replacement vs repair

My 1926 dutch colonial actually has the original windows (most of which don't work) and separate, wood-frame storms/screens which we change seasonally. My husband has been lobbying for replacing them but I've been holding out for wooden replacements and, since we have more than 30 windows, its been too costly to undertake. My husband has finally convinced me to go with vinyl windows and he says he can tackle the job himself. He's somewhat handy but doesn't have a lot of free time and besides - NOTHING in this old house has ever been easy or, for that matter, square. Any experts out there have any thoughts on this?
I was surprised to see that sometimes repair of old windows is an option, sometimes preferable to replacement. Would that be possibly true in this case? I love these windows and would be happy to keep them but I'm not sure about the energy issues and the storms and screens would have to be replaced too. I welcome any advice.

 

There is something to be said for repairing old windows, especially if you want to preserve the historical value of a home. Good storm windows help, but are not as effective energy wise as a new, energy efficient replacement window. If your old window frames are uninsulated and drafty (air comes around the trim) adding replacement windows is not the complete solution... only a partial one. But in answer to your question, yes... it is probably something your husband could do- provided the windows are measured correctly, and provided you want to continue painting your exterior trim.

If your windows don't operate well, it's usually because of years of paint buildup. A nice article was recently written on the subject of stripping and repairing old wood windows. It appeared in the July 2007 issue of Journal of Light Construction. The article was entitled, "Restoring old windows".

 

Thanks for your quick reply. Of course, it wasn't exactly the answer I wanted but if replacement is better than repair...well, then so be it.
My husband actually did already replace a small powder room window in the back of the house to see if he could manage it. He did what seems like a good job BUT suddenly he is starting to chicken out of doing the rest the job himself. It seems he just measured a few of the windows and says they are completely out of square, such that there are no parallel sides. He's concerned that the amount of shimming he will have to do will be a problem both for him and for keeping the windows air tight. Any ideas here? Thanks again for your help.

 

In almost 20 yrs, I've never run into a window that was too out of square to replace. Although some were close. If the window is *really* out of whack, it's often better to to a total replacement, removing the old sill and jamb so as to install a "new construction" style window that has nailing fins. This entails retrimming the interior and exterior of the window and is a bigger undertaking.

When choosing to retrofit a replacement window into an out of square frame, it calls for careful measuring so as not to get the replacement window too big. If sills are crooked, they can be chiselled until the windows fit. Shimming is the easy part. An extra stop can be added onto the exterior blind stop if needed. Interior stops can be replaced with wider ones if they don't cover. It's really no big deal. You just work with problems as they arise. As with anything, there will be a few snags. But most can be easily overcome.

Like I said before, careful measuring is the key. One mistake can lead to a lot of headaches.