Thanks Sue. The Andersen doors are metal. They are factory painted in a whopping 6 color choices. I suppose I could paint over them, but it seems wasteful to spend money on a nice door with a super smooth finish and paint over it. (ALtho, I am such an Aura fan after my kitchen redo, that I bet Aura would do it justice) I was thinking if I go to a specialized window&door place, they might come up with something. As I've been driving around lately, I've been studying people's storm door/trim/door colors and it is interesting. In 9 out of 10 cases (the 10th usually being white on white), there are 3 separate colors involved. I'm trying to find a live example where the door matches the trim. Haven't found one yet! THe door I have in mind has very little trim, so I am hoping it would disappear into the trim if it matched colors. I just googled images to find an example and voila! WIth my color door too! Here the door matches the trim very well. Slightly off depending on lighting in spots, but I could live with that. Here's another example and is a mismatch white and off-white. This would bug me. Even if it was two different off-whites.

Cost can be an issue relative to the value of your home. With heating bills increasing in recent years, the energy savings can justify the cost of new windows. However, putting 25,000 worth of new windows in a $75,000 house just doesn't make sense unless you plan to live there forever and the rest of the house is sound. With a 25 yr old house, I doubt you have the very old lead weight counterbalances. One option that can save you money is what they call a "sash pack". Several manufacturers offer this. If the frame of you window is square and level, it could be an option. Basically, you take the existing sashes out. This generally requires a wooden stop to be removed. The sash liners maybe be vinyl or aluminum that is flexible on both sides. There also maybe a cord to hold for counterbalance with a spring. The sash liners, cord and spring must all be removed. Several manurfactures offer this product. Kolbe, Eagle, Semco, Marvin come to mind. There are probably more. Get the measureing instructions and follow them closely. What you get is a pair of sash liners that install on both sides. The new sashes can have insulated, lowe glass. Installation will also include some kind of adjustable head or foot too. Keep in mind with sash paks you are not replacing the entire window unit and I don't think it qualifies for tax credit. Ironically, if you go to a vinyl window company, they have replacement windows which is really a window that fits inside you existing window after you remove the sash and liners. There are dozens of companies selling this kind of installation. They have it down to a science and can yank your sashes out, stick the replacements in and caulk them in a very short time. Even though many of these replacement windows qualify for tax credit, they are generally very cheaply made. What that means is they meet tax credit performance in a factory test but after a few years in the sun, vinyl can sag, letting in wind and cold. That doesn't mean all replacements are made cheaply but you do have to do your homework. If you have Tom, Dick, Harry or Jack come out and do you windows as a package deal, be careful. Ask to see a cross section of the window and go to a long term window dealer or lumber yard and compare what you are getting.

I want them to come and measure for me and come back and install them AND wash the windows! They could run the vacuum, too, as long as they're here. moccasinlanding, I come and read here from time to time, depending on my level of boredom with the rest of my life. I got stymied with the living room redo and abandoned it for now. I had a sudden financial drain and will have to wait a bit to do anything, even the windows.

Taking the other side of the discussion, I like storm windows, I think they can definitely be a good idea in the right situation. However, good ones aren't going to be cheap and cheap ones aren't going to be good. And while they will likely improve the performance of your existing windows, they may not be the inexpensive "fix" that you are looking for. In your situation you may be better off (as a winter-time) fix using one of the insulating window films. They would be vastly less expensive and would still provide improvement over your current situation. If you do want to try storm windows and per your questions: 1. Will storm windows help if my issue is a framing problem, or only if the original windows are the issue? ---- if there is a framing issue you need to do what you can to fix that before even thinking about a band-aid fix of any kind. If its the windows, then the storms will help. 2. What are some good brands of storm windows to look at? ---- Larson, ProVia, Mon_Ray are a few well-known storm window manufacturers. I would suggest further research to see how they rate in comparison with each other as well as other manufacturers. 3. How much (ballpark) should I expect to pay per storm window? ---- too many variables to give an estimate and this is outside my experience. 4. Is the installation something I can do myself (I'm assuming it is)? ---- If you are reasonably handy you should be able to do it yourself. If you aren't an experienced handyman-type then you might want to decide if it is worth it to hire someone who has the experience to install them for you. 5. I see there are both interior and exterior storms....which is better? ---- exterior 6. How much do storms actually help? ---- depends on the conditions, but if done right they can make a big difference. 7. What are the major disadvantages? ---- cleaning can be a pain. cheap or inappropriate (for the style of your home) storms can detract from the appearance of your home. My house has a combination of casements and slider windows. Contrary to most opinion's I happen to prefer the sliders to the casements for a number of reasons; but I also have storm windows covering all of the sliders and that makes a huge difference in the winter and that certainly biases my preference for the sliders. But I still don't like casements. Potential damage due to overheating or rot or other problems often stated due to storm windows is way overblown in my opinion. If you are worried about overheating in summer, leave them open a bit to allow for air circulation. A little knowledge combined with common sense will virtually eliminate those concerns. In your situation you are likely to have a problem with condensation and/or ice build up on the storms on cold days simply because of warm humid air in your home escaping thru the leaking windows. In your situation this is going to be unavoidable unless you stop the air leak by covering your windows with plastic - which kinda defeats the purpose of the storm windows in the first place.