I too would never have considered not using cast iron radiators because of the potential burn factor. We raised our three kids in this house and never gave it a second thought. I really don't think of hot water radiators as anything that would harm a child. Yes, this whole situation is a major pain, but we are trying to look at the up side of this and figure that we'll have a brand new heating system out of it. So, we are trying to make choices that will be the best for our particular house because, as we all know, every house has its own unique quirks and issues. The idea of zoning the sunroom separately is a good one that we'll consider. We live in super cold Minnesota so we need lots of heat, especially in a room that juts out, and has so many windows. We are now contemplating using in-floor heating under our hardwood floors for the entire first floor, with two radiators (the ones that already have built-in covers) as supplements for really bad weather. All of this work for in-floor could be done from our basement, so it wouldn't involve a ton of extra tear out and repair since our basement is minimally finished. We'd have to pay an upcharge over what insurance will cover, but, in the big picture, it isn't all that much money. Thanks again to all.

uroboros, I have to ask this, because I can too easily believe that you were just casually scanning the real estate listings when this decrepit charmer reached out and grabbed your heart. (This has happened to me, although with a less expensive and more readily fixable house, so I know it is possible.) Here's the question: When you fell under the spell of this enchanting crone, were you actively looking for a smallish house in an lively urban neighborhood? If so, and * the size of the overall investment could be made clear by consulting with a contractor before making an offer, and * anyone can conceive of a way to render the house livable without completely erasing its preserved-in-amber decrepit charm, and * your DH magically became sanguine about the feasibility of what is needed and why it would be not completely financially foolhardy in the medium term, WOULD YOU REALLY WANT TO LIVE THERE? To me, it looks like urban nirvana. Having rooted around on Google Earth and various Montreal sites, I found a lively and lovely urban neighborhood with quite nice street trees and a Metro station only a long block away. Also, there is a restaurant nearby named Aux Derniers Humains, which has a menu as cool as its name. It looks as though the only room that is preclusively small (for someone used to rowhouse-scale spaces) is the kitchen. It is is a first floor-only extension off the back that is narrower than the body of the house, which is basically wide and shallow compared to other rowhouses in the neighborhood. The kitchen may only be a bit chopped up, as it is listed as 9 x 13, which could make for a nice galley design. If one did want to enlarge it, however, I see two options. Because the house is actually detached on one side, rather than part of a row, you could build out sideways to fill in the dogleg, which is exceptionally wide. Pop out some bricks, reinforce the new opening(s) with angle iron, et Robert est ton oncle. You would still have windows on the side of the house and if you created deep windows at the back of the new bit, you would have a nice perspective over what could be a charming garden. Alternatively, you could move the kitchen to the basement, having it go back further toward the front of the house and having clerestory windows. You might need a dumb waiter, but who wouldn't want one of those? I suspect that either of these options would not be extraordinarily expensive in the context of what needs to be done in the rest of the house, which to tell the truth is going to be more because you don't want to gut it. If Montreal is anything like DC, however, pictureseque urban neighborhoods are gaining value just because people are so tired of getting stuck in traffic. Sorry to be so pushy. This house is haunting my dreams. Cheers. hbk

I was going to say sheets too. I have used them MANY times when I've needed something to go on the window but was pretty much broke - twin flat sheets (which are 66" wide, full enough for a 47" window) can be super-ultra-cheap in the clearance bins, and great prints and colors abound. I've even seen sheets still in their original packaging at Goodwill and Salvation Army for just a couple of dollars apiece. Just run the rod through the top hem, tie back to one side, and tah-daaah, instant curtains! If you want two panels per window for a more traditional look, get one full or queen sheet per window and split it down the middle, hemming the raw edges. Since you sew, hemming them up would be easy (I strongly dislike puddled WTs, it always looks to me like [extra polite mode on] someone didn't get around to hemming their WT's to the right length!), but I always just used the iron-on hemming tape because me and sewing are a bad combination. LOL Tied back to one side on a cup hook (and they can be tied back with any number of things; I often used scarves I liked but didn't wear), they can be "released" at night to completely cover the window, although I'd try cleaning those blinds too and using the fabric WT to pretty-up the vinyl blinds (or distract the eye from them until you can afford to replace them LOL). Scrungy vinyl blinds can be cleaned in the bathtub. Low-thread-count sheets - and I'm talking down in the 150 range, the really cheap ones that feel like sandpaper to sleep on - can look surprisingly like linen especially when you use white, and that's what I've usually used. Starch them lightly when you iron them for an extra-crisp look. A random thought though - does MIL have anything she could bring along? My grandmother lived with my mother for a few years and brought along many things from her old house to decorate her room in Mama's house. It made her more comfortable to have her own things around her, and less like she was living in "someone else's house". (She eventually got her own teensy little apartment in an in-town elder housing complex - her old house had been way out in the boonies, as is Mama's - and is happy as a clam at high tide to have her own place again.)

OK, here's what I came up with. Went to Home Cheapo and bought 2 2'x8'x4" white foam boards. Needed 2 to cover the last 20 or so inches. Didn't have any long sheets of paper so I took an old full desk calendar and taped them over the window to create a template (both too the window and too each other). Used a sharpie to trace both the outer edge of the trim as well as the inner edge of the trim. I peeled the template off the window, cut along the outer tracing to reveal the outer shape of the window. I overlayed that to the foamboard and taped it in place. I used a utility knife to make the initial pass, then peeled away the template. Took the board outside and made a full cut thru the board using a drywall saw. BTW...DO THIS OUTSIDE, THE STYROFOAM GOES EVERYWHERE!! I re-layed the template over the board and cut the inner line representing the inside of the window. I wanted that cut to be about 3" of the 4" depth. I then turned the whole thing on its edge and made an end cut with the utility knife to create a rabbetted edge. I knew I couldn't cut a perfect inner shape of the window so I figured an outer edge would allow me to wedge the board into the window. The outer edge would cover the trim, hide any imperfect cuts (thus not letting in any lights thru cracks) and giving me something to gently grab when I want to remove it. It looks good not great. The foam board is a b*tch to cut. It does go EVERYWHERE...think about what those styrofoam packing peanuts do when you open a box. The outer edge is also pretty fragile. But it does block 85% of the light (some does come thru the board itself), and most importantly it cost me $22.