I Can See Clearly Now...

I've found the solution to cleaning windows--get new ones!!


Well, not really, because the new ones don't come in especially sparkly.
Let me explain.

When we moved in five years ago, the first house projects we tackled were the downstairs hallway and the two rooms off the hall--the living room and dining room. This included John completely replacing the older windows with new Pella windows. Very nice.


Each window took about 8 hours to completely rip out and install the new one, including fitting the siding around the window trim. This was such a big job that he then took a few years off from window replacement.



Well, he did install the big 7 foot triple window in our living room, but that was *just* one (BIG) window.



The upstairs windows were nearing the end of their useful lives. The muntins that divide the windows into panes were constantly falling out and breaking, the sills were rotting on some, and I never cleaned them because I knew we were going to get new ones. Well, if I knew it was going to be five years, I might have cleaned them in year 2. But don't hold me to that. Hindsight is 20/20, right?



Anyway, this summer we bit the bullet and ordered 7 new windows for upstairs. Five across the front and two on the side. And John --gasp!-- agreed that life would be smoother if we paid to have them installed. Painful, especially for him, but worth it to me that we wouldn't live in the Land of the Blue Tarp Over The Windows while he worked his way around to each window.

So last month, they came, they ripped out, and installed 7 weathertight, non-rotten, pristine new windows. All 7 in 8 hours! With three guys, of course.


The rooms were very open and airy with the windows out. It also was a beautiful, bright, clear, breezy day. The type of day that makes you think, "Hey, windows are over-rated. I like this breezy openness. Maybe we don't need windows!" Then I remembered that I don't like snow in my bedroom. Nor lots of bugs. And I hate 95 degrees and 95% humidity. And I really don't want to constantly worry about little people falling out of windows.

So I kept my bright ideas to myself.

But we (read: John) still have some interior trim to do. No way could the installers do that to John's specs.

Before (August, 2003):

After (September, 2008):

I've gotten used to the house without shutters, but it looks kind of bare. What do you think? Should we put some shutters back on?