jharkin said:Turn off HGTV. Seriously. Old x= bad.
If your "cr*ptastic" single pane windows are 100+ years old I'd STRONGLY encourage you to reconsider tearing them out. Just upgrade the weatherstripping and put on GOOD wooden framed storms that seal properly and you will have 95% of the performance of a double glazed window at 5% of the cost.
Not to mention those vinyl replacements will need replacing themselves in 20 years. Well maintained wooden windows have lasted centuries.
Dont even get me started on tearing out real plaster to put in wallboard....
No worries, J,
I put H&G in proper perspective after I realized a trashed house couldn't be renovated by an amateur in three months for $20K and $100K profit.
I love old, and am saving anything worth saving, often at greater effort and cost--like the old, semi-reformed hippie that I am. Anyone else would have simply torn the house down, so anything I can salvage is a blow for history. Trust me, these are *not* good wood windows, and they already have decent cheap storms on them. I'll upgrade them when I replace the aluminum siding, which is low on my list, since the siding is still functional. If anyone has a source for good wood windows for anywhere near the price of good vinyls, I'm interested. I'm already scouring the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
The plaster and lathe was moldy and *stank*, thanks to decades of abuse. I do not like dry wall, and am not putting any in. All surfaces, ceilings included, will be wood, and the great room walls will be vertical T&G. Few can understand why I am going through all the trouble, since I could have gone for a standard new house with standard construction for 1% of the effort and half the cost . But I get great satisfaction from wood, craftsmanship, and thoughtfulness, and I see the same sort of emphasis on simple truths over artifice here. :coolsmile: