Preserving the Heurich House: Historic Windows
Windows play a key role in protecting everything inside a building by keeping out the wind, rain, humidity, pests, and anything else that could come in from the outside. Inside the Heurich House are original hand-carved wood fireplaces, hand-painted ceiling canvases, hand-made original furnishings, and thousands of rugs, art, vases, textiles, and more. To protect all of that, we need properly secured and insulating windows.
Among the Heurich House’s 130 windows are some of the earliest examples of plate glass. Found in the Conservatory, these window panes are notable for both their size and clarity. In comparison to other windows from the same time period, plate glass is mechanically flattened to remove visual distortions.
Unfortunately, most of the house’s windows need restoration. The panes themselves, most of which contain the original glass, are in fairly good shape. The massive undertaking of this restoration project comes primarily from problems with the window frames and sashes, or the wooden parts that border the glass. Issues include peeling paint, loose joints, and wood rot, all of which weaken the windows’ ability to keep the outside out.
Though we can restore the windows, the issues will eventually repeat themselves. Repainting a window frame and tightening joints won’t get rid of the moisture from the external environment that causes wood rot. The only permanent solution would be replacing all of the historic windows with modern window systems…unless we add external storm windows. Storm windows improve insulation and protect the original windows by adding another window pane (or panes) either inside or outside of the existing one.
Since we don’t want to throw out our historic windows, we will restore them and then add these special external storm protectors. As a historically landmarked building, we will need approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board before adding anything that will change the exterior look of the house, so we will be careful to choose storms whose appearance match our historic property.
Questions about the windows (or anything else preservation related)? Leave a comment for Dan to address in next month’s video!
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