windows: replace vs refinish

[Anonymous]

I had the same dilemma with my 1939 brick colonial. It had all original windows that had some peeling paint on the outside. Some were painted shut and a couple had broken chords, though otherwise they were in good shape (no broken glass). I really hate the look of cheap flimsy vinyl windows, so my two options (or so I thought) were to restore them or to replace them with top of the line windows. I was committed to a wood interior because I still have unpainted original wood trim and wanted to keep that look. Those nice historic-looking replacement windows were quite pricey, I think I was quoted $40K two years ago for 13 windows.

In the end, I took a third approach outlined below. I am pretty happy with the outcome. Again, my windows were in decent shape so I didn't think they didn't need a full restoration. I also didn't want to deal with having no windows/plywood for several months, so wanted a solution where I could leave the windows in place.

1) Found someone to fix the broken chords and get the windows to open/close properly. The person I hired was Fathi Amiri (240-413-4207). This was based on a rec on DCUM. Another guy that's known for this is Josh Arnson (google him or search DCUM), but I found him to be a little pricier and harder to schedule around.

2) Hired a painting company to scrape and repaint windows from outside. Go with someone who has worked on old houses. I went with Palacios Painting. Richard Winkler is another option.

3) Got nice storm windows after the painting was done. I went with the MonRay storms through the Window Man. These were pricier than I originally thought, but I think worth it since they have significantly cut down on noise.

In my case, steps 1 and 2 came out to 25%-30% of what it would have cost to fully restore them. Good luck!