Last week was spent having a glass guy come measure for a quote that has not come, trying to beseech another glass company to come quote, taking calls from the glass guy on the last job who wants to make it right, discovering the Suntouch floor has a GFI error that I cannot resolve (is water reaching it? I'd bet.) I spent months last spring on this project and am so, so over it. I came here, I learned a lot, I did all the right things (I thought) and still this is my result. So I have made a decision. I left a message for my GC this morning to call me. I am going to delegate the entire thing to him, and hold him accountable to the result. I am not a contractor, tile expert, glass expert, I know little about building showers and what I do know I learned here and it hasn't helped me avoid the mess I am in. I am not willing to devote the hours to this AGAIN I already have before. I am not going to waste the beautiful fall days looking out the window at my horse in the pasture that I wasted last spring looking over the shoulder of every workman who came in here. I really appreciate the input from everyone, I just have to move on and put some faith in someone IRL, if that makes sense. Did I mention my kitchen remodel has been tabled?

We're on house number 4 (Nor Cal). House #1: We had limited money. We "chose" a house that had been vacant for 1+ years. Active termite investation in the kitchen wall, and bedroom wall, 1 bath with a floor that was not safe to walk on, an original kitchen (40 y.o), and a lovely water fall in the living room over the front door (roof issue), along with a touch of mold to add color. We bought and were thrilled because of the potential. We lived with my folks for the first (2) weeks of home ownership until I was able to get the bathroom fixed. I was handy with tools but had no real experience with DIY home stuff. I had some family / friends with some experience that showed me stuff. I bought tools and I was on a first name basis with most of the folks at the local home depot. My wife is an interior designer so she had the vision, and I was the laborer. We did everyting ourselves, including the roof tear off (2 lays of comp) against my uncle's (a licensed roofer) strong advice to hire someone. As we dug in we found unexpected stuff, but that's why they sell sawzall blades in multi-packs. It's a lot of work but the material is relatively cheap. 4 years later when we sold the place (for a reasonable profit even though house prices in general were lower than when we bought) we had accomplished: New kitchen (permited), Electrical subpanel, new bathroom, new windows, slider door, new roof, all new copper piping, moved 2 walls, new garage door, new landscaping front and back, paint and molding throughout, 2 dogs, and a 1 year old boy. House #4 and 18 years later: I'm finishing up a complete rebuild of the house (long story). I have a coral of tools, experience to tackle just about anything and enough sense to know when to call a pro (roofing tear off for sure). For this project we hired framers to do about 80% of the framing including the big beams and cement footings, HVAC guy to install new ducting, and a stucco guy since the BBQ I stucco'd didn't get a passing grade from the wife. Other than that I've done everthing: Finished framing, windows, complete re-wire, new plumbing, roof, drywall (hang, tape, texture), all interior surfaces (except kitchen slab), and so on... I'm not in the trade and ride a desk for a day job. I enjoy doing the work and I enjoy saving the money. My wife has a taste for the residential work which makes it easy. When we've started projects we're both on board with what it will take. We learned it all by experience starting with jumping in the deep end of the pool. So "what would you do?" - First, decide if it's the right place (location), second, go back to the seller and get everything you can get ($$ credit against the price), start surfing craigslist for tools (great deals), and lastly, go introduce yourself to the staff at your local Home Depot.

Hey Everyone, Thank you for the responses. I never thought of installing a buck - that's probably what I am going to do. I actually appreciate the response of fixing the current window and evaluate each of my windows as I address them with this in mind. I like the old glass and understand the advantages of my older wood windows. That being said, some of my windows are simply not salvageable beyond building new sashes and starting over - the cost of which in terms of money and time would, at least according to my analysis, exceed the cost of a reasonably high-quality replacement. Some of my windows are also very difficult to access (I have a few 3 stories high in dormers) making the swap of the storm and screen difficult at best. The owner before me installed aluminum storm windows on some of these, but as far as I can tell they are garbage for the most part. All they did was succeed in causing a lot of damage - those are the only windows in the house (out of more than 40) that have rotted sills and jambs. Anyway, thanks again everyone. I am really thankful to have this forum and others like it. I have been working to renovate my house for the last 5 years and simply could not have done it without your help.

FWIW, I live in a high rise condo in Los Angeles and recently finished a gut remodel which included taking the shower to the studs and some reframing of walls. The Code in Los Angeles for a multi-family high rise requires steel framing and studs so there isn’t any wood. The framing in the shower and everywhere is metal. I imagine Code for a high rise in any jurisdiction also requires steel. I got a bit of education in construction as I also learned that the metal framing has to be placed at specified spacing. I would imagine this is for fire safety as well as structural integrity but a structural engineer would no doubt have the exact reason. Just another reason why hiring a designer and/or general contractor familiar with high rises specifically is a good idea to minimize screwups.