I know this string is from some time ago, however I am trying to get rid of mine with 3 basins. We are in Chicago. I love it and its in real decent shape with legs but we need the space in the basement to make a bathroom and bedroom. If you are interested im at whitedress2006@yahoo.com

You are lucky, I have a 24" Jenn Air double wall oven set in brick, that is 20+ years old, and playing up. The only replacement I can find is a Maytag. I'm replacing mine and it will cost less than $1,500 installed. You will spend more in repairing than replacing in the long run. I put a thermocouple in the top oven the oven to see how out is was. Set the oven to 350F and watched the readout - it got as high as 672F before settling down to ~400F. A 1/4 of a century of service is pretty good for any electrical oven, let it go to the recycling yard.

Ramona, I completely agree with your desire to keep your old windows. That is by far the best, and often the most economical thing to do. Keeping your triple tracks for a fews years will help you identify the best solution. They are ugly but modestly effective as storms. And as the pp pointed out they can be painted to blend them in more. Many old houses had them installed in the last quarter of the 20th c as an energy saving tactic. Whether they actually do much is a debatable question, but they did, at least provide some life-prolonging protection for the primary sashes, and a platform for an all-season screen. (The latter is not to taken lightly. I often open my windows on warm winter days just to change the air. Without screens my indoor cats would escape, so it's handy having screens easily at hand just for that. I am in the process of rehabbing my windows, once I have got the wooden storms set-up, if I need to open a window in winter, I plan to use those small expandable screens to contain my critters.) The old-fashioned thing to do about storm windows is have wooden ones made and have wooden screen windows made, as well, to change out for the summer. Newer wood ones can found that allow you to pop out one section of the storm and exchange it for a screen panel during the summer. However, of course, in both these instances you would still have a wooden frame on the outside of your primary window. The invisible storm windows are often permanently mounted in exterior applications, though removable when installed inside. They are pricey, though, and as you note don't manage the screen issue. And the interior ones leave your primary windows exposed to the elements. You didn't say where you are located, but you may need to evaluate which need is more critical (tight storms or more flexible storm and screen arrangements) depending on your climate. Another good tactic to deal with the cost of wooden storms and screens is to do one elevation at a time to spread the cost, a bit. Sometimes one can find a local carpenter with experince to make wooden storms, and more importantly, fit them on site. Old houses are quite maddening, and few old houses still have perfectly square window openings (if they ever did), so whatever you do will require some skill to install. Use of triple tracks (particularly existing ones) as a transitional strategy when the long range plan is rehabbing the original windows and adding wooden storms/screens is certainly better, in my view than succumbing to the blandishments of the replacement window sales guy who will leave you without an essential feature of your house, with dubious energy savings and probably far-less long-lived materials, if not substantially altered window openings. They are, however, extremely annoying to clean. I curse those beastly tracks three times a year and they, in turn, get revenge by slicing my fingers. HTH, Molly~

There have always been good and bad design, builders and materials. I see it being built everyday with the garage as the front door. The main house of my project is fairly well built - to the standards of the day (balloon framing - bricks on their side for the footing etc) - the garage and studio above was not. there are many great homes and buildings that have deferred maintenance often ironically because they were a cut above - lots of trim and detail. Went to Pittsburgh and Philly a couple weeks ago - many unremarkable homes (unpretentious) in wonderfully vibrant communities. Our friend's home - pictured - was a row house - they shared a lawnmower, ladder etc. If it was the sabbath they turned on the stove for the neighbors - if they locked themselves out of the house they would borrow their key from the neighbors. No McMansions, just people that care. These people are wealthy beyond measure. Single pane glass.