The "Panes" of Restoration

If the eyes are the windows to a person, are the windows the eyes to a house? One thing I have never felt the drive to be is an expert about windows or window panes. However, glass is in my blood. O.K. I know that sounds weird, not to mention painful, so let me explain. My daddy owned a glass company in Houston for many years and I would go out with him on jobs in the glass truck. I spent many happy moments watching him cut glass on huge, carpeted glass tables in the warehouse behind the office. Some of my fondest childhood memories include us stopping at Dairy Queen for a dip cone or Weingartens for a "fruit leather" while out on jobs. That's a precursor to fruit roll-up for all of my younger friends. My favorite flavor was Apricot. But I digress....back to windows and my dilemma that is part of this continuing adventure with my historic home.

Below is a picture of me standing in front of the house. Of course it is a lovely facade and at first glance, the widows are just widows. However, this is no ordinary home, nor are these windows odinary windows. Oh no. If this was a new construction, I would say, whatever works! But since this is not a new constructions and our goal is to update it while maintaining its charm, every move has to be meticulously thought out and researched. These are things that I am learning as I go through this process. Of course in this picture from December, I am blissfully unaware that windows would take up so much of my time.

So here are things to consider when it comes to replacing windows. Much of the research we have done tells us that since it is a historical home, we must keep the wood-framed windows. This is due to something with the wood breathing, or swelling...I am not sure. Let me stop here and reiterate, I am not an expert. It's a judge free zone. I will say something sooner or later that will have my husband, father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law rolling their eyes and face palming. It wont be the first time. I do know that wood frames give the house a different aesthetic than vinyl, not to mention keeping with the authenticity of the house.

The frames are not the only issue. If only. Do we want wavy glass? frosted glass? smoky glass? clear glass? At this point I have no idea. The number of panes have also been a big topic in my house lately.We have to decide how many panes we want on our windows. Riveting, I know. Anyway, as of this moment, the windows in my house do not match. We have a couple of original windows on the second floor and new windows on the bottom floor with panes ranging room 2 to 18.

So, here we are. Wooden frames? How many panes? The funny thing is my husband and I were discussing 12 versus 16 panes over dinner Friday night. Something I never thought we would be talking about on our date-nights, but whatever. It's a nice diversion from talking about the kids.

Luckily, we have access to many knowledgeable people in Elkton. It just so happens that my sister-in-law Amanda is married to Brandon who ownes a glass company! A real circle of life situation for me. Which takes me back to the reason why we bought a house in Elkton. It is a town filled with wonderful people. A real hometown. Something that is becoming more and more of an oddity. But I'm odd, so it is a great combination! Maybe I will figure out what sort of frames I need for my windows and how many panes of glass are appropriate. Maybe Brandon will let me borrow his glass truck to take my kids to Dairy Queen for a dipped cone.