This house had beautiful two over one windows. They had been serviced in the past so the front stops were easy to remove and the pocket covers were all there with all the weights. Best of all, the jamb had never been painted (which is correct). Some paint had made it’s way from the sash to the parting stops so we lost a few of those in removal. But it’s pretty easy to move quickly when all of these conditions are in place. The only quirky thing was that the weights seem to have been reversed at some time. Two lite sash weigh more than singles generally so the heavier weights should have been for the upper sash, but no big deal to get them ordered correctly.

The stair hall window was a lovely diamond pane window with the center four panes in green glass both on the upper and lower sash. There were seven broken panes on the lower sash as it had come crashing down when the ropes broke. Previous maintenance work had not been done on this window and I soon found out why - no pocket covers! Without these there is no way to get in to the weights which explained why the cords had not been replaced.

Years ago I had no idea how to cope with this situation. There are now a few tricks we have devised to get in there. For this one I drilled two diagonal holes using a 3/8″ drill bit. Then I put the jigsaw blade in the first hole and sawed upward until I was opposite the second hole. Turn the jigsaw around, put in second hole and saw downward. Then saw across the top and the bottom making a square pocket opening. Chains attached to weights, cover back on and window restored to working order.

Wax is a window restorers friend. We use it primarily to lubricate the side edges of the sash. It’s also great to use on the jamb under the upper sash. That area is constantly exposed to sunlight and can get quite shredded looking. Wax helps to protect it from weather and keep the window moving freely.

Today I did three estimates. A common theme in doing estimates is improving energy efficiency in the windows of an antique house. Today, like so many, I am astonished that homeowners don’t note the deplorable condition of their storm windows and consider those candidates for replacement. I suppose to many the thinking is “if I can get replacement windows I don’t need storm windows.” Here in New England, that is far from the truth. In fact, one of our clients just had us install storm windows on their relatively new Pella windows. Seems in the deepest cold days of winter those double pane windows just cannot keep out the draft. The best double pane window is a single pane interior window and a single pane storm window. The nice air space between them is a terrific insulator. I think storm window manufacturers don’t promote storm windows as much as replacement windows as they don’t make as much money on them, and they don’t need to be replaced every 10-20 years like replacement windows. It’s a sad duping of the public. And then there are people who have a visceral dislike of storm windows. They are not the prettiest things, they are often sticky and those little tabs do a number on nice fingernails (if I had any, I’d be more sympathetic) but they are necessary. And new ones are much nicer looking than the old grey metal ones. Bottom line, if you want to not have drafty windows get new storm windows. I don’t even make any money on promoting storm windows! We only repair and restore wooden windows. But I hate to see clients spend money on restoring their windows without having a good storm window in place.