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Wonderful Wood Windows!

Here in central Ohio we’ve had our first real blast of winter over the last couple of days…snow flurries, temperatures in the 20s, teeth-chattering winds, the whole nine yards. And, if you live in an old house with wood windows (like I do), you’ve likely felt that wintry reminder when passing by one of those windows.
So, maybe it was just a wintertime coincidence (or destiny) that one of the first emails from a concerned Ohioan to Heritage Ohio in 2016 brought a plea for help, requesting assistance to convince the owner of a historic building not to dump their original wood windows.
As you can imagine, this is one of the most common email discussion roads we go down. Too often, this is what we find: building owners ready to toss their original sash because they don’t function. The sash are painted shut; the sash, if opened, don’t stay up (the sash cords broke long ago); or, as in my case, when you walk by the window in the dead of winter, you can feel the breeze inside the building. In that case, weatherstripping is the issue.
While solving any of these window issues isn’t especially difficult, too often, the owner freezes once that thought, “the hassle of repair,” goes through their mind, and they reach for their tablet to google “window replacement.”
There has been a lot of marketing from the replacement window industry extolling the virtue of replacement windows. When it comes to windows, we’ve gone through a good 40 years of purging the word “maintenance” from our collective consciousness, while the window replacement industry has trained people to believe that the “hassle” of repair is a fate worse than death.
To counter this, we preservationists have begun promoting the value of preserving original windows with groups such as the Window Preservation Alliance. And the National Trust has recently put a greater focus on quantifying the value of wood windows, why preserve, and how best to preserve. Their report, Saving Windows, Saving Money, has been especially helpful for us. The report quantifies the energy savings, cost, and return on investment for a variety of window treatments, including weatherstripping, installing an exterior storm, and installing a new high performance replacement window. And guess what they found? DIY weatherstripping offers an average 31% return on investment, while DIY high performance replacement windows offer a 3% return on investment.

That shiny stuff Rebecca Torsell is nailing onto the jamb may be bronze, but when it comes to energy efficiency, it's worth its weatherstripping weight in gold.

That shiny stuff Rebecca Torsell is nailing onto the jamb may be bronze, but when it comes to energy efficiency, it’s worth its weatherstripping weight in gold.


And this is exactly why YOP offering their hands-on window repair training last year in Columbus was so valuable: giving homeowners the skills to tackle DIY projects such as window repair and weatherstripping SAVES MONEY, while saving the architectural integrity of their homes, while saving money on the heating bill.
Now if only we had the billion dollar marketing budget to get THAT message out!

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Seven rules for success when reconditioning wood windows

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending one day of the two-day wood windows workshop put on by Young Ohio Preservationists. Led by restoration artisans Jim Turner and Patrick Kennedy, attendees had the opportunity to learn (or hone) their skills, whether removing sash (without damaging the surrounding wood components), stripping out old glazing, removing paint, reglazing the sash, or repairing damaged sash ropes. Both Jim and Patrick are experts who have forgotten more about restoring old windows than most of us will ever learn, and both shared a lot of great advice over the course of the day. Here are some tips you can use when tackling your own wood window restoration project.
1) Parts for repairs. Where do you get window parts for storms? Try Blaine Window Hardware. The instructors have sourced many a hard-to-find item from them.
2) Aluminum storm makeover. Tired of the look of your old aluminum storms? Before you consider tossing them, consider paint. Paint specifically formulated to coat aluminum has come a long way, and more colors than ever are available. Now, instead of dull, silvery outlines for your windows, you can consider a color that actually complements your home’s existing paint scheme.

Jim Turner, center, of Turner Restoration, pumps up workshop attendees Saturday morning with equal parts knowledge and inspiration.

Jim Turner, center, of Turner Restoration, pumps up workshop attendees Saturday morning with equal parts knowledge and inspiration.


3) Steam stripping. Consider a garment steamer (yes, a garment steamer) for stripping your sash. If you’ve ever stripped paint, you know it can be a messy job. As if the mess is bad enough, you also have to guard against removing paint that’s potentially lead-based. Sanding and scraping can release dangerous particulates, but steam stripping keeps airborne paint dust to an absolute minimum. From past experience, I’d recommend against using the Wagner Power Steamer. The Wagner model tends to spit out a lot of hot water, in addition to the steam. Instead, try a product like the Rowenta Commercial Garment Steamer (available from target.com here). Jim Turner brought his garment steamer, and it was all steam, no hot water, which made for a lot less mess. If you have a house full of windows or woodwork to strip, it’s worth the $100 investment to do it safely.
4) A better way to fish sash cord. Fishing sash cord, when you’re ready to reinstall your sash, can be a frustrating experience, as you try to loop the cord over the pulley, through the weight pocket, and down to the weight pocket door. The sash cord is so light that it bends and gets caught up on obstructions in the weight pocket, never making it to the bottom where you can tie on the sash weight. Instead, start with a length of metal chain taped to the sash cord. The metal will provide the needed weight to allow the cord to drop right to the bottom of the weight pocket.
5) Securing the sash cord to the sash. To secure the knotted end of the sash cord in the sash, insert a screw through the knot into the wood, instead of hammering a nail through it. A screw is much easier to remove in the event you need to remove the sash out of the window frame.
6) Refreshing your wood sash. You can refresh old, dry wood, prior to painting, with a recipe of 1/2 gallon turpentine, 1/2 gallon boiled linseed oil, and 1 ounce of paraffin. The linseed oil will rejuvenate the wood fibers, and the paraffin will act as a decent water barrier. The turpentine is the vehicle to deliver the linseed oil and paraffin into the wood, so it can soak in.
7) Saving your parting stop. The parting bead, or parting stop, is the bane of window restorers everywhere, because it’s so easy to snap them while you’re working to remove the sash. Instead of using vise grips or pliers to try to pull out the parting stop, try vise grips with long jaws. The increased surface area means there’s less chance of marring the parting stop, while spreading out the pressure point, meaning less chance of snapping the stop as you try to wiggle it loose. (Give me a pair of these, and I feel like I could conquer the window restoration world!)
While there’s a lot of practice, knowledge, and equipment, that goes into proper window restoration, having some tricks of the trade up your sleeve can make the process easier, and, actually, fun. And rewarding.
Do you have a great window restoration story to tell? Would you like to see another hands-on workshop? Let us know. Thanks for reading!