Gaeltacht park, whitewall – replacing/double-glazing windows
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I have a house in Gaeltacht Park in Whitehall, Dublin 9, an estate built in the 1930s. Is anyone familiar with this estate?
I want to double glaze the windows. I would like to retain the original style of the window as much as possible, in as economical way as possible.
The windows on the front of the house are the original ones: wooden, with stain glass in the upper part of the bay window on the ground floor. The windows are not sash windows, although they look similar to an untrained eye such as mine :). Rather than using weights (as I understand is the case with sash windows), the window is kept open with small pegs which slot into holes in the window casing using a small lever at the bottom of the window frame.
I don’t think this mechanism would work well in double glazed windows, either to open the window or to keep the window open, as the glazing can be quite heavy.
Do you have any recommendation on how I should approach replacing/double-glazing the windows?
Also, the front door and surround on either side of the door are original, both of which have stained glass panels. It is very draughty (there is some of that plastic sealing around, but it is not very effective). I want to improve the draught-proofing while still retaining as much of the original look as possible – what would be the recommendation?
I hope this is an appropriate question to ask on this site.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Hello Mrs Byrne,
If you want to keep the existing windows, one approach is to get them repaired/treated/sealed and then fit what they call “secondary windows” on the inside of the existing windows. ie. a set of additional lightweight windows on the inside with opening/sliding sections allowing you to open/close the existing windows.
Tayto is bang on the money; Secondary glazing units are certainly best practice in conservation terms, could be a little tricky on a bay window depending on the proportions between the angled and flat elevations; the only issue I would look at is fire escape can the existing windows be opened quickly enough if you need an unplanned exit?
Clearly a good time to be looking for new windows; I wouold get a professional architect or building surveyor to draw up a specification to be put to tender to 2-3 window companies to ensure that you are balancing both energy efficiency, price and longevity.
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