first year new windows/doors throughout

[geoxman]

Been a few years since I have been on here. Still burning the Englander NC30 for the past few years.
This past July and August we replaced ALL windows in our 1904 brick house. They are all double pane and all of that built in gas stuff and
we did 4 floors and that included the basement.
The previous windows, for the most, were all original single pane and you could feel the cold pouring in from them. We still went historic according to code and it was a bummer to see the original go but I can't be happier.
The noise was reduced a ton, we live in the city. Our AC ran almost nonstop before- but after the windows it was much better.
I just lit the first fire of the season and I can already tell a big difference on the 2nd and 3rd floor.
Looking forward to this heating season and seeing how much less I will burn.
I did notice that the stove draw's much slower now so I might have to do an OAK.
Glad we spent a fortune on the house and I will never see the ROI but hoping it makes a difference this winter

 

[moresnow]

Did the same a few years ago. Completely forgot about my ROI concerns after one winter

 

[Ashful]

I've been headed the opposite direction, rebuilding our 1770's original windows. In many cases, I'm finding I'm not the first to rebuild them, many of the frames seem to have been rebuilt in an 1890's or early 1900's renovation. I'm rebuilding or replacing the frames, restoring the sash, and replacing old triple-track storms with traditional wooden storms. I'm finding that radiation losses thru these rebuilt windows are far lower than even my modern Energy Star Anderson 400 windows in the new addition, there's just no beating a 3-inch air gap with a 1/8" gap no matter what the gas, albeit they do draft a little more.

I didn't want to lose the historic windows, after so many prior owners have managed to keep them in good repair, but I do have to admit that replacement would have been far less expensive.

 

[geoxman]

well you are over 150 years older than me! When the installers did the windows they put in fiberglass in between the brick and wood sash and the window, nothing was in there other than that. It was an historic installer for my area so I hope they did the right thing. The noise level is dramatically reduced. With the old windows I could feel cold coming in from everywhere-sides, front and under the sill.

 

[Ashful]

well you are over 150 years older than me! When the installers did the windows they put in fiberglass in between the brick and wood sash and the window, nothing was in there other than that. It was an historic installer for my area so I hope they did the right thing. The noise level is dramatically reduced. With the old windows I could feel cold coming in from everywhere-sides, front and under the sill.

Yeah, we have the same issue with regard to empty space around the frame, but probably to less of a degree. My frames would have originally been mortared in, so zero draft. But the bedding mortar was just common mud, with no lime or cement (Portland hadn’t been invented yet), so between age and prior repairs, it’s mostly been swept away.

I can’t brag I have all original windows, though. Some of them are actually replacements installed in the 1770’s, in parts of this house that date back to the 1730’s. I’m not sure what the 1730’s windows would have looked like, but they likely had very little glass in them, if any.

 

[Highbeam]

Whoa! 1730s. So freaking old. Just so old.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah, it’s fun thinking about it when I’m on a ladder at midnight, fixing a third floor window in a nor’easter after a 19-hour day. The care others put into this place before me is the only thing keeping me from just tearing the damn things out, sometimes.

I was back on that ladder at 6am this morning, finishing up a little bit of trim before work in 30 mph winds, painters arrive this afternoon.

 

[geoxman]

50 here right now. Lit a fire around 4, 70 degrees on the first floor, 65 on second and not enough time to check the 3rd. Windows have made a big difference. Supposed to get in the 30's tonight so I will keep it stoked and report back

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It's possible you had oiled paper or skin for the first windows, at least at first.

 

[Ashful]

It's possible you had oiled paper or skin for the first windows, at least at first.

Anything is possible. I know a lot about windows back to the revolutionary period, but not much before that, and things varied regionally that long ago.

 

[ryanwc]

Very cool!

I'm curious where in Philadelphia? I need to get out the family tree, but we had ancestors there in the mid-1700s. Though probably not living in anything that would last, since they were middling folks.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Anything is possible. I know a lot about windows back to the revolutionary period, but not much before that, and things varied regionally that long ago.

Have you seen the Townsands channel on YouTube? They are a company that sells to reenactors, but they do an awful lot of stuff on authentic log cabins, cooking, etc.

 

[Ashful]

Guys, I don’t want to derail geoxman’s thread! The mention of old windows was really just in reference to his own.