Out With the Old, In With the New

Most of our windows are original to the house, only 2 on the second floor - 1 on the main floor and the basement windows were replaced when we bought the house (out of 15 windows).  And I absolutely love the look and feel of the wooden frames and details...

haha, I promise you that I wasn't angry in this picture, just chilly!

...but our heating bills did not love the wooden windows.  The breeze that came through the windows would cause wisps of hair to move around my face as I sat on the couch.  There was major leakage happening.  There was also the safety factor to consider - the windows no longer stayed open on their own (potential for fingers, hands or head injuries should they shut on anyone) and there were no locks on them.  So, since the government was offering money back for updated windows we did what we could and replaced the 4 windows on the main floor.

It was important to me that the new windows look identical to the original ones (minus the fact that they would be made of vinyl instead of wood).  So we took the necessary dimensions, headed to Canada Windows and Doors (after months of shopping around and several out-of-this-world quotes) and Darryl scored us a pretty nice discount.  He is a great negotiator - I get too embarrassed, or afraid of insulting the seller so I'm not too assertive in that department. 

The after pictures really don't look too different from the befores, you'll just have to trust me that it was worth every penny.

Before...

After...

We still haven't taken the stickers off ... it's on the to-do list ;)  So is the caulking on the outside, we've got to get around to that soon. 

I was so so happy when we picked the windows up.  They turned out just as I had hoped - they open only one third of the way, just like the originals did, and they still have the 3 panel detail in the top part!

So hopefully this winter we'll be able the reap the benefits of a less-breezy main floor, and our heating bill should be a bit lower too.

Tomorrow I'll start to show you the flooring changes we made in the living/dining room!

Have you had to replace any windows yet?