This weekend, my husband was on a mission — seal up our leaky windows so we don’t have $400 a month heating bills this winter AND a cold house.
We purchased our home out of foreclosure in March, and while some updates have been made over the years, all of the original windows from 1913 are in place and it seems like the boiler (yes, I said boiler) is that old too. While in theory I love our original windows with the wavy glass and classic feel, I don’t love walking past the window while it’s cold and feeling wind. Besides that, most of the windows are in really bad shape — frames are rotting on some and the glass has slid out of place. Really, they all need to be replaced.
We can’t really replace all of them at this moment, though we plan to in the next couple months. So, Jon went Lowe’s and came back with two bags of stuff to aid in the cause. We didn’t cover the windows in plastic just yet, but I think it’s coming because it’s still pretty cold in here, despite all the work Jon’s done so far. That’s probably because none of the windows have storm windows either.
So, what did he do? He took fiberglass insulation and put it between the bottom of each window and window sill to keep air from coming from underneath. Then, he took rope caulk, which is very cool, to seal the windows around the edges, and finally, he used some sort of silicone caulk to fill holes where the glass has separated from the frames. I definitely don’t feel wind coming from the windows anymore, which is awesome. But, I can’t wait to have new windows of the energy efficient variety.
On a side note: a definite plus of buying a foreclosure home is that we have some wiggle room to make eco friendly upgrades.
I have to say this may be my favorite thing about our move. While I loved our old house in c’ville, the annual shrink-wrapping of the windows and the boiler-generated radiator heat are definitely not missed. And our house was only from the ’40s – I can’t imagine the state of things from 1913!
Our house gets very cold. And it would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars to replace all of the windows that probably should be replaced….and I’d probably want someone to do it who could try to preserve parts of the existing framework instead of replacing it with all-new windows, if possible, although that’s probably even more expensive. Anyway! I go back and forth…would like to replace them all but will likely just replace a few. Not sure we’d get the eventual ROI for sinking all the money into the windows. Decisions, decisions.