It seems these old windows aren't worth saving, and the house desperately needs a face lift.
Have you ever been ok with something for a while, and then all of a sudden, snap! We have known for five years something had to be done about the exterior. Now, all of a sudden I can't get things fixed fast enough! I always assumed we would restore the old windows. We can - but since we are west facing, the afternoon heat will attack the paint and leave us with a peeling facade again, unless, every year, we pour time into maintaining them. This was NOT what I wanted to hear.
So new windows it is!
New windows make such a big difference! That's fun....I am doing some curb appeal work of my own...updates to come soon!
ReplyDeleteOh - your front door - how much do I love the curve?! Love. Anyway - the first window company name that comes to mind is Fieldstone Windows (http://www.fieldstonewindows.com/). I don't know anything about windows but I do know that FW was at the last design blogger event and Lindsay (from Little House Blog) seems to have had a good experience with them (as far as I can tell from her posts).
ReplyDeleteWhile it is sad to say good bye to the original windows...aren't new windows much more energy efficient?
Have a great weekend Shannon!
Jordana
love the door character too!
ReplyDeleteI'm so interested to hear what type of windows you're going to choose. I have the same issue, although I LOVE the old wood windows. It's just that they are highly inefficient (I think we heat the neighbourhood in the winter) and must be costing us a fortune in heating bills. I'm debating double hung or casement, with or without grids the top third. Have you done your research yet? We've had 3 different quotes and I'm still undecided.
ReplyDeleteMaggie
This sounds exciting! New windows will have an amazing new impact! Are you planning to keep it similar to what you have right now? Or totally switching the style and color up?
ReplyDeleteSo jealous of your front door! :-) Love that curved top. Are you looking for wood or vinyl windows? We debated this for so long! In the end it came down to cost and what was expected on a home in our neighbourhood --resale. We didn't even look into restoring, b/c I didn't know that was an option, but have since heard that it is very expensive. If you do go vinyl, I've got a great company.
ReplyDeleteWe got a mixture for our house and was surprised that the double hung windows had full height screens on the outside. You can barely see the window underneath from the street. I was glad in the end that we put in casement windows in the front of the house.
ReplyDeleteI think you can get single hung which has the screens on the bottom only. I hate the look of the screens too!
ReplyDeleteDouble hung e4 glass new windows throughout has been so awesome since we don't have air conditioning in the summer. Love them. I don't know how I managed with those dinky aluminum single pane glass windows leftover from the 70s. It was pretty important for us to get accomplished before the tax credit ran out here in 2010. Enjoy your new windows this summer.
ReplyDeleteWe met Fieldstone on Friday!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how much research we will do this time around. We went the distance with the kitchen windows ... this time we are going simple - easy...and in the front: identical
ReplyDeleteNew Colour...I am thinking a dark grey/brown/grey colour (it's a semi popular colour)...white (off white) in the top triangle, white over the door still...since we aren't changing the soffit and facia (and it is white)
ReplyDeleteWe are doing wood clad up front - vinyl in bathroom and back bedrooms...we have all wood in the back with a special coating...but with the western exposure, I think clad is best for the front. HEAT! (Until Gingkos get taller)
ReplyDeleteWe will go to the show room and take a look...that's when we will know for sure! we have awful 'updated' windows in the back bedrooms already, so vinyl will be a huge upgrade!
I love every inch of your house. SWOON.
ReplyDeleteI think grey would be a great color! We have some suggestions on exterior paint at eieihome...maybe you can find some inspirations from there! Keep us posted with the window update ! :) www.eieihome.com/blog/2012-trends-in-exterior-paint-colors.html
ReplyDeleteOur brick colour is similar to yours and we did darker windows. They look awesome. I can email you a pic if you're interested in seeing them.
ReplyDeleteNext battle is the door. Ours is radial top like yours. Hope you never have to replace it - they cost a boatload. Holy crap.
I'd love to see it!
ReplyDeleteCrap, I thought I signed up for email notifications to replies. Totally missed your response til now. I'm off to bed so I'll email the pictures tomorrow. Sorry for the delay!
ReplyDelete