[MassHistPres] Wood Window Replacement

[rhayw12345 at aol.com]

Good?Afternoon Everyone. I was wondering if you could offer any insight in the replacement of windows in historic districts? Let me explain the situation.

The Medford Historical Commission has a resident living within the Marm Simonds Historic District. She lives in one of the historic houses (The Charles Brooks House, 18th Century) and wants to remove the wooden windows and replace them with those which are more energy efficient. The windows, to our knowledge, are not original to the house. Some do date to the 19th century.

The owner originally proposed to us to remove all the wooden windows throughout and replace them with vinyl insert windows. The commission has expressed concern about two issues. The first, and more important issue, is how these windows change the appearance of the house. In my opinion they alter the visual impact of a house by reducing the size of the windows. The entire commission shares a similar interest in how it will alter the look of the house. The other issue is the life span of these windows. Vinyl windows are built to have an average life span of between 10? and 15 years. If we were to approve these windows, it would impact other decisions made within the entire district in the future (I.E. the you approved it in that house line).

We are currently researching alternatives to vinyl windows for replacement windows. The owner has expressed addition concerns about cost. She has mentioned refurbishment of these windows would be costly as the frames are warped and have settled in some locations leaving large gaps. She has not had a quote for restoring the existing windows.

I have thus far researched the archives of this list and found it is a well discussed topic. I have noticed that generally, windows which are restored or just have both sash's replaced and have a storm window will have just about the same energy efficiency as a normal vinyl replacement window, but will last many more years if properly maintained. I have few sources which provide any concrete proof to this and would hope that someone may be able to help.

With that said, I was wondering if you could provide me with any information you had on window replacement and related information. This information will be useful to us in making decisions down the road concerning this same topic.

Thank you!

Ryan D. Hayward
Medford Historical Commission
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