Global Window Restoration?
Friday, October 6th, 2023 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio |
59F, overcast, and windy out there today, and I love it! Max, my next door neighbor to the north was out there talking to Mendez tree service about having the maple in his front yard trimmed. He called them on my recommendation from last spring so that's nice!
While sitting out back with the pets, I called the library and made an appointment to see a notary at 10AM on Monday morning... so that's taken care of!
High of 57F tomorrow and Sunday so working outside and mowing the lawn will be a delight!
Now that it's Friday, I can go over my game plan again...
- Tape the sash windows, paint the glazing on them, and install the turnbuckles outside.
- Clean the glass on the rear of Window A, and carefully stain the glaze. Then pick it up and set it aside so I can do the same to Window B.
- Flip over B, do the caulk, and install a turnbuckle.
- Remove tape from sash windows and clean their glass.
- Install Window B.
- Get Window A on the bench and do the caulk and turnbuckle.
- Install Window A.
My big fear here is that, as I'm lifting and turning them, the storm frames will flex, and the glazing points will pinch against the glass panes and break them.
But the only way to avoid that is to just be super careful.
I'm also thinking my four foot ladder would serve me better than the six foot, for installing the storms, because... less ladder in my way.
But if this mission is successful tomorrow [knocks wood] I'm a lot more likely to deal with all the windows on the house by just hand repairing them.
I was looking at the upstairs windows this morning and realizing the only issue with them is the storms.
They have storm frames that are designed to hold sectional inserts of glass or screen, but a lot of those sections have been lost.
The frames, however, are all still there, so if I can manage to remove them, from inside the house, upstairs... then I can either measure them to create new ones, or modify them.
The sashes on all four windows up there still open... they're not painted shut. So in theory, I could create storm frames that have handles on the interior sides, so that I can put them in, from inside... and then keep them in place with hooks and eyes, rather than turnbuckles.
The back room also needs storms.
And I've already talked about the studio windows, and the enclosure frames for the side porch.
So... I could be about to embark on a huge, whole house window project, going on from now until this time in 2024.
I mean... they all have to be dealt with one way or another.
So, if I can manage to repair them all myself by hand... and they don't look bad... and they actually keep the elements out... that'll save thousands of dollars.
It was chilly all day and rained on an off until about 5PM.
First day I wasn't sweating my ass off while working, since last April!
I spent a lot of time today thinking about those upstairs storms.
Before I left I checked the closet upstairs and there looks to be most, if not all of the inserts up there... for the front and back windows.
So, if the frames aren't rotting, I should be able to get them out, clean them up... get the inserts in place, paint them, and reinstall them.
If the frames are rotting... then I have to build new.
The upstairs sashes, however, are a different problem.
How do I paint and reglaze their exteriors?
A decent extension ladder is three hundred bucks... and I'd have nowhere to put it.
But sitting on the window ledge, back-assward outside is dangerous as hell.
Which leaves the same solution as for the window in Dad's room... to just dismantle them and take the sashes out.
In theory, doing that is not so hard.
All these old windows, upstairs and down, are the same...
Each sash, upper and lower, sits in it's own, "track," but the tracks are just square wooden trim strips held in with nails.
So, I just pry out the track strips, to get the sashes out.
And I could easily replace the track strips with square dowel from the hardware store... if the originals break as I remove them.
And once the sashes are out, I can clean them up and reglaze them all... but for the upstairs, we're talking about eight of them... and if you count the window in Dad's room, that needs the new glass, it's ten!
So, we're talking about a very long term project.
But restoring the old windows is still a lot less hassle than installing all new windows... and it's a LOT cheeper!
So... being that winter is almost upon us... I think the best plan is to do what I can with the storms upstairs, while there's still time... and worry about the sash windows next spring and summer.
The studio window, however... I can work on over the winter, because it's one of the few on the house that has an aluminum storm/screen combo installed on the exterior.
So I can remove the sashes from that one.
SO... assuming everything goes well tomorrow... and I get the livingroom storms installed without breaking any glass...
Then priority one is the upstairs front storms... so that they can be painted to match the livingroom storms below.
Priority two is the upstairs back storms... because it gets damn chilly back there in the dead of winter.
Priority three... the north studio window.
After that... the west studio storm... which can be done in winter, down in the basement... because the old storm's still just barely hanging together out there.
In the spring... I start with the upstairs sash windows... on rainy weekends when I can't work outside!
And you know there's gonna be plenty of those!
The window with the air conditioner has to be first... because I'll need that AC when it gets hot.
The other front window is next... and the back two sash windows upstairs are the lowest priorities.
I really want to redo the south porch enclosure in 2024, however... and that's gonna get pretty involved!
Much as I hate to admit it... it's probably best dealt with in the dead of summer, when we don't get much rain.
Becasue the porch is gonna have to be wide open to the air for a week or two, and partially open to the air for a month or two... as I strip down those old enclosure frames, and then prep them, and transform them, one by one.
As long as I'm just rambling, at this point, on my Friday night...
It would make sense to have all my plywood panels, and my 1X2s, and my greenhouse panels cut and ready to go, before I strip down the enclosure frames.
That way I can spend one long day just removing all the old trim and fiberglass... and get the plywood panels on the bottoms, at least, before that weekend is over.
I really need to 3D model this so that people can picture what I'm talking about.
Whatever!.. the point is... the porch enclosure's gonna be a very sweaty, dead of summer project, when the daylight is long, and there's little to no rain.
Ooh!.. but wait!.. I'll still be working for GeoStaff so that's when I'll be part time again!
That changes everything! If I do it in June, when I'm part time, I can work on it every day of the week until it's done!
Okay, it's resovled!
I'm going part time again next June and July, and that's when I'm gonna do the porch enclosure!
But yes... that DOES count as part of the Global Window Restoration Project!
So let's review...
- Upstairs front storms immediately.
- Upstairs back storms before it gets cold cold.
- Studio windows over the winter.
- Upstairs sash windows in the spring, on rainy days.
- Porch enclosure over June and July while working part time.
- Back room storms next fall.
- Kitchen storm window next winter.
Thus, the goal will be to have all major windows on the house restored by December of 2024!--<>--
There are still minor windows... little casement windows upstairs, in the kitchen, and in the music room... that will have to wait for 2025 for their restorations, but that's fine!
Everything's gone this long being in horrible condition, looking like shit and running up the energy bills.
The casement windows can do that a little longer.
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