Historic
Historic
Since you mentioned "historic" my recommendations are somewhat different than normal. Your choice depends on what you value, and how "historic" you want the home to remain.
If you want it to remain as historic as possible, refurbishing the existing sashes and possibly adding storm windows is a choice. I wouldn't recommend it for most homes but if the home is historically significant then it's an option worth looking at. It will preserve the charm of the existing historic home, but at the expense of it not being as energy efficient as it could be. That's not necessarily bad.
A step up from that is replacing the existing single pane wood windows with new double or triple glazed wood windows. This can offer both increased energy efficiency and a historical, aesthetically-correct look. The windows could be wood on both the interior and exterior (which will require periodic maintenance/painting) or wood interior/clad exterior. For an even more historical look, many wood window manufactures will offer wood tracks instead of vinyl tracks for the sashes to move in.
The most maintenance-free choice is vinyl replacement windows. They would have a built-in aluminum screen and would be available with an optional woodgrain look on the interior. No painting or staining, ever. However, many vinyl window companies would not make a replacement unit as tall as 84". And as I said it would be the most maintenance-free, but the least historically correct in appearance or in materials.
So you have some questions to ask yourself. How "historical" do you want the home to be? Is energy efficiency the primary concern? Aesthetics? Low/maintenance?
Since this is primarily a VINYL replacement window forum, most of the recommendations that I and others at this site would offer are regarding vinyl windows. I handle wood, vinyl, and fiberglass windows, but my own choice for a truly historic home would be new wood windows, usually (but not necessarily) clad. However, if we're talking about Thomas Jefferson's or George Washington's homes, I would try to restore the original wood windows and possibly get new storms. Generally I wouldn't recommend storms unless it's low-investment rental property or a premiere historic home - two extremes.
As for historic -looking wood double hungs, some worth looking at would be Pella Architect Series, Marvin Ultimate Double Hung, Weathershield Legacy, and Kolbe Ultra (probably in that order, check out at least two). It's tough to recommend any brand or type of storms - wood storms can rot and are a lot of maintenance, aluminum and vinyl storms aren't very historical. Happy researching!
If you want it to remain as historic as possible, refurbishing the existing sashes and possibly adding storm windows is a choice. I wouldn't recommend it for most homes but if the home is historically significant then it's an option worth looking at. It will preserve the charm of the existing historic home, but at the expense of it not being as energy efficient as it could be. That's not necessarily bad.
A step up from that is replacing the existing single pane wood windows with new double or triple glazed wood windows. This can offer both increased energy efficiency and a historical, aesthetically-correct look. The windows could be wood on both the interior and exterior (which will require periodic maintenance/painting) or wood interior/clad exterior. For an even more historical look, many wood window manufactures will offer wood tracks instead of vinyl tracks for the sashes to move in.
The most maintenance-free choice is vinyl replacement windows. They would have a built-in aluminum screen and would be available with an optional woodgrain look on the interior. No painting or staining, ever. However, many vinyl window companies would not make a replacement unit as tall as 84". And as I said it would be the most maintenance-free, but the least historically correct in appearance or in materials.
So you have some questions to ask yourself. How "historical" do you want the home to be? Is energy efficiency the primary concern? Aesthetics? Low/maintenance?
Since this is primarily a VINYL replacement window forum, most of the recommendations that I and others at this site would offer are regarding vinyl windows. I handle wood, vinyl, and fiberglass windows, but my own choice for a truly historic home would be new wood windows, usually (but not necessarily) clad. However, if we're talking about Thomas Jefferson's or George Washington's homes, I would try to restore the original wood windows and possibly get new storms. Generally I wouldn't recommend storms unless it's low-investment rental property or a premiere historic home - two extremes.
As for historic -looking wood double hungs, some worth looking at would be Pella Architect Series, Marvin Ultimate Double Hung, Weathershield Legacy, and Kolbe Ultra (probably in that order, check out at least two). It's tough to recommend any brand or type of storms - wood storms can rot and are a lot of maintenance, aluminum and vinyl storms aren't very historical. Happy researching!
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