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What kind of windows do Federal Heights houses have?
The best-documented example is wood sash. The National Register nomination for one house in the neighborhood cites an architectural survey: 27 percent of Federal Heights residences are Colonial Revival, 10 percent Neo-Classical, 16 percent Bungalow and 15 percent English Tudor. The house the nomination describes, built in 1927 and 1928, still has its original wood windows, most of them six-over-six double-hung sash with wood sills.
Windows like that stick, rattle and leak air for ordinary reasons: paint that has sealed the sash to the frame, a broken sash cord, worn weatherstripping, loose glazing. None of those is a reason to tear the window out.
Can an old sash window be repaired instead of replaced?
Often, yes. The National Park Service's preservation brief on historic wooden windows describes a staff member repairing a two-over-two double-hung window that had been in service for over ninety years. The wood was sound, but it had a broken pane, many layers of paint, broken sash cords and worn-out weatherstripping. Stripping paint, putty and glass took about an hour per sash, and reglazing both took about another hour.
The brief calls replacing broken sash cords with new rope cords or chains one of the most common repair items, and says weatherstripping should be treated as an integral part of the repair process, not an afterthought.
Why do it before winter?
Because a draft is air leaking out of a heated house. The Park Service's brief on energy efficiency in historic buildings says adding weatherstripping to doors and windows and sealing open cracks around them will substantially reduce air leakage. It adds a caution for the caulk gun: do not caulk the underside of clapboards or below windows, so liquid water can still escape. Where a window needs more than sealing, it notes that storm windows can raise thermal performance in ways weatherstripping and caulking cannot.
What about lead paint on a window this old?
Under the EPA's renovation, repair and painting rule, firms doing work that disturbs lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 must be EPA- or state-certified and use certified renovators. 24/7 Express Handyman Service is not RRP-certified, so window work that would disturb more than a minor-repair amount of old paint is referred to a certified firm. The scope is settled in writing before any paint line is cut.
For the rest, 24/7 Express Handyman Service handles sash window repair, weatherstripping and window recaulking in Federal Heights; each job's price is on its own page, linked below.