Restore or Replace? How to Judge the Original Wood Windows on a Century Home

Every fall a wave of replacement-window salesmen works the streets of Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, and Lakewood, and every fall a few more 1920s houses lose the windows they were built with. Most of those windows did not need to go. Here is how to judge your own from the sidewalk, what restoration actually involves, and what it costs — so the decision is yours and not the salesman’s.

The sidewalk test

Walk the outside of the house and look at three things on each window: the paint on the sash, the glazing compound holding the glass, and the corners of the storm frames. Start on the north side and any side that faces the lake or takes the weather — those fail first and tell the truth about the rest.

• Paint dull or chalky but still stuck to the wood — that window needs a repaint, nothing more
• Paint lifting, curling, or flaking off the sash and sills — that window needs restoration
• Glazing compound cracked, missing in stretches, or pulling away from the glass — restoration
• Bare or gray wood showing at the corners of storms or sills — restoration, and soon
• Soft wood you can push a fingernail into at the bottom rail or sill — restoration with repair; still not a replacement

Why the old sash is worth keeping

Windows built in the 1910s and 1920s were cut from old-growth lumber — tight-grained, resin-heavy wood that does not exist in a lumberyard today. Kept painted and glazed, that sash has already lasted a hundred years and will last another hundred. A vinyl replacement carries a 20-year warranty for a reason, and it cannot be repaired when a seal fails; it can only be replaced again.

A restored wood sash with a properly fitted storm window performs close to a modern double-pane unit on a Northeast Ohio winter day, and it keeps the profile, the divided lights, and the two-color scheme the house was designed with. In Shaker Heights that also keeps the house where the architectural review board wants it. In Ambler Heights and the other historic districts, it keeps the street looking like the street.

What restoration actually involves

Restoration is not a heavier repaint. It is a fixed sequence, and every step matters.

• Pressure wash, then full dry time before any scraping
• Scrape every lifting and failed layer to sound wood on the sash, trim, and sills
• Detail sand so the new coats lay flat
• Cut out cracked or missing glazing compound and re-glaze
• Oil primer on every bare or repaired surface
• Two finish coats brushed by hand, with clean cut lines in the original colors
• Storms and screens pulled, sanded, primed, painted, spray-glazed on sawhorses, and reinstalled square so they open in spring

What it costs, per window

We publish our numbers so the comparison is honest. A restored window — sash and trim, every step above — is $506. Each storm window or screen refinished off the house is $75, and most Heights windows carry two storms and a screen, so a complete restored unit is $731. A window that passes the sidewalk test and only needs paint is $75 in one color or $150 in two. Materials are billed at cost on top.

Now ask the replacement salesman for his installed price per opening, for a wood or wood-clad unit that matches your divided lights. Put the two numbers side by side. Then ask which one will still be in the wall in 2126.

Get an honest read on yours

Send a photo of your worst window to 440-382-5701 and we will tell you, per side of the house, which ones need restoration and which ones only need paint. Most Cleveland Heights answers come back within 24 hours, and the price will match what you just read.