Wood Windows of Worcester
An Endangered Species
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Wood window pictured on the left.
Replacement window pictured below.
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Single-glazed wood windows are fast becoming a rare breed. Aluminum and vinyl sash with double-glazing are rapidly replacing perfectly reusable, historically-significant, traditional window sash all over Worcester (as well as across the nation).
Windows are sometimes called the “eyes” of a building. How they look plays an important role in how the whole building looks. Replacement windows, in most cases, change the originally intended appearance of the building. They replace an outstanding historically-significant feature of a building and typically do not represent a visual improvement. The sash that they replace, sometimes a century old or older, have often lasted several human lifetimes. In many cases, they still have plenty of life left in them. Wood sash are eminently repairable and the wood they are made of is superior to that of today.
Studies carried out in the New England climate have shown that, in most cases, window replacement does not make economic sense because the immediate savings are not comparable to the expense. In fact, the payback period is nearly equal to the life expectancy of the new windows. When replacement windows fail, they cannot be repaired and must be replaced again. Instead, a repaired historic wood window can be repaired and repaired again. Furthermore, the energy equivalent of replacement windows can be achieved at approximately the same or lower cost by repairing historic wood windows, making them tight, and fitting them with good quality storm windows. This is a better long-term investment, preserving a part of a building that is not only practical, but also visually and historically important – allowing it to be repaired again and again.
The loss of historic wood sash windows means the loss of an important part of a building’s character and historic detail. Removal of historic windows means losing windows whose design was chosen to complement the design and style of the building itself. It means losing shadow-casting, three-dimensional muntins* and replacing them with the simulated muntins of most replacement sash, which are flat and obviously “make-believe.” All too often as part of replacements even the original molded wood fittings designed to hold the sash in place are substituted with ones that have a molding of a different design and proportion from the original. Sometimes original window sash are replaced with ready-made sash that do not fit the size of the original opening properly, requiring infill around the edges.
The sad truth about the current window sash replacement frenzy is that, in most cases, replacement is neither necessary nor “green” at all. The current trend toward energy-consciousness and misconceptions about the efficiency of wood windows are sending tons of perfectly good, repairable, wood window sash to the landfill unnecessarily. That translates into squandered energy and adds to the expense of waste management in our environment. The green and better long-term solution is the repair and refitting of historic wood windows.
*Muntins are the wood subdivisions that separate and hold individual panes of glass in multi-paned historic windows (and also in modern true-muntin sash).