Replace your window? Part Deux: Steel Casement Windows

In my last post I railed about needlessly replacing your old windows. However, there are times when window replacement does make sense. Some original windows are pretty crappy-especially those that are made of metal such as steel and aluminium. Steel casement windows were considered stylish, easy to maitain and inexpensive back in their day. There are some fine homes where the design was well integrated and the steel casement windows fit the home. Many old deco style homes were built with metal casement windows.

 A perfect example would be John  Joseph Earley's famous Polychrome homes located in the Four Corners area of Silver Spring. It would be criminal for a home owner to consider replacing the casement windows in an historic property. In many cases the windows are protected by local historical preservation laws. The problem is that these windows in their original form were poor insulators to begin with and tend to get worse as they age. In an historical home or even a home where they fit the architectural style of the property the key is to restore the windows-not to replace them. However, in some homes mostly built post World War II s it is just probably a better idea to replace them. A small brick track rambler in Silver Spring is not going to look any worse if the old casement windows are replaced by something different. The good news is that there are plenty of good replacement window options. If you have the desire you can opt not to use the standard vanilla vinyl sash windows as there are some attractive casement style replacement windows out there. I sold a home in Woodmoor some years ago and the new owners replaced the metal casement windows with some very good vinyl casement windows. In this case, the appearance of the home was actually improved. My point is that you need to try preserve your home's original look when replacing windows. Doing this should give you the best value when you go to sell your home.