How To Repair Single Hung Wood Windows

Tune into to "How to Repair, Restore and Reglaze Your Wood Windows" on April 6 for a gratuitous, virtual "easily-on" demonstration by Bill Robinson of Train2Build. Larn more and register.

This story appeared in the Apr issue of the PRC's Preservation in Impress magazine.

Homeowners' relationships with their historic wood windows can exist a lot like dating. In fair weather, it'south easy to appreciate the windows' beauty and craftsmanship; but when the seasons change, temperatures go less hospitable, and drafts detect their fashion inside, those architectural details might not seem as charming. Owners of celebrated houses and buildings might exist tempted to dump their original wood windows — which often get blamed for drafts and rising energy bills — and install vinyl or metal replacements.

Merely don't give into that temptation. With proper maintenance and a few modifications, it'southward easy to honey your wood windows while saving the environment and your budget — and preserving some of a building's most of import historic features for futurity generations to enjoy.

Preservationists have long touted the environmental benefits of historic buildings, oft asserting that the "greenest building is the one that is already built," because existing buildings concord embodied energy — the free energy used during construction and manufacturing building materials. Avoiding demolition and salvaging that energy through reuse nigh always outweighs the ecology benefits of mod energy-efficient buildings.

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Repair, not supersede

Historic wood windows made of hardy sometime-growth woods tin last for centuries if regularly maintained. On the other hand, many new replacements — especially those made of vinyl, PVC or aluminum — have a much shorter lifespan of a few decades. While individual parts of traditional wood windows tin can be repaired and replaced, modern replacement windows typically require replacement of the whole unit of measurement when one component fails. Restoring an existing woods window keeps these materials out of a landfill and avoids the energy consumption required to manufacture and ship them.

Most houses have been retrofitted with modern HVAC systems, only operable wooden sash windows during milder months can exist an environmentally friendly manner to go on interior temperatures comfortable without the need for ac. Earlier mod-day heating and cooling systems, historic buildings were designed to work with the climate, and windows played an integral office in passive heating and cooling.

In warm New Orleans, tall double-hung wooden sash windows allow breezes to enter the house and proceed it cool. Every bit the air within warms and rises, lowering pinnacle window sashes ventilates the hot air outside, while raising lesser window sashes draws cooler air and breezes inside. If a house's original double-hung windows no longer work, removing built-up layers of paint along the jambs and repairing deteriorated weight-and-caster systems, subconscious inside the frame, are skillful starting points to make the windows operable again.

Illustrations by Liz Jurey

Stop drafts

If window drafts become apparent during the winter, the first pace is to bank check for deteriorated components. Broken panes of glass, missing or deteriorated glazing putty — the material that holds glass panes into the wooden sash — and rotted wood are common culprits to address offset.

"Replacement of an entire wood window because of a deteriorated component, typically the sill or the bottom rail, is rarely necessary," explains the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission's Guidelines for Windows and Doors. Deteriorated wood windows often tin be brought back to good condition with "selective repair or replacement of damaged parts and the implementation of a regular maintenance program," the guidelines say. If a wood window'due south deterioration goes across a homeowner'southward DIY prowess, New Orleanians tin plough to one of the city's many wood window experts to repair and supervene upon components.

"In many cases, the condition of the paint is worse than the condition of the wood beneath," said Brooke Cranford, sales manager at New Orleans-based Inhab Millworks. When assessing the level of repair, the shop looks to the National Park Service's Preservation Brief 9: The Repair of Celebrated Wooden Windows to make up one's mind a window's best treatment. "The entire sash does not accept to exist replaced for a few deteriorated muntins. We tin can also replace the sill of the window without having to supplant the entire jamb," she said.

"We always remind our customers that pigment acts equally the kickoff line of defence force when it comes to protecting their windows," Cranford said, "which is why it is imperative to be proactive with paint maintenance." NPS's Preservation Brief nine recommends stripping paint that is flaking or peeling, or excess layers of built-up paint, starting with interior frames, window jambs and and then the sash, earlier examining the condition of the window'due south other components, making repairs and repainting.

"If the sash and jamb are failing completely due to structural bug with the building or blight, we fabricate a new window to exactly match the historic original," Cranford said. The millwork shop tin friction match intricate details, and typically uses Spanish cedar or Cherry Grandis to fabricate new wood windows, depending on the project and the client's needs.

Online class: How to Repair, Restore and Reglaze Your Woods Windows

Monday, Apr 6 • 2 – iii p.m. Learn more than and register!

In this virtual "easily-on" video tutorial, Bill Robinson of Train2Build volition show you how to bring your celebrated wood windows back to life by identifying major building components and materials and demonstrating stride-by-step how to take a window autonomously, repair it and put it dorsum together.

Weatherize

Weather stripping and caulking around window openings are among the least invasive and cost-effective ways to weatherize windows and reduce air infiltration, according to the National Park Service's Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. The New Orleans HDLC recommends installing weather stripping on the interior of a window between sashes, effectually sash perimeters and behind sash tracks. When applied to moving window parts, weather condition stripping can go loose or damaged, so regular maintenance checks tin can ensure that windows remain airtight.

"Nosotros use polypropylene atmospheric condition seals for their longevity," said Geovanny Ramos, shop director at Inhab Millworks. "Casement windows crave a compression application and hung windows require a sliding application. We can also use thicker glass or insulated glass to help with energy efficiency," he said.

On the outside, the New Orleans HDLC recommends using caulk to close perimeter joints along the window frame exterior "where 2 different materials meet; where expansion and contraction occur; or where materials are joined together," the Guidelines for Windows and Doors say.

Illustrations by Liz Jurey

Raise energy efficiency with window inserts

The addition of a window insert can farther increase the energy efficiency of a celebrated wood window, making its performance comparable to modern windows at a fraction of the cost of total replacement. Interior storm window panels also maintain a historic window's exterior advent while improving energy operation.

The panels reduce dissonance infiltration and can reduce potential interior exposure to lead-based paint. Magnetite Windows have been used on many historic houses and commercial projects in New Orleans, including the Sazerac House and the Onetime No. 77 Hotel. The panels "create a magnetic seal around a clear acrylic glazing," said Buddy Roussel, owner of Billy Rouge-based Magnetite Works LLC, which makes energy-efficient window panels. "This nearly airtight seal keeps the outside air from leaking through the existing window and keeps the conditioned air in the home," he said.

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Protect from sun's heat

New Orleans summers are notoriously hot and humid, but the swings in temperatures in our climate are mild compared to other parts of the country. Heating a building in the Midwest during the winter — when the exterior temperature tin can exist far beneath freezing and the interior temperature needs to be effectually 60 to 70 degrees — requires far more energy than cooling a building in Louisiana during the summer. In New Orleans' climate, shading windows can significantly reduce a building's solar oestrus proceeds, reducing the energy used to air status a habitation's interior.

"Single-pane wood windows tin exist easily retrofitted to perform virtually as well as manufactured, state-of-the-art windows," said Andrew Spaulding, an architect with New Orleans firm Jahncke & Burns. "In fact, in that location are several low-tech strategies that predate drinking glass windows themselves, among these would exist operable shutters, deep overhangs and shade copse."

Interior curtains, blinds and solar shades aid to reduce solar heat gain in the summer, and tin be raised — particularly along south-facing windows — to take reward of the lord's day'south warmth in colder months. In the winter, insulated shades can exist lowered at dark to retain rut. On the exterior, awnings that are uniform with a building's historic character can shade windows and storefronts to further reduce solar rut gain. Operable exterior shutters provide shade and privacy, as well as additional protection from storms and hurricanes.

To further reduce heat proceeds, Low-E (or "Low Emissivity") surface films can be applied to the interior surfaces of glass window panes to filter the sun's rays. The self-adhesive plastic films have a coating that reflects infrared radiation and UV rays, assuasive low-cal through the glass while reducing the sun's heat.

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WINDOW TERMS

Casement — A window sash hinged on 1 side so that opens by swinging in or out.

Double-hung — A window with ii sashes that slide past each other vertically.

Glazing — The articulate or translucent fabric, typically glass, through which light passes.

Glazing putty — A type of sealant used at the edges of a pane of drinking glass to prevent leakage of air or water.

Jamb — The vertical facing sides of a window opening.

Muntin — The minor molding or bar that separates the individual panes of a multi-paned window sash.

Rail — A horizontal woods framing member of a door or window sash.

Sash — The function of a window frame that holds the glazing, especially when movable.

Sill — The projecting horizontal base of a window or door.

Conditions stripping — A narrow, compressible band used between the edge of a window and the jambs, sill and head to seal against air and water infiltration.

Source: Dictionary of Building Preservation

Davis Allen is PRC's Communications Associate and a staff writer for Preservation in Impress.

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