Restoring Basement Windows for Not Much Money.

Well with spring slowly arriving here in Minnesota, it's been time to work on a few outside projects.  One that has been sitting on the waiting list is dealing with the basement windows.  When I moved in, nearly all the old storm windows were gone or in really bad shape. The openings that didn't have these poor old windows, were either boarded up or had bad replacements.   So while these ugly windows have served their purpose to secure and allow air into the basement, they had to go.  So this is what I started with:

Luckily behind the too tiny window and large trim, was the original window frames.  After removing the current window and a million nails, I scraped the wood, and filled any holes or any small section of rot with exterior putty.  I'm sure many of you realize that each of these openings actually contains an outer storm and an inner storm. Hence each opening is twice the work for fitting a window. Last year I had a company come out and give me an estimate to build new storms to fit each opening. Each storm was quoted at being around $200. That was way to much for my budget to even consider. I'm the kind of guy who can spend the time, but not all that much money to get things done on this house.  So I made my way to my local salvage yard and picked up old storms for $10-$13 each storm.  They were the old three divided light storms with old wavy glass.  They were too tall and about an inch or two too narrow, but that wasn't a problem.

Storms when I bought them 

I did still have one old interior storm in the whole basement that was in bad shape, but it at least allowed me to measure what the width of the top and bottom rails to ensure that my new windows had the same width when I fit them.  

I then proceeded to cut off the bottom the amount to fit the height of the opening. With a bit of sanding and adjusting I got them to fit.  Unfortunately on many of the windows the middle of the casing was just a bit smaller compared to the edges. This had me sand more of the middle of the storms to get them to fit as tight as possible in an old, out of square frame.  

Interior showing where the storm should fit. Also shows the old window and how much smaller it was. 

After fitting the storm to fit the height, I still had a large gap on the sides.  Anywhere from 1/2" to just over an 1".  I determined the size and split it to add the the two sides of the storm.  I purchased some good quality pine studs and cut them to first cut the width of the storm ( 1 1/8")  by the depth of the space I needed to fill (total 1", so each side 1/2" for example) and lastly the height.  I then brought the storm to the opening and loosely fit the pieces into the opening. Again the width was not uniform from the top to the bottom, so as long as the filler piece fit it one part of the side, I could plane or sand down later.

The added width

To get it fit really tight I sanded the storm sides, glued the storm side and the new wood and clamped it in place. I then used my nailer to set it it place.  Nice and tight. Let dry for several hours.

Sand down the sides of the storm to make the new addition of the sides invisible.

And of course putty any of the window glazing that needs it.  This takes more time as the glazing is slow to dry, but do the work now or later.

Putty any old nail holes or dents that bother you.

After this all dries I brought the window back to the opening to fit it.  Again it inevitably needed more sanding to git the window to fit right.  After I got it to fit well I primed and painted the window and the old frame in the house.  I choose to paint the inner storms and frame black.  I picked black because whenever I see these old windows they are always painted black, so I followed with tradition.  The exterior of the storm I painted the burgundy trim color.  To secure the outer storm I put hooks and eyes on the inside of the storm, so that I can take the outer storm off from inside, but it can't be opened from outside. This completed the outer storm window.  Time to do the whole darn process again to fit the interior storm.  I got it down to being able to do a window sash a day (excluding any dry time for window glazing).  Not a quick process that's for sure.  The interior storm I hung with hinges, like the old ones were.  Then I placed a hook and eye on it to hang it open from the ceiling, and put some storm stays to hold the inner sash tightly and secure.  After all the work here is what I got:

A million times better looking!  Lets lots of light in, but I wanted just a little more privacy so to go with the theme on the rest of the house and :

Had to add the lace.

So in total I have 20 storm sashes to do.  I have completed 3 sets so far, so 6 in total.  A good project that really only cost the price of the windows, wood and hardware I figure each window is under $16 in actual costs, but time is free when you're restoring an old beauty like this.  This year my house celebrates 125 years.

If you like what you read on my blog and would like to contribute to the house restoration please click the donate button below. All donations will be GREATLY appreciated!! You will also be publicly thanked if you wish on a contributes page I hope to add at some point in the future.