The Alameda district. The two dormer casement window assemblies with arched-top transoms are slated for replacement. If you wish to see more of the details in these photos, you can enlarge them by clicking on them.

All the pine wood windows made over the past 30 years by the various window manufactures have been sorely tested in climates…

…and exposures like those frequently found in the Willamette Valley. While we hear our client’s sometimes cursing the product name…

…of their particular brand of window when the water damage has cost them thousands of dollars…the problem is by no means…

…exclusive to any particular manufacturer. We see ALL the various brands of wood windows suffering the consequences of direct and…

…consistent exposure to moisture. It’s almost always due to an architectural design that offers no overhang or eves to help deflect even the mildest precipitation.

Being up on a hill where the effect of wind is frequently compounded by laterally moving air-masses turned near vertical, and a lack of frequent maintenance just…

…exacerbates the propensity of wood products succumbing to the destructive effects of frequent and direct exposure to water. And out-swinging casement windows come…

…with their own inherent vulnerabilities in the form of having the reveal between the sash & the jambs exposed to the exterior like an outswing door. Whereas single-hung, double-hung and horizontal sliders typically have that spacing covered with some sort of overlapping stop material.

Not that we’re complaining about all the work these factors bring us, it wouldn’t hurt if folks were to employ our consultation services when designing homes in the Northwest.

A modest ranch style home in south east Portland.

Original wood sash windows with single-pane glass and bothersome aluminum storm windows to the exterior.

They have not operated well for who knows how long and the weatherstripping is almost nonexistent. Probably installed in the nineteen-fifties or sixtees, these aluminum jamb-liners are actually an impressive precursor to todays vinyl versions that many window manufacturers have been using for decades now.

They were an early attempt to replace the age-old sash-cord/weight and pulley balancer systems that can apparently be traced back to the 1670s England according to Wikepedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sash_window)

Here we see one of our Journeymen, David Castro removing one of the original window assemblies while leaving the original jamb & sill assemblies in place.

We like to call this minimal invasive surgery, because as the phrase implies, it is relatively quick and painless with minimal ramifications to the surrounding tissues.

Or in this case, the interior and exterior trim components, the walls and siding that they relate to.

Very little dust and fuss and if their sized and ordered accurately.

It is like outpatient surgery. No need for an extended stay. The hardest part is measuring and ordering them correctly. We had two technicians on this job, and they made very short work of installing five of these new windows in much less than one day.

Here is one of the finished products in the Orange-Room. And yes, we did remove the aluminum storm windows as well. With the insulated glass and the latest weatherstripping technology in the new window sash, the storm windows are no longer needed.

One of many secluded Sherwood properties.

This was perhaps the last time we installed Pozzi windows before Jeld-Wen completely eliminated…

…the Pozzi name from their line of products, after buying the Pozzi factory in Bend, Oregon.

Eric performs his magic.

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“AFTER”

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Up in the west hills below OHSU. A southeast facing wall with little protection from the elements, which if you’ve been reading through many of the projects in our portfolio here, is probably beginning to sound like a skipping record for those who remember what a turntable was.

And this particular house might serve to illustrate as a potential cautionary tale regarding the repairing of wood windows. As it would happen, we were contracted to replace some failed insulated glass in these same windows about 6 years prior to these shots being taken.

Believe it or not, the wood components seemed fine at the time. But just six years later, this is what we found on approximately 25% of the windows on this side of the house. And this is one of the recurring problems when being asked to repair wood windows that are subject…

…to getting wet almost every time it rains. Especially pine windows manufactured prior to 2000. Discerning the extent to which the wood has become affected by, or infected with the fungus causing spores that lead to rot is less than an exact science. Unless maybe you’re a scientist.

And so you might understand that our client was more than a little disheartened to hear our diagnosis that warned him that the balance of the windows on this wall were probably not too far behind. Fortunately for us, this particular client was a realist regarding the limitations of physics and decided to work…

…with us to replace all the windows on this exterior wall. As this shot reveals, the rotten window in this particular location had begun to leak into the pony wall beneath it, which lead to the damage also extending into the wooden flooring materials.

Although we’ve been known to replace a piece of hardwood flooring or two, we will generally repair or replace the structural components and then leave the new flooring to those who do it for a living if it’s a substantial amount, as we did on this project.

We also do a fine job replacing/repairing drywall on something like a pony wall or to deal with having to cover over a header-support beam, which we do with a fair amount of regularity, including taping, mudding and texturing. And we’re pretty darn good at it. But we…

…would probably sub out a drywall company if an entire room or more needed to be done.
The original windows here were Hurd Brand windows, but we gave our client several options and he settled upon our providing and installing Jeld-Wen wood-clad…

…windows this time, which I think is a fine product, not unlike a number of their competitors. We sell and install most all of them. Marvin, Eagle, Loweon, Pella, Andersen, Hurd, Kolbe, Luxbaum, Quantum, Sierra Pacific & Weathershield to name a few other brands.

A modest bungalow in the Sellwood district.

Please note the lack of protection from the elements.

Please note the consequences.

New Marvin Window Sash installed into existing Jambs.

More windows with extreme exposure.

More crank-out casement window sash.

But this opening has more than just rotten sash. The window jamb assembly (The Sill) is also toast.

If you would like to know how to keep this from happening to your windows, we do consulting work.

So for this opening, we provided a complete new Marvin window assembly.

Just like new.

Portland West Hills.

Upgrade from Aluminum Single-Pane to…

…Marvin Wood Clad. Models Pamela Anderson & Kimberly Barnett adorning one of the industry’s top-shelf products.

Brandon Severn & Joe Minden applying their expertise.

Jared Anderson putting on the final touches.

Preparing the rough-opening.

Applying the self-adhesive flashing membrane frequently called “Blue-Skin.” One of the first of a number of new flashing products that came upon the scene back in the day.

New Marvin Wood-Clad Windows throughout.

Jake Minden (professional painter) touching up the new exterior trim & the siding that was cut back.

Notice the windows have very little protection from the elements on this house.

And thus it is that the original wood sash must be replaced.

Notice the Loewen Retro-Fit wood-clad double-hungs installed into the original jambs on the ground floor.

But the top-floor window assembly above it was so weather-damaged, that entire assembly had to be replaced.

Nate “Natrix” always knows where his pencil is, and it helps keep the chit-chat to a minimum.

The historic Drake House in North Portland.

Reportedly, one of the first homes in Portland with electric heat.

The general remodel was handled by Neil Kelly Remodelers.

Neil Kelly employed our services to handle the door & window upgrades.

In this case, a set of non-clad Marvin Wood Windows.

A rather stately residence in a rather stately N.W. Portland neighborhood.

A kitchen window design for those who love light and a view of the great outdoors.

Money was not likely spared in either the design or the components used to create this architectural flourish of glass and the views and light that it affords.

Like a number of their competitors, Pella Wood Clad Windows are marketed as being among the best that money can buy.

And not unlike their top-shelf competitors, Pella wood windows are sorely tested by the realities of Willamette Valley weather, aluminum-clad or not.

While the extruded aluminum-clad wood window products are generally considered by many as being somewhat bullet-proof,…

…anybody who repairs wood windows in this region well knows how untrue that can be, depending upon roof-lines and eves, preventative maintenance or the lack thereof.

As you can see from several of the previous photos, the window assembly was not the only thing that succumbed to the ravishing consequences of joints and seams that failed to keep the moisture at bay.

As you can also see, this entire array of windows has no protection from what the weather patterns throw at it. But such repairs have become a daily part of what we do, and we get plenty of practice.

A new window assembly and a wall whose structural components have been made literally “better than new” is all in a day’s work for our crews.

Eaglecrest Condominiums in Lake Oswego.
Original aluminum-framed windows have served us well for many years here in the Willamette Valley. For one thing, they don’t rot…

…or grow brittle from too much UV exposure. And no painting required. But aluminum is a conductor rather than an insulator & Oregon wrote aluminum out of the residential energy code back in the late 80’s.

The is a Loewen Wood-Clad window we installed on the 5th floor of this condo building. To learn more about Loewen Windows go here www.loewen.com

Awning windows are, in our humble opinion, one of the most practical windows ever made.

In most circumstances, you can leave them open in a mild rain & pretty much keep your interior dry.

And unlike casement windows, even a heavy sash with insulated glass will not have an adverse effect upon the hinging system over time, because of how the weight is carried.

Whereas the hinging system on Loewen’s revolving window, not only carries the weight well, they also have the added benefit of allowing…

…almost a 360 degree rotation.

For the elderly client in this condo on the 5th floor, this was of particular importance…

…because she could not stand dirty windows, if you know what we mean.