A new window

The upper sash for one of the dining room windows was broken when we purchased the house. The upper pane of glass was totally gone. There was a storm window there, so we didn't worry too much about it. We had found a replacement window in the shed when we were looking at the house, presumably for this broken window. We made it part of the purchase agreement. But then once we got into the house, we hemmed and hawed about how to go about fixing the window. On the one hand we dreamed of being able to afford having someone repair the broken sash and replace the pane of glass. But we never got around to it. For the past 3 winters we've but plastic sheeting over the window to keep the worst of the cold air out, but with only so-so effect.

This spring Libby finally came around to my point of view (I had gotten to this point about a year ago). We agreed to go ahead and put the replacement window in. I saved the old window, including the lead weights for the sashes. (I had understood that usual experience was that these would be lost. But upon opening up to make the switch, the weights were right there in an open cavity.) Too, I learned just why the windows in this house are so drafty: the way things are put together at least on this window, there is a one-inch gap around the frame, nothing filling it, so nothing but exterior siding and interior paneling between us and the elements. I had fun-with-foam filling up those gaps.

The removal of the old window and putting the new in went smoothly. I spent today caulking and otherwise sealing the thing up and putting things back together (all of the trim was salvageable). Next is priming and painting. I'll be very interested in how this new window holds out the cold weather this winter, compared to the original windows on the house. Much as we like the look of the original windows, even with the storm windows over them, they are drafty in winter.