Storm Windows

We have been considering getting aluminum storm windows ever since we moved into this house; it has the original windows with the wavy glass, which we love. But it also has the original windows, with drafts so strong they'll muss your hair, which we don't love so much. the storms obviously would help our outrageous heating bills, but the thought of covering those old windows with modern aluminum monstrosities didn't appeal to us any more than the $3500 estimate did.

I knew there were wooden storm windows out in the garage (two things tipped me off: the previous owner told me so, and the huge stack of storm windows out in the garage), but I had never looked at them. They were taken off the house last year when the previous owner had the trim of the house painted (I assume they paid extra for the security provided by painted-shut windows). He told us that the people who had painted the trim had told him that the windows were all rotten, so there was no sense putting them back up.

A few weeks ago, I went out and looked at the storm windows. They were fine. They needed new glazing compound and new paint, but the wood and glass were fine. My dad came over and we started working on them, but unfortunately the cold weather moved in faster than we'd expected. Now I'm working on them one at a time in the basement.

Because I work with some of the greatest people in the world, my coworker Terrell volunteered to help me out with the storm windows. He loaded eight of them into his truck (a truck that he bought from my dad, who bought it from me, who bought it from my dad in the first place) and took them home for Thanksgiving vacation. Doesn't that sound like fun? Sweating over a bunch of windows that won't even go on your own house? During Thanksgiving? He is a saint.

Here are few pictures of the windows at Terrell's place:

Getting the glazing compound:


Slight power-washer-related mishap:


Painted and almost ready to keep us warm: