It should be understood that conserving old windows is the “greenest” option: they are endlessly repairable and easy to upgrade for energy effciency and comfort. For those buying new windows, find good news in recent aesthetic improvements.
I treasure the few original single pane casement and double-hung windows that remain in my 80-year-old rustic cottage. But without the old, hand built, wooden storm windows to create effective double glazing (trapping insulating air in-between), I’d be awfully cold in winter. The cottage came with a few not-so-sturdy replacement windows that long ago outlived their usefulness. They don’t match other windows in the house, and they aren’t double-glazed.
Replacement options, in my case, range from real divided-light windows with multiple, separate panes of glass to simulated divided lights, an increasingly popular option for windows since they were introduced in the last decades of the 20th century. The latest versions of simulated dividers are much more realistic than early snap-in or removable grille versions, which lacked depth and were poorly proportioned, especially in relation to historical windows.
SIMULATED DIVIDED LIGHTS
This story is from the January - February 2018 edition of Old House Journal.
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This story is from the January - February 2018 edition of Old House Journal.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Navigating the Lumberyard - Here's some lumber lingo you should know before you venture into a lumberyard.
Here's some lumber lingo you should know before you venture into a lumberyard. Almost everyone fixing an old house will end up at a lumberyard-whether it's a local supplier or the organized aisles of a big-box home-improvement store.
a farmhouse renewed
Sensitive renovations and restoration work preserved a house that dates to 1799.
AN OVERVIEW OF METAL ROOFING
METAL ROOFS ARE RESURGENT, FOR GOOD REASONS.
ENDURING BEAUTY IN WALLS of STONE
Now back in the family who had been here since 1830, the old farmhouse is again ready for generations to come. Additions dating to 1840 and the 1950s were preserved.
ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS COME TO LIFE
Owners and their designer celebrate the unique features of a 1912 Arts & Crafts Tudor.
For a Wet Basement Wall
If there's problem common to old houses, it's a wet basement. I'm not talking about occasional flooding, but rather a basement that apparently seeps or leaks after even a rain shower or during snowmelt. Several approaches are available; sustainable solutions will get to the root of the problem.
Patching a Plaster Wall
Fix a hole in the wall with a few common tools and some drywall supplies. Practice your technique!
Roofing & Siding
Make note of these historical and unusual materials for the building envelope.
The Riddle of the water
When water incursion happens, the roof isn't necessarily the culprit. Maybe snaking a drain line, or clearing debris from a clogged gutter, temporarily will stem a leak. But a recurring problem usually means other forces are at work. It takes persistence-and a team with the right skills and patience—to identify the source and apply a solution.
Light-filled Craftsman Redo
For a dark kitchen in a 1914 Illinois house, the trick was anchoring white expanses with woodsy warmth.
