How I Saved Thousands on Window Restoration

First things first, I am not stingy or unrealistic. If I know a job is out of my skill set I’m happy to hire it out. Professionals do a faster, better-looking job in many cases. But when someone tells me they’re going to charge $10,000 (loose quote) to restore five windows I start looking for options. If I can do it cheaper and get a similar result I will. So here’s how I saved $9000 on our window restoration. Hopefully, this will inspire you to try a new skill you’ve been afraid to try and save some cash,

What Happened First

The windows at the cottage were in a bad way. They would not open. They had a number of cracked panes. A few of the frames had started to come apart.

In anticipation of mending them being a necessity, I budgeted around $7000 to fix the five windows. Then I started to get quotes. The first company were well-versed in restoring windows. That’s all they do. They gave me a $ 10,000 quote but it wasn’t firm. They wouldn’t know until they took the windows out what exactly the cost would be.

Our carpenter quoted to rebuild the windows. Having seen his work at the farm I was tempted. Until he said he would have to cut out the windows and put new trim on the exterior. The house would not look the same. It was when he took one of the windows apart in a minute that I got the idea maybe I could tackle the windows myself.

What I Did

I did a fair amount of googling and watching YouTube tutorials on how to fix and restore old windows. The process was relatively easy though time-consuming. Firstly I removed the staff beads on the sides of the window so the sashes could be taken out. The staff beads are the long pieces of timber that hold the windows in place inside the frame. Because our windows had no trim the staff beads could be tapped out with a hammer. Easy!

The next job was to clean the frame of accumulated dust and dirt. There was a lot. But after I cleaned them I found the windows to actually be in good condition and only requiring minor repairs. (All of which I learnt how to do via YouTube!)

I sanded the sides of the frame smooth and scraped out any rot along the sills. This was filled with builders’ bog and sanded smooth. It was tedious but not hard. I also sanded the sides of the windows and primed and painted them to seal them. This helped them to slide up and down more easily. I sanded, painted and filled any holes. Then asked our local glazier to replace the broken panes. So, now we have a mixture of original glass and new. But the house is much warmer. Before I put the windows back together I also installed weather strips to keep out the drafts.

The next step in the window restoration was to add sash lifts (which the windows never had) so they could be lifted with ease and sash drops to hold the windows in place when open. As our windows do not have cords they will not stay up by themselves.

. And to Complete the Window Restoration. . .

I added new trims and Georgain-style rosettes to the windows. This really completes them and adds tonnes of charm. Our cottage was modest when constructed. Money was clearly tight and extravagances like that were not part of the budget. So I am happy I can upgrade our little home and make her look the way she should have if she had her best dress on.

All in all the restoration of the windows cost around $1000. This left a lot of money for other projects and I added to my skillset.

What do you think of the windows now?