Réemploi et reconfiguration thermique des fenêtres bois en ... - Prebat

PUCA - Réemploi et reconfiguration thermique des fenêtres en fin de viePARTIE 11.6 – HARD DECISIONS TO MAKE WHEN OLD WINDOWS NEED LOTS OF HELPIt's often said that windows are a house's eyes, and like human eyes, they tend to be worth takingcare of. Sooner or later, almost every old-house owner will confront a difficult question: what to dowith those aging windows ?Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that whatever decision is made, the answer is played out notonce, but many times—at each window in the house. For Dan and Heather Beliveau, the owners ofThis Old House TV's Charlestown project, the number was 21. Twenty-one old windows needed help.What were the options?Had the windows been something to crow about—original, inherently beautiful — we might haverehabilitated them. We'd done such work with the Milton House's colonial sash and the SalemHouse's Federal-era windows, and our Watertown homeowners had had their Queen Anne doublehungsrestored as well. Typically, this involves removing the sash; reputtying the glazing; repairing,replacing, or introducing weatherstripping, and replacing the old sash cords (if the window hasthem). In Watertown, the rehab cost was about $175 per window. If the frames and sills had neededwork, the price would have been higher.In Charlestown, restoration was not really an option, primarily because the windows weren't worthsaving. Installed in the 1970s, they were inexpensive replacements with poorly operating aluminumbalances. Their single glazing provided little protection from the heat or cold, necessitating unsightlyaluminum triple-track storms.Several of the frames had racked within the settling building; as a result some of the units combinedinoperability with serious gaps that let in the drafts. Some sills and frames were rotting (already!) aswell. There wasn't much there to rehab.Dan and Heather thus faced window replacement, with a few options to choose from. One was toreplace only the operating parts of the window: the sash and balances. Often called sash-packs or thelike, such units are often marketed to the do-it-yourselfer, primarily because installing them isrelatively easy, since it doesn't disrupt the existing window frame and casing. A sash-pack for anaverage window opening of 20"x 28" runs around $200 to $300, depending on quality. This is onlyabout 15% less than a full replacement unit with frame; the savings is in the labor. Our windowconsultant in Charlestown, Jay Harman, points out that adding features like true divided lights,spacer bars inside insulating glass, custom colors, or upgraded hardware can often double the baseJuin 2012Les Bâtisseurs d’Emmaüs35