The provia storms are very good. Price is fine, maybe a hair high if it does not include wrapping, but its a great price if it does. I agree overall with the advice provided so far on replacements vs storms, it really depends on the individual circumstances. It can be hard to justify spending that much without getting he other added benefits of replacements ( ease of cleaning, lower maintenance , potentially enhanced property value, better energy efficiency, etc), however if your existing windows can be reconditioned to the point of operating smoothly and looking good, adding the storm to that can definitely get you pretty close in those areas but with cost savings and maintaining the original integrity of the home. As wow alluded to, you could certainly take those dollars that you save and put them to air sealing , insulation , etc in other areas of he home and increase your energy savings exponentially.

We live in a house built in 1945. All but one of the single pane wood windows are original and in decent condition -- not great, but not too bad either, considering that we don't have any storm windows! Five years ago I completely scraped, reglazed, primed with Kilz and painted them on both the exterior and exterior. Now most of them are showing signs of wear again - mostly on the interior sashes and grids. The interior paint is peeling, and it's evident that several are taking on water. (The roman shades get damp, and there's a musty smell sometimes after it rains). We're in Denver, so it gets very cold and very hot throughout the year. But it's actually quite arid here as well. The exterior side is still holding up well. I would like to explore the possibility of restoring them and having storm windows made. Can I restore them myself? What's involved in the process? Might they be beyond repair? And how do I find a good company to make storm windows - what questions do I ask them, etc? I originally assumed that we would just replace all the windows as our budget allows (DH is handy and can do). But I love the look and character of the wood. Thanks for your help!

Mary, Are you referring to window restoration or just sealing up some existing windows? The two are going to be very different type professionals. If it it just sealing up some exterior trim on windows, a decent painter can do that. If its window restoration, that is a different ball of wax. Window restoration is a very niché marketplace. The best thing to do is start with a Google area search near your home and especially in those areas that are more heavily concentrated in older homes. Next would be to ask around any of the historic districts that are in your area and see who they might have a list for. Hope this helps.

Many hardware stores or glass shops will do the repair. There are however dozens and dozens of different types of storm window latches, some of which are obsolete. Hopefully the hardware store would have the type you need, or one that is close enough to use. If you're going to do the work yourself, you'll have to risk breaking the glass, and there are two main ways that the latches are replaced. Some storm inserts are made in such a way that the latch easily slips out without taking apart the storm insert. Those types have a small hole in the bottom and part of the latch drops into the hole to interlock. By pressing the "button" that pokes through the hole it will pop out and is easily replaced. The other type (the most common) is made so that the only way to remove and replace the broken latch is to take apart the storm insert. It's easier than you would think. Here's how: The aluminum storm insert is normally held in place by 4 corner keys that are merely lightly crimped into place. Set the storm insert on a workbench. Take a chisel (I prefer about 1" wide), place it along the inside edge of the aluminum frame in the bottom corner (the chisel would be lightly touching the glass and is pressed against the aluminum, perpendicular to the glass) or into a weatherstrip groove near the corner and gently tap the chisel with a hammer to knock apart the aluminum extrusions in the corner. Once you have one corner pushed apart by about 1/8" you can start the other bottom corner. Continue to knock the bottom rail off, replace the broken latches, and then tap the rail back into place. Use a nail set to recrimp the corners. It seems as if you'd break the glass but that rarely happens (if done correctly). Again, you could have a hardware store do it (it actually only takes about 5 minutes) and let them worry about it. The following link shows about 50+ different types of latches: http://www.blainewindow.com/catalog/itemlist.cfm?catid=193&compid=1&pcatid=74