First step was taping off the window edges, during which I have perfected my taping technique to a perfect art.  We are talking edges that meet perfectly in the corner with no gaps in-between.  This is opposed to my usual modus operandi of ripping of hundreds of tiny bits off to have the tape meet and overlap exactly in the corners, and ending up with messy pieces that fall off and are stuck everywhere.  The trick, I found, is to lay the tape  along the edge and up to the corner.  Then placing a putty knife in the corner cutting it into an oblique angle, you can rip the tape along the edge.  You should rip from the corner inward.

The weather is unseasonably warm right now, so we knew this was a project we needed to get done as soon as possible.  We removed the windows from the frames, and stained them to match all of the trim.  It was a bit of a rush job since the windows needed to be put back in before we went to bed, so the stain didn’t get to set as long as it should before we applied the polyurethane, but it worked out.

Taking the tape off, we started out using cotton rounds and alcohol to remove the left behind tape gunk, but then I switched to nail polish remover (acetone), which worked quicker with a lot less elbow grease.

There was one mishap taking one of the double hungs out and the catch on the tension cord that lets the window go up and down was broken.  No word yet on if there is a warranty or replacement part.  We are completely bummed because they are brand new and it is the one in our bedroom.

Either way they are looking really great and add a lot of character to the house.

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What’s wrong with the old windows?

My answer started to get so long I decided to make it a post instead of a comment.  To answer the question: They’re pretty old, and don’t work well anymore – particularly the storm windows and screens.  On some of the windows it’s impossible to pull the storm down.  Some don’t even have a storm window, a must here in Chicago.  Especially since I don’t fancy putting up plastic sheeting every winter.  Some don’t have a screen, another must since mosquitoes are highly attracted to me!

If you look at the current “lastest pics” picture, it shows the backyard, and you can see the metal frames on the windows are pretty unattractive.  This is even more true on the front of the house.

For the sunroom, we are cutting in entirely new bigger windows in some places, and so want the rest of the house to match these so they don’t look like such an addition, but are integrated with the rest.

It’s a good question.  It made me stop and think for a minute, did we really need that?  I think sometimes you get so caught up in remodeling, it can be easy to change things without a purpose or consciously thinking about why.  But change for change’s sake is not always improvement.

I enjoyed his post about this at the blog “Keepin’ It Real“  and I agree, that if you can restore you should (hence the many man hours spent restoring the trim around the house).  Particularly in these older homes, the stuff around your house is of far better quality than you could get today even if you wanted to spend the money.  If our windows were nice wood windows (the kind of casements shown in the windows post), or old counter-weight double hungs we would definitely keep them.  I have reglazed and restored windows before with the Martin’s at Greene & Burke, so that is not the daunting task.  But ours are aluminum inside and out, were cheap to begin with, and in my opinion, not worth the effort.

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We wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood to see what we liked, and literally the exact moment we stepped out the door it started raining.  We were pretty confident with our choices, though and Matt ran home to add them to the drawings.  We are both really happy with the way things turned out.

Windows in the back/North side of the house with bedrooms

North side of the house with bedrooms

If all goes well and there is enough time this weekend, in addition to putting a new roof on the back sunroom, we’ll also be able to start putting the windows in.