New/old storm windows?

[JacquieJet]

Hello!
I'm new around here, so please forgive me if this isn't the correct place to post this (and point me in the right direction, please!).
All of my interior windows are original wood sash, but unfortunately most of the exterior storms are gone. In their place there are aluminum storm windows with fixed screens on the bottom portion, kind of like every cottage from the 1970's has!
Anyway, these are now in disrepair, and half don't even open anymore. Look awful, too. :thumb down: I want to replace them with something like a triple track storm, to help a bit with drafts but also so I can put a window air conditioner in! No central air here with our boiler system! I have read that Larson makes a triple track storm, but I have no experience with their windows and they don't sell to Canadians, unfortunately!
Anyway, does anyone have any good leads on companies who make this sort of thing? Or maybe a better idea? I'm absolutely keeping all of the wood sash windows, but need a solution to this whole storm/screen window cap thing.

[Gothichome]

JJet, Gothichome has a lot of aluminium triple tracks, like yours well past thier prime. I've been slowly shuffling them about and moving my original wood storms to the front. What I did was get angle brackets and T's from the hardware store ( lots of them) and reinforcing the corners before I move them. This might be an option for you. Others here have had success painting them to match their interior sashes. This is some thing I am seriously considering, they almost disappear against sashes.

[heartwood]

well built aluminum triple track storm windows will go a long way in eliminating drafts and can last 20 years or more when installed properly (square!)....I have not used or seen Larsons but I have heard from a number of people here and elsewhere that the 'gold series' are top quality...
not sure who ships to Canada but these are also top quality:
http://www.alliedwindow.com/index.html
http://www.monray.com/mrsw.htm

hope that helps...
...jade

[JacquieJet]

Gothichome, unfortunately the few original wood storms we have are all on the smaller windows, and none can be shuffled as the larger windows are the ones with the aluminum storms. Ah well.

Jade, that really helps a lot, thanks!!
I kept wondering what people do about their old storms that need replacing... it's funny that info is so hard to come by. I bookmarked those sites, and will be inquiring with them shortly. Thank you!

[1850Farmer]

Hi JacquieJet and welcome.

We were in the same boat as you, lots of old, leaky and broken storm windows on our house. We looked all over for top rated storms and found The Burch Company in Baltimore. Installed them last January and we really like them. They fit flush with the outside window trim, similar to wood storms, open and close easy and really seal up the drafts.

http://www.burchcompany.com/stormwindows.html

Good luck with your search.

[JacquieJet]

1850Farmer, those are gorgeous windows! They look nothing like what I currently have, heh heh.
What type of open/close system do they have? A button on either side of the interior ledge-tab? Do your screens move, or are they removable at all? They are double tracks? Or triple? How did you find the installation process was?
Just bookmarked that site, thanks for sharing!

[1850Farmer]

They are triple track aluminum storm windows. The screen moves, its friction fit with spring metal on the side and it is removable. The glass moves with two latches on either side of the interior lower frame rail.

Install was much easier than removing the old ones, stripped screws, stuck caulking and years of paint made removal lots of fun. The new frames also allow for out of square windows, which is the norm on our old house.

We did the Low-e glass on all of the storms except the two under the front porch, with no visual difference.

It’s so nice now, not having the old storms heavy glass panels fall down on my fingers anymore while trying to move the screens during warmer weather.

[JacquieJet]

Thanks for the info! Sound great.
For our storms that still open, we cut pieces of wood to prop them open in the summer... just so they don't crash down on our fingers or in the middle of the night! Heh heh.
I'm really loving this site- I've been trying to figure out a solution to this window thing for a year now, and within 24 hours of posting here I've gotten great leads and ideas. Amazing!

[Casey]

Glass shops (glaziers) used to sell storm windows.
My storm windows (probably 1970's) force me to use a wooden spacer to install the window AC units, without it the lower frame of the storm interferes.
Casey

[Mick_VT]

You might want to consider interior storm windows, I am really pleased with those I got from Innerglass Window Systems. (stormwindows.com). I really like the compression fit - they work extremely well. For the summer I just pop one out and put it away in order to install an A/C. a huge advantage to me is that it restores the historical appearance of my home (no storms), but they work way better than the triple tracks they replaced in all regards.