10 Most Endangered
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It's a better, greener investment to do what generations did before the window replacement industry took the upper hand: keep originals in working order and repair what's broken.
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Historic Windows
Statewide
On 10 Most list since 2009
According to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, windows are “character-defining features” critical to the appearance of historic buildings, but original windows are being replaced at an alarming rate.
“Among the compelling arguments to save and restore original windows is that you know the real thing when you see it,” says Mark Dollase, Indiana Landmarks Vice President for Preservation Services, “and replacements rob a landmark of authenticity.” Original wood muntins—the wood elements that divide panes in a window sash—offer profile and depth lacking in replacement windows, where thin plastic strips sandwiched between double-paned glass telegraph “fake.” When replacement windows differ in size and pane pattern from the originals, the historic character suffers even more.
Original windows and the architectural character they represent are piling up in landfills everywhere. The window replacement industry spends millions on advertising to convince people that old windows are peeling, leaking, energy losers.
Most heat loss in old houses is through the roof, not the windows. In fact, the payback in energy cost savings on replacement windows is generally longer than the expected lifespan of the window. Instead, owners can save original architecture and the earth by repairing and painting the wood (or steel) elements of windows, glazing, caulking, weather stripping, and adding storm windows. Well-maintained original windows will last much longer than vinyl replacements, sparing landfills of both the originals and the replacements.
In this era of necessary thrift and conservation consciousness, Indiana Landmarks suggests returning to the save-and-repair ethic of earlier generations rather than falling for sales pitches that result in waste and drastic loss of architectural significance.
For more information contact:
Mark Dollase
Vice President of Preservation Services, Indiana Landmarks, Indianapolis
317-639-4534 or 800-450-4534
mdollase@indianalandmarks.org
Additional resources
Should your old windows be saved? Fine Homebuilding weighs in on the pluses of restoring wood windows.
How to restore sash windows, an informative article from Old House Journal online.
Historic wood windows, a tipsheet from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Historic windows and energy efficiency, a guest column from the Lafayette Journal & Courier.
Restore your double-hung windows, a pod-cast from Angie's List.
Love your historic windows, group pool on Flickr.
"Preservation" magazine editor talks weatherization with Fox News.
