The exterior of Kenmore has, from the beginning, nagged at me. Something is not right. When I first walked in, it was the general warmth of the front room and specific detail of the sunroom floor tile that made me say "Finally, a real house!". But the exterior, especially the front, has never had that same effect. It's dour, dark and almost blank. For a structure with tons of character (ie: original, poorly maintained features and fixtures), the face is a disappointment. Every time I turn in the drive, I frown back at it.
The brilliance of having a twin house next door (our neighbor Augie's house and ours were built by the same man, at the same time in 1927---one for him, one for his parents) is that I have a very handy measuring stick right next door. Augie's bungalow is lovely, deeply detailed and all the original features have always been meticulously maintained.
It also, in spite of having the downward turned gambrel roof line, is smiling.
After studying the structural elements, reading a few chapters of Renovation Volume 4 and finding the Window Police online (www.oldhouseguy.com), I think I have it figured out!
Its not just the depressing color scheme or lack of landscaping, it's the hideous aluminum storm windows and aluminum facing that are bringing Kenmore down. The storm windows stick out, literally, from the face of the brick, rather than stepping in or sitting flush with the window frame.
At some point, in the name of progress, cheap aluminum storm windows were added to the house. They are the triple track, finger-cutting kind that never function properly. To make matters worse, aluminum trim was used to cover every piece of wood molding, framing and trim around all the exterior windows and roof overhang. The result is flat, featureless and frightening (whats under there? how much water damage is the "maintainence free" aluminum hiding?).
The interior windows were also allowed to fall into disrepair. Few of them have their cords and weights working, most upstairs are painted shut, and all the wood frames are so dirty and crackled they need to be stripped and refinished.
It all adds up to the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to replace the windows. Until I studied Augie's house and read more of Mr Historic Windows's rants. New replacement windows would have been a ruin, thank goodness we can't afford them! An affordable alternative I'm excited to try is Indow Windows (www.indowwindows.com). Interior storm windows, they are simple to install and keep historic windows intact. From Portland no less. I'm already stripping the interior wood frames one by one, and Rocky is going to give us a tutorial in rope and weight repair.
So, come spring, we will be removing the ugly storm windows and trim. A huge project will likely be revealed, but I'm hoping a happy face is too.
Posted with Blogsy