![]() ![]() “If people want wavy glass, we can do that,” says Berit Griffin of Marvin Windows and Doors. Many companies, including Green Mountain, Heartwood Fine Windows and Doors, and Marvin Windows and Doors, customize windows to fit your home’s dimensions and period. Soon you will learn not only what was typical of the period you want to emulate but also to spot previous renovations, such as Victorian-era embellishments of colonial architecture or 1960s suburban-style cover-ups of Arts & Crafts detail. Historical societies, pattern books used by builders past, and close scrutiny of area architecture will give you the clues you need: “You have to become an amateur architectural historian,” Benson says. In all cases, it’s critical to do your homework. “If you are trying to do a convincing restoration and yet use simulated divided lights,” Benson says, “that can be spotted from miles away.” Besides not being the best aesthetic choice, the very values desired from manmade materials may not bear out: “Sure, it won’t rot,” he says, “but the cladding’s weep holes clot or rot and have to be replaced in 20 or 30 years.”Īrchitects look at size and materials when designing the perfect new old house door or window. Wood muntins and mullions are key to an authentic-looking window. As countless old homes attest, properly treated and protected wood will last hundreds of years. In another scenario, it may be tempting to install plastic or metal muntins based on the belief that they may wear better or longer (just as some believe that metal doors stand up to the elements better), but according to Steve Benson, a third-generation woodworker with deep experience in energy-efficient technologies, that may be misguided. While using these new technologies makes sense for renovation and new construction projects, in the case of some restorations, the preservation of original detailing, including the glass, becomes paramount, and the best course of action is simply to add storm windows and doors for cold weather protection. As for UV coating, which helps regulate both heating and cooling, she says, “I usually specify 72 percent more coating can make the glass seem more blue on the inside.” Sandra Vitzthum, a Vermont-based architect, loves that new glass can be made to look imperfectly old and embraces double-paned windows for better insulation, but she stops short of recommending available triple pane lights, as their thermal efficiency rarely exceeds their expense. ![]() In these situations, the key is moderate use of new technologies. You also may decide to add a bit of UV coating to regulate sun exposure. With renovation or creation, you have the opportunity to use energy-efficient krypton or argon gas-infused panes. Though you may want to maintain the original glass in the windows of a beloved farmhouse, colonial Saltbox, Gothic cottage, or Arts & Crafts bungalow, the reality of heat loss or air escape may take precedence. Heartwood Windows and Doors’ foldup window is perfect for a porch or kitchen. Twenty-first-century glass, for example, not only keeps heat either in or out and modifies the sun’s rays, but it also can deaden outside noise, an important benefit for those historic homes built on main byways. Today, new materials and construction techniques afford environmental benefits as well as improved means for emulating past craftsmanship. These early farmhouses often had 12-over-12 double-hung windows.” Once the country started making its own glass, he continues, “the light sizes became larger, and by the mid-19th century, the two-over-two pattern with one vertical muntin dividing the glass became the quintessential farmhouse style.” Andy Keefe of Green Mountain Window explains the historic trajectory: “Farmhouses in areas settled early in American history typically have small pane sizes since imported glass was generally only available in 6″ x 8″ or 7″ x 9″. In times past, available materials and elemental realities often dictated architectural style. Whether restoring, renovating, or shopping for new old windows and doors, you will face both opportunities and challenges as you stand on the threshold of faithfulness to the past and judicious use of present technologies. ![]() Together, they are the face that meets the street. More than that, though, doors symbolize our hospitality, and windows frame our views. They keep out the unwanted-excess heat and cold, insects and other small creatures, and rain. On a practical level, they allow ingress and egress. Windows and doors are portals of light, of air, of human activity. Green Mountain Windows designs perfectly proportioned windows.
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