Swapping out Door Lites

Economy priced doors have come with plastic "Lite" frames of suspect quality for some time. Generally speaking the yellow units have shown to hold up very poorly to sun exposure and cold weather alike. They become brittle and take on an even more awful (if that's possible) yellowing appearance than they had when new.

Today new white UV resistant units are available to be used as direct replacements. They can provide a great upgrade without going through the expense and labor of replacing the entire door.

Perhaps you would like a new look to your existing door - at a great price. You can change the frame around the glass from one with "panes" to one without, or vice versa. The door industry uses just a few common sizes of openings (holes) in the door to insert the glass/frame.
My cut and paste capabilities don't show it very well, but these 2 doors (from different manufacturers) have the same glass opening. You can swap out the "15 Lite" version for the "Plane Glass" version.

We are talking about window frames where the "grids" (or "grills" or "panes", whatever you prefer to call them) are mounted to the outside of the glass. If you have the style (or want the style) where they are between the glass - that's a different story and you have to get a new unit with glass. These surface mounted units are basically sandwiching the insulated glass unit between them and are held in by screws on the inside (of the door) grid panel. The screw holes are often covered with little plastic circles that you simply pop off with a small screwdriver.

After you have identified the style and outside dimensions of your new frame, you only need be mindful of one thing - the thickness of the glass unit. This is not hard, but it is important. The good news is that on residential doors whether metal or fiberglass there are only 2 major thicknesses of glass units. These are 1/2" (most popular), and 1" (less popular).

Don't be thrown-off by the picture (above) showing how the inside and outside pieces come together. The large space in the foreground of the picture represents the thickness of the door, don't worry about that, it's the more difficult to see space deeper in the pic that is the approx 1/2" most doors use.

I can tell just by glancing at the metal spacer bar between the panes of insulated glass. Remember when we are determining 1/2" vs 1" it is the outside of glass to outside of glass measurement. This means the "1/2" unit will have a spacer bar that appears to be less than a 1/2" or you may believe you could lay a pencil on top of the bar. The 1" unit will look much bigger you can easily imagine a nickle sitting on that bar between the glass.

Of course a micrometer is what your supposed to use, but nobody actually owns one.

The proper method would be to unscrew the moulding around the glass from inside the house. To be safe have someone else gently pushing up against the glass unit from the outside - as that is the way it will want to fall out. Once removed you will have access to the edge of the insulated glass unit. This is easily measured with a ruler, or you can always gauge it with a piece of paper - and then measure that.

When installing your new unit, you want to be sure that you have cleaned the old piece of glass the best you can. Clear silicone is the order of the day for the exterior portion of the project. First silicone the glass to the outside perimeter of your new frame. Ideally you would let this set overnight. Second, you want to apply the same silicone to the area where the frame and the door meet. This is not necessary on the inside.

There are numerous configurations of these grids but pricing on the most popular are as follows:

9 Lite 23 3/4" x 37 3/4" $54.99 plus shipping

1/2 Lite 23 3/4" x 37 3/4" $49.99 plus shipping

1 Lite 23 3/4" x 65 3/4" $74.99 plus shipping

15 Lite 23 3/4" x 65 3/4" $79.99 plus shipping

21 3/4" widths are also popular - same price

Shipping cost per unit is greatly reduced when ordering more than 1 unit.

DraftyOldWindow@gmail.com

(207) 443-1421 Fax

(207) 831-2212

Measure For Interior Storm Windows

For the purpose of contrast, I am showing
the storm in unfinished wood in this picture
Standard would be brown or white aluminum

Measuring for your new insulating storm windows is not as difficult as you might think. There are two basic concepts you have to understand:

• Where your new panels will go (where to measure)
  


• Confidence in reading the tape measure http://www.asktooltalk.com/questions/faq/tools/tape_measures/blade_markings.php.asktooltalk.com/questions/faq/tools/tape_measures/blade_markings.php

The new window sits on top of the sill and between the jambs. If you're not familiar with the terminology look at the pictures. Most people know that the sill is the flat surface at the bottom of the window, the "jamb" causes a bit more confusion. It is simply the "depth" of the wall. It can vary greatly depending on the thickness of your exterior walls and how your existing windows are installed.

Proper placement of tape for width
Measurement

































You will need at least 3/4" of flat surface all the way around (The inside of the jamb). Blinds may interfere, depending on their placement. If they are mounted to the face of the trim (or wall) they are generally not a problem. If they are recessed in the jamb, you just need to be sure you still have 3/4" or more in front of them for the new window panel. If they are in the way, you will either move them or put them away for winter months. If you refer to my previous entry in this blog "The Comfort of Interior Storm Windows" you will see the last picture showing a blind recessed about 2 1/2" into the jamb (you only need 3/4").

Now it's just a matter of getting a good measurement. RELAX, it's not that difficult. All you need to do is accurately read the tape the best you can. You should familiarize yourself with getting to the 1/8". It's more important for you to be able to read what you believe is right, than to actually get the tape to the exact 1/32 of the opening. I don't even want that.

*When measuring check your measurement in different places and take the smallest one, if there is one.



For example when you measure the height, do it up the left side, Up the right side and in the middle. If there is a difference use the smallest one.

The truth is I make a small deduction on the frame, but then add weatherstripping all around. The squish of the weatherstrip will take care of minor discrepancies. DON'T take the deduction yourself - give me the best you can, RELAX!

Measurements are always given width x height. So if you simply state 30 1/2" x 54 1/8" that is telling me that your inside-the-jamb measurement (where the new unit will go) is 30 1/2 inches wide by 54 1/8 tall. I proceed to take a tiny deduction to make room for the weatherstripping.

Easy Right?

Make sure to make note to yourself which measurement is for which window. I don't care if it's the living room or the bedroom south facing wall - but you will when they arrive. I will label each size only.

When asking me for a quote I need the number of units of each size and your delivery address (or at least your zip code). Make sure I have a regular e-mail address for you as well.

These units can be produced and shipped in a week!

Draftyoldwindow@gmail.com

Fax (207) 443-1421

The Comfort of Interior Storm Windows

15 years in the window business has given me enough practical experience to speak with some authority on questionable claims made by some companies regarding energy savings. My upcoming blog will go more in depth on the tricky equation of cost vs. energy savings in the purchase of window units.







Standard Frame Insulated Unit



For now I will make a blanket statement that will make most of my colleagues shutter. The payback (Your savings on heat) on replacing your windows isn't really very good. As a matter of fact-it stinks.

It's important to be comfortable in your own home. Cranking up the heat is a response to how you are feeling - not what the gauge is reading on your thermostat. Do you turn on your heat when it's 65 degrees outside? I hope not! But if it's 65 inside and the tip of your nose is chilly from frigid air sneaking past the glass in the wall, you might be tempted to nudge the setting up a few degrees. Furthermore if the glass is even close to as cold as it is outside, than that's where your heat is going, right out the window.

Consider the comfort of interior panels. We make these insulated units to fit inside your window trim, without you drilling any holes or using any tools. They feature dual panes of poly sheeting, a rigid frame and enough weatherstripping around the frame to compensate for out of square openings. If you goof a bit on under sizing the measurement, another layer of weatherstrip handles the issue with ease. Not only will these tight units block out the draft, they will increase each window openings insulating value.



Insulated Poly-Panes on Economy Wood Frame





The R-Value of any window will never be as high as a solid wall. The U.S. Dept of Energy states that as much as 25% of heat loss is through windows. They also go on to say that the edition of interior storm panels can reduce that loss by up to 50%! It is estimated that the R-Value increase with these units is more than a value of 2.



At 1/10 the cost of having your windows replaced, these units make sense. For windows up to 34"x62" the cost is only $65.00. For larger units we will price them accordingly. Units ship in less than 1 week. To get a price we need only the following:

• Sizes and quantity of each size


• Delivery address for shipping cost

windowpartsguy@gmail.com

FAX (207) 443-1421

We need your width and height inside you existing trim. Please be aware that existing blinds may have to be relocated to the face of your trim.





Plenty of room here, our units are less than 1" thick

No need to move these blinds

Off to a DARK Start

It's pretty funny to be sitting here in the dark writing my first post. I really wanted to make a good first impression - showing others how they could learn from my real life experiences. Instead I find myself in a potentially bad spot tonight, and I'm wondering why i wasn't better prepared.

We had an ice storm here in Maine last night, waking up to a day with no electricity. Now if that's not bad enough - we have well water. For those of you who have never gave this any thought, no electricity equals no water from the well. No water of course means (your going to learn a lot about me here) Eeeuuuu! .... no shower. This is why I'm not big on camping; I love the outdoors but I like being clean too!

So I'm surrounded by candles, with my laptop plugged into battery power. We seem to have been pretty well prepared at least in the wax, wicks and matches departments. Mrs Windowguy has been ordered to stop on her way home from Portland (yes, work with no shower for her) to buy "everything" we should have had on hand for such an event.

As usual, I was optimistic that power would be returned in short order. I took advantage of the no media situation and spent most of the day alone, enjoying the quiet, ignoring the fact that it would be dark by 5:00pm and the possibility of a long wait for the power to be restored. It's only by taking a ride in my car that I had a chance to get any news. The news is worse than I thought. 200,000 people spread out in Maine without power. Worse yet, the surrounding states are in even bigger trouble. If the situation is worse elsewhere, that means no crews from "away" will be rushing up to help.

You would think after THE ICE STORM (there will never be another) of '98 no one around here would ever be unprepared. Hmmm.


A list of things we DON'T have:

1. Emergency Drinking Water



2. Water for flushing toilets (yes, all you have to do is pour it in)



3. The flashlight supply seems to be missing (let me guess: on the boat? out at "camp"? buried in the garage?



4. Batteries



5. Dry firewood inside the house

The wood I can deal with, it's just that the stack will be a frozen mass outside, but the wood will burn. We don't use the wood stove (obviously) for our primary heat, more as a novelty and for emergencies. We are diversified though, besides the wood stove we also have a propane stove in the living room and our cook top is connected to the propane as well. The primary heat is oil/forced hot water and that of course needs electricity.

So we won't freeze and we wouldn't starve either. It's funny how you think you have "no food" until a situation like this arises and suddenly all the canned, dry and freezer items jump out at you like found money.

What I also have is my handy portable car battery jumper/starter/air compressor gizmo. No, the car is fine but I needed to plug my computer into something as the battery was about to die. This gadget plugs into the wall and charges itself up. It becomes a portable source of power (complete with jumper cables) and can turn the engine of a car with a dead battery for quite some time. It also serves as a mini compressor to fill a flat tire, has a built in light AND an AC electrical adapter. I don't have a "cigarette lighter" adapter for my laptop, but i do have a Black&Decker power inverter... so.. i plug the three together and whoola! Juice for the laptop amidst the darkness.

Mrs. Windowguy has just called and she has found a Wal-Mart that is opened. She has to improvise a bit because the shelves are a tad bare. So we will survive of course, but this time I will post a reminder list by the garage door where we can keep an eye on our emergency items for the next time.