Retrofitting old storm windows to be removeable from inside?

13 years ago

I am wondering if anyone here has ever heard of somehow altering original storm windows on their old home to be removeable from the inside instead of the outside. My 1857 home has exterior storms which are only accessible from the exterior of the house. (From what I understand, this is the usual arrangement). Due to some injury/mobility issues, I can't really get up on a ladder to remove/carry them and am thus forced to enlist help. I'd like to be able to remove them myself, from the inside, but don't know if this can be done and/or if this would be a mistake from a preservation point of view.

I've attached a photo of a second story window so you can see how they are held in place. I am guessing I'm not the first person to ever have problems standing on a ladder trying to finagle heavy old windows 30 feet in the air, which is what inspired me to ask this question here! Does anyone have any ideas, or does some kind of hardware exist, that would allow me to somehow keep these storms in place from the inside instead of the outside?

Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: 2nd story storm window

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Comments (9)

bulldinkie
13 years ago
We had new ones made 1 piece.There at about half way up window on storm window there a peg that goes in frame of window in a hole.You slide both same time it flips out you can remove from inside or out.The storm window hangs on 2 clips at the top of window .You hang them on the clip at the top then slide pegs on both sides in place.
User
13 years ago
What a lovely window you have. And the trim on your eaves suggests a really great old house.

I'm not able to give any advice to you, but I can understand why you'd want to keep those outstanding arched storm windows. Making new ones would be very expensive.

How many windows are there? Would you need to do all of them or just the ones on the upper reaches of your house?

How heavy are they? All about the same? How do you lower them down to the ground? Do you have room inside the storm window to attach a retainer to keep it from falling when the latches are released? My word, it would be an accident waiting to happen to carry such a window down a 30 foot ladder!

How wide or high an opening do you have when your regular windows are open? Would that dimension be adequate to bring the storm window through it? I'm not sure if I understand what Bulldinkie said, but I should hope something could help solve the problem.

Good luck. I understand your concern about mobility issues.
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Thanks kec, I'll keep trying - that forum has been down today. Also hubby and I are having a disagreement. Basically, he says that the energy efficiency loss is greater during the summer when you'd have screens in the storms, when the AC is running, so it's not that good efficiency-wise. I say since we live in NE on the water we'll be running the AC like a month out of the year - maybe 2 if we're super lazy, and that the energy loss there shouldn't stop us from doing storms as opposed to sashes. Thoughts? Anyone with storms who use screens in the summer notice crazy elec. bills when you have your AC running?
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The temperature of the ambient air outside and the ambient air inside is not the issue. The heat entering the outside window will not be free to dissipate and will compound between the two windows, increasing in intensity. You would have to open the top of the inside window for 2 reasons. 1)Your outside window is single hung and won't open on top. 2)Hot air will rise and intensify in the upper portion between the two windows, so opening the bottom will not alleviate the problem. Opening the top sash of the inside window will let intensified heated air into the house, in effect, heating the house in the summertime. To not have quite this problem, you would have to have LowE glass on the outside window, which would reflect heat away from the window. If you have LowE on the inside window, the heat is passing through the old window but not the new one, building up between the two. I know what you were trying to achieve in theory, but the science of fenestration is against you. I hope your luck is better than some of us anticipate.
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graywings123
13 years ago
Wow, pretty. It look like you could just put hinges on one side and open and close them. I wonder whether someone has ever tried that.
jlc102482
Original Author
13 years ago
Hinges...hmmm! That is not a bad idea at all. I guess any mechanism that held the storm in from the inside would work. I wouldn't mind unscrewing a bunch of screws from inside the house if it meant I (or someone else) wouldn't have to go up on a ladder and try to pop the storms out up there. Thanks for the great ideas, everyone!
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
Storm windows designed to be hung from the top will lack the structural characteristics needed to hinge them from the side. The weight of the entire glass + frame being cantilevered will cause the unit to gradually sag, defeating the purpose. Storms could probably be designed to side-hinge, but would require larger frames to give larger, stronger joints.
Storms of average sizes can be installed and removed by standing inside and feeding them through the open window top first, then pivoting them upward and inserting the locator pegs into the corresponding holes in the frames. It won't work as well with the metal bracket type of storm hardware.
Casey
concretenprimroses
13 years ago
I'd love to see a pic of your whole house. Love the bright blue and cream combo, and it looks like you have incredible details.

Could the window be retrofitted so that one of the bottom panes of glass opens like a little door or pops off? Then you could reach out and undo /untwist the metal holders and feed the storm in. I think I've seen large windows with panes that opened. Might be a two person job to remove, one to hold the storm window while the other loosened it. Or there could be a way to also attach it on the inside as a preventative. Or handles.

People who do that kind of thing are getting hard to find. But if you do find one they could say if it was possible.

Kathy
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
If your storms are upper pane/ lower pane, they could be remodeled removing the lower pane and adapting the frame to accept interchangeable glass and screen panels, so there was never any need to remove the entire frame except for washing windows. If your upper sashes were operable they could be cleaned through the opening in the storm when "down".
Needless to say, new wood storms can be ordered as I described with interchangeable screen/glass lower sections.

Casey
bulldinkie
13 years ago
We have had windows 20 years have had no problem with saggingThey are nice lookin windows.There is a piece of wood 3/4 way down to line up with inner window.Its a sturdy storm window.
energy_rater_la
13 years ago
http://www.magnetite.com/

not a big fan of these, and don't believe all
the hype on the site..but it may be an option for you.
best of luck.

Retrofitting old storm windows to be removeable from inside?

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Retrofitting old storm windows to be removeable from inside?

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