Those of us attracted to this forum have an appreciation for original window sashes and such. The problem is that most in the marketplace do not. We have all seen it, around here beautiful, 19th century houses are routinely razed and replaced by McMansions. A big part of the problem is lead paint and where do we always find lead paint- on the sashes. For those few who actually restore original windows (such as me) where do you get the storm windows? They're gonna have to be custom made right? I searched and searched and finally found The Burch Company in Baltimore, still in business only barely. Another grievance of mine is the slate roofs. I live in an area with beautiful, black slate roofs on all the buildings build before 1920, even sheds and barns. New people who move in don't recognize slate and pull it off and put on the cheap stuff, it happens every day. These actions are governed by the marketplace, so many times the work goes to the low bidder.

The wood those windows are made from is simply not available anymore. It is likely virgin growth wood with very tight growth rings, one of the reasons it has made it this long. If there are any soft spots they can be hardened with epoxy (or wood hardener) and then filled in and restored (Minwax High Performance Wood Filler). Under primer and two coats of paint you will not be able to tell a repair has been done. I still prefer the Minwax filler over epoxy fillers. The epoxy ones always seem to end up harder than the wood and tend to cause dishing of the wood around them when sanding. The Minwax matches closer to wood hardness (and better than Bondo also). You can feather it out for undetectable repairs. If you need to match details you can use wood chisels when the material is partly set to carve it to approximate shape, then finish up after it hardens completely (I give it 24 hours). You can even make a reverse sanding form by pressing sandpaper against the surface and then backing it up with Bondo. Allow it to set. Adding a thin\n wooden strip saves on the amount of Bondo required and provides something less likely to break in use. Slide your sanding form along the wood and repair for a perfect match. This post was edited by brickeyee on Sun, May 12, 13 at 15:02

Hi Yin Lin, I'm in the same situation. Am building a new masterbedroom with quiet rock walls for sound buffering from nearby trains. Am looking for windows that will also offer sound buffering. What did you end up getting and are you happy with them?

Seems like no one is suggesting a picture window, so two windows it is. There are two patio doors that face a lake view. The patio doors are also viewed from the kitchen table. So I think changing this window to two casements would coordinate well with the patio doors. Having the windows crank out would be a plus for ventilation, but I realize it’s not ideal with the deck landing there. I’ll see if the Marvin Window salesman has some ideas for function, now that the aesthetics are decided.