2 down, 14 to go..
So Lowe’s called this morning and the first of our replacement windows were ready for pickup! Perfect timing as the weather was going to be sunny and in the high 70’s today.
It was so hard to say good-bye to those original 1920’s single pane windows. (NOT) They were so energy UN-efficient that we swear we could see the $$ floating right through them. Mr.vB couldn’t wait to start ripping those suckers out!
Replacement windows are actually pretty easy to install yourself. (We had a friend, who installed his own, give us a quick tutorial before we got started.) If you feel comfortable with power tools you can do it, otherwise I would leave it to the professionals.
Instead of throwing these suckers out, we are going to see if our local salvage shop will buy/take them from us. Just Keeping it Green peeps- don’t forget the 3 R’s.. Reduce, REUSE, Recycle.
Here Mr.vB is smoothing out the opening so we can just slide the replacement window into place. I don’t actually have a picture of us sliding it into place because it took 2 people to do so. I am working on training Boots how to work the camera, but he hasn’t caught on quite yet. Anyways, the window slid in like a glove, and with 6 screws later the window was in place! And on to the next.
Mr. vB went through the same process, with a few lessons learned, and the second window took half the time the first one did.
Here is the Finished Look!
We purchased the ones that have the panes at the top of the window, so they at least look like the original ones. And from the outside they will all match until we can get the upstairs ones replaced. They also came with a full screen so we can either open the window from the bottom or the top! So FANCY!
But from the inside you can’t really tell a difference, besides the fact that the windows actually OPEN!
The plan is to continue buying 2 windows a month, so that by winter time we will be much more energy efficient!! I know Dominion Power and Richmond Public Utilities will be sad to see our large payments be cut in half, but I won’t!! Also just a reminder that you can get Energy Efficiency tax credits from the Department of Energy for installing things like energy efficient windows, insulation and doors.
They look great! Best job we’ve done by far, you’ll love them!
We are getting ready to do the same thing, but I had not considered tackling all 17 crappy 1918 windows until the fearless Mr.vB made it look so darn easy!~
can you tell me where you found your windows and approximate costs? i need to do the same thing!
Cece- All the windows are from Lowe’s. And since this is an old house, no 2 were the same dimension. The largest cost about $220 and the smallest about $175. We went for the basic Pella style. Hope that helps!