[MassHistPres] Wooden Windows

[Marcia Starkey]

Hello, this is really a complex issue. Outside the historic district, it is 
an issue of owners of traditionally built/historic age buildings being 
advised to replace windows or side with vinyl backed by language that seems 
to be, at minimum, to border on false or misleading advertising...but until 
someone challenges these assertions made minus a disclaimer for housing over 
50 years of age or in historic areas and districts, it will continue. The 
resulting loss of market value for these buildings is another aspect that 
may bear a close look. Marcia Starkey, Greenfield HC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <slater at alum.rpi.edu>
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Wooden Windows


>> The cost for repairs and restoration can range from as low as $60 to
> replace
>> sash cords to make the window operational to $600-700 to completely
>> restore a 6 over 6 window including paint and weatherstripping.
>> A good quality storm window will run about $200 for a normal
>> size window. Sure, triple tracks are ugly, but they are reversible
>> should anything better come out in the future, and they
>> preserve the building and the comfort of the inhabitants.
>
> Hi Allison --
>
> I agree with everything you said. However this is not always possible to
> do in Springfield primarily because of the income levels of people
> residing in many of our historic houses.
>
> We have not been allowing replacement of wooden windows under hardship
> unless the window is beyond what I'd call "reasonable repair" (and that
> standard is rarely met), and only then if the owner proves financial
> hardship. As our chairperson has said, we don't give out a "certificate
> of incovenience".
>
> Broken ropes, peeling paint, and crumbling glazing aren't a hardship
> because they are things that nearly every homeowner or handyman should
> be able to easily and cheaply do. However, severely rotted windows are,
> even though most windows can ultimately be saved with a lot of effort.
>
> Since Springfield's historic houses number close to 1,500, and since
> enforcement of the rules in the past has been minimal, I would estimate
> that close to 15-20% of our window stock has been replaced with white
> vinyl. Window replacements happen so fast (usually done in a day) that
> they are impossible to catch in the act, and when such a high percentage
> of windows have already been replaced it's even impossible to spot a new
> job.
>
> This causes an incredible problem because we not only get people who say
> "why can't I put in vinyl windows, my neighbor did?", but we also have
> people who simply assume that since their neighbor replaced their
> windows, they can do it too.
>
> I'm not sure if anyone has been in the position where a low-income
> homeowner sits in front of you telling you that they just racked up $10k
> on their Home Depot credit card to install vinyl windows, and there's no
> chance they can come up with another $20k to put back wooden windows,
> but I don't see any realistic path out of that situation except
> preventing it from happening.
>
>>My hat is off to the Salem Historic Commission which has begun
> insisting that
>>homeowners get a quote on repairs and restoration before they will
> consider
>>approving replacement windows.
>
> Springfield has also been asking homeowners to explore the possibility
> of repairs. Unfortunately we have not found a ready supply of craftsman
> in the price range that is reasonable for the economics of Springfield.
> While a $700 per window repair job might make sense if your house is
> valued at $500k+, it makes absolutely no sense for a house valued at
> $150k, and when the SHC tells homeowners to suck it up and do this we
> get tremendous negative press and political pressures.
>
> The deck is heavily stacked against us because of the endless marketing
> by the replacement window industry. People CRAVE replacement windows.
> They are being told that they are losing thousands of dollars a year by
> not having them. We just got sued because someone wanted to replace his
> perfectly good wooden windows, we told him no, he sued us, and somehow
> won in court (I'll post details once I read the decision).
>
> I think that this is a great threat to historic districts, because the
> conventional wisdow is that old window = bad window. I know of more than
> one person who likes the idea of historic houses but wouldn't buy one
> specifically because they didn't want to deal with old windows.
>
> Unfortunately I don't see any good avenue on a local level to change
> that attitude, and because of that I think that the Springfield Historic
> Commission needs to have some fallback options, because when there is no
> standard of appropriateness for people who are intent on replacing their
> windows, odds are that the replacement will still happen, and it will be
> very, very inappropriate.
>
> Ralph Slate
> Springfield, MA
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