FAQs

While your windows are being restored, the openings in your home can be weatherized with either 6ml plastic or secured with plywood.

Our “full” restoration entails:

• Removing all the glass to be re-used as possible

• Sizing your windows to their openings

• Labeling them for identification through the process

• Stripping the entire sashes of all paint, glazing, putties/fillers, etc.

• Sanding all the entire surfaces, both flat and profiled, to be returned to their original wood condition

• Stabilization of mortise-and-tenon joinery

• Structural and cosmetic repairs including straightening of key sash parts (i.e.; midrails, upper/bottom rails, stiles, etc.)

• Modifying your window sash to receive historic, but concealed, metal weather-stripping

• Applying two coats of oil-based priming with sanding in-between coats for better bond & finish

• Cutting new glass, as needed for replacement

• Re-glazing your olde glass into the sashes, or new if needed, making sure each glass pane is
  “gasketed.”

• Painting your sashes with two coats of finish paint, again with sanding in between coats

• Refinishing your olde sash stops making sure they don’t interfere with sound window sash operation

• Restoring your olde hardware so it functions smoothly (pulleys, sash locks, and lifts)

• Preparing new parting stops of Douglas fir (VG), sanded and oiled for smooth operation

• Installing mid-rail weather-stripping

• Cleaning sash edges of paint bead and oiling edges

• Noting sash weight for our mechanics to balance them at your home

Most people don’t know, and the replacement window industry doesn’t want you to know, that an old window that has been well-restored and weather-stripped and outfitted with a high-quality, well-installed storm window is of equal performance to the top-end, two-pane replacements. Numerous acclaimed research facilities such as Berkeley National Laboratories, the U.S. Department of Energy, Chicago University, and others have conducted controlled studies that prove this point. A recent study was conducted at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada by faculty member Shannon Kyles.

We don’t recommend it. The old windows were made to work well but not to carry that additional weight imposed by an IGU. Instead of endorsing this non-historic modification, we’d recommend you consider using “historically-sensitive” storm windows to get equal energy performance. In this manner, you can also save your old “wavy” glass, or antique glass, another authentic element of the time period in which your home was built. These storms are those that are recommended by the National Park Service (our country’s highest standard for conservation, preservation, and restoration) for historic structures in order to show off their original grandeur and architecture. They are typically high-quality, high-performing elements that protect your windows and ensure your old windows have high visibility.

Weather-stripping is the process of sealing openings such as doors and windows from the elements. The goal of weather-stripping is to prevent the moving parts of these openings, the doors themselves or the window sashes, from leaking air or water. Weatherstripping is critical for thermal comfort and is a modern standard in America since the 1930s for improving the overall energy efficiency of any door or window, old or new. Door and window weather-stripping historically were made of metals (brass, bronze, or zinc). Modern weather-stripping can be made of vinyl, nylon, silicone, urethane, foam, etc.

Metal weather-stripping for your old windows or doors lasts the longest and will work for more than a century if you don’t paint it or hammer it. Modern weather-stripping like tube seals, vinyl sweeps, or nylon bristles can last 10–20 years but will deteriorate, or wear out under use or by exposure to UV light.

Glazing is the material used to create an airtight seal of the glass to the wood sashes. As your wooden sashes move slightly as temperature and humidity vary, it’s crucial that the glass is well bonded to the sashes both inside and out. This seal prevents air leakage and improves overall window energy efficiency.

We recommend that all historic windows be used in conjunction with storm windows. That’s one of the critical elements required that will allow your olde historic windows with single-pane glass to achieve equal energy performance compared to a two-pane replacement window (the other critical elements are that the olde windows are in good condition; i.e., those that have sound glazing, weather-stripping around all the moving parts, and non-leaky frames/weight pockets).

Double-hung windows typically take an exterior storm which also provides immeasurable physical protection to greatly reduce your maintenance. For out-swing casements and awnings, we recommend interior storms. Historic inswing casements and awnings would be well served with an exterior storm.

We do not have a set minimum required number of windows to restore because we’re committed to restoration and helping you save your old windows. We often do a handful, a number of rooms, or a whole house or building.

Nope! We can do all of your windows or we can do some, as suits your budget. We sometimes do an entire house at once or get it done in phases over a number of months or even years; again, it’s up to your budget.

Nope! Quality restoration entails drying times, curing, tacking, and some waiting. Rushing or “cheating” cure times erode the quality of the work. Epoxies and glues need time to set and the better ones take more time. Glazing compounds and primers made of oil can take days and not hours, likewise with high-quality paints. The 8-10 week time period allows us to maintain quality and not compromise our process. We work with numerous clients/projects continuously which keeps our service available to many at once while also keeping us fully employed, year-round!

Nope! We restore all year round as our shop is temperature/climate controlled so we can ensure quality. The timing is up to your schedule and ours, but for our part, we always weatherize the openings to make sure your home is wind and water-tight, we can customize your needs by using plywood in lieu of plastic as a security measure or add styrofoam sheets to your openings making them 2–4 times more efficient than any old or modern window while we restore your old ones in the shop.

First, please fill out the short Tell Us About Your Project form. After we receive it, we will be back in touch with an email confirmation and instructions about the next steps. Thank you!