Parks historic preservation brief that covers steel windows: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief13.htm But given my experience as a painter, I could probably do this level of workmanship. In addition to the re-work work we would figure out some way to have the interior storms and screens. If I did the work the monetary outlay would be low, but the commitment in time would be very high. I estimate 30-40 hours per large window unit to do it federal grade.
3. Replace the windows with modern top of the line casement windows. According to our friend and neighbor Tom, an Architect who works in the state historic preservation office, this ain't gonna happen. Becky and I were gung-ho about Argenta getting the federal historic district designation to preserve property values, but that means the historic district commission has rule over us in such matters. If they say "NO" then "NO" it is. I have copied from the preservation brief what is the only condition where replacement would be allowed: Repair of historic windows is always preferred within a rehabilitation project. Replacement should be considered only as a last resort. However, when the extent of deterioration or the unavailability of replacement sections renders repair impossible, replacement of the entire window may be justified.
So our choice will probably be #2: Re-work each window completely. Then find some system that will give us screens, energy efficiency, and noise reduction.
Approximate cost?: $500 each window? $1,000? $250?
Times something like 15 windows. That estimates to be... $3,750- $15,000. Actually that would be cheaper than replacements. It would just take an eternity of time. I was just dreaming of having these new Pella casement windows with screens that were beautiful and functional and Tom just killed that dream with a bureaucratic "ha-ha". But the necessary results are screens, efficiency and quiet. I bet the actual cost comes in at $250 per window and the time of 30 hours each. this means I would be messing with these windows for a year.
If we did something that required changing storm windows with screens, spring and fall, a storage cabinet would have to be constructed somewhere handy to specific dimensions to hold them. But letting the idea of new windows die makes room for ideas of screens and insulating windows. I should be able to think of something for half the cost of new windows. The more money we have to spend on each window should equal less time I have to spend in restoration.
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