Double hung windows!

[giglet]

Hi everyone! This community has been quiet for a long time, but that doesn't mean we haven't been doing stuff. Most recently, I pulled a broken mortis lock out of a 100-year-old door, faffed around for a while before realizing I was never going to replace it with another mortis lock, then filled in the hole with wood and Bondo before installing new doorknobs. I am pretty pleased with the end product.

But I wanted to talk about windows today. (The ones in your house's walls, not the electronic ones.) I love my 100-year-old house's equally old double-hung windows, and I have no desire to replace them. However, I would really really like to improve their efficiency. I also have limited energy, time, and money to devote to the project, and October (when the temps start dropping seriously) is looming.

Over the years, I've done a number of small repairs on my windows, including fixing broken counterweights (and replacing cords with chain), removing old cracked glazing and replacing it, fixing or replacing misaligned locks and latches, and applying copper or plastic weatherstripping (poorly) to the relevant edges. (I'm lousy at weatherstripping. I'm not sure why. I'd be most likely to farm out this part of a job.)

Do we have any (other) old-window geeks here? If you have pointers towards information, I'd really appreciated it:

1) We have storm/screen windows that mostly work pretty well, but in a couple cases completely fail to stop the wind from passing through. I have heard (from a source of unknown quality) that this can be fixed by detaching them from the house, making sure the storm window frame is square, then re-attaching them to the house (probably drilling new holes). Does this sound reasonable? Are there other ways of fixing/renovating storm windows?

2) If I go to the trouble of insulating around the casing of the window, am I better served to do this before or after blowing insulation (probably cellulose) into the walls? Is fiberglass completely useless for this situation (which is what I suspect), or is there a better option than minimally-expanding Great Stuff?

3) If a cracked pane is otherwise in good shape (glazing is holding both pieces of glass in a single plane), can I get away with a cheap kludge of filling the crack with clear caulk?

Comments

[synecdochic]

Heh, I can't be much help there -- we're replacing all ours next week. (FINALLY, OH MY GOD.) (I can say, Renewals by Andersen is so good, and worth every (considerable) penny.)

I'm going to say yes on 3, though.

[giglet]

Thanks!

[sara]

There is a LOT of information around windows available from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Preservation Green Lab, which you can google.

In many states (if you're in the US), your State Historic Preservation Office will have someone who can point you at local resources about working with old sashes.

I would actively NOT recommend doing anything involving spray-in foam insulation, because it's likely to harm more than it helps. Also it is an absolute bear to scrape off things so you can fix them properly later.

If you're looking for a relatively quick fix, heavy insulated drapes can do a lot for you until you can figure out the best longer-term solution.

[giglet]

Thanks Sara! The lead for Googling is great!

I'm curious, though about your comment re spray-in foam insulation. If there is space between the sides of the window casing and the rough-in hole (and I don't even know if there will be in a house this old), what is the harm in using low-expansion foam? (I'm not talking about using it in the working, moving parts of the window.

[sara]

The harm is, it's a bear to reverse, and it's not going to hold up for as long as the rest of the system, so sooner or later you're going to have to get in there and scrape all of it out so you can fix it right.

Better to fix it right the first time than make trouble for yourself down the road.