John Leeke's Historic HomeWorks™
207 773-2306 26 Higgins St. Portland, ME 04103
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John Leeke's Historic HomeWorks™ |
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207 773-2306 26 Higgins St. Portland, ME 04103 |
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| [Home][Library][Restoration Reports][Seminars][Forum][Internships][Office][Workshop][Front Porch][Search] info.© 1994-2009 JohnC.Leeke |
Maine
Sunday Telegram,
11/14/04, Warming Trend - do-it-yourselfers may want to try one of
these techniques for insulating windows to keep heat from escaping this winter. by
Stephanie Bouchard, News Assistant.
"There's another window treatment available that addresses window heat loss.
"The traditional method of dealing with this issue is kind of nice: It's called drapes," says John Leeke of Portland, a historic preservation specialist.
OPTIONS ABOUND
Drapes are an easy way to reduce heat loss; they also can add to the aesthetic appeal of your home.
You can buy heavy drapes or insulated drapes. Insulated drapes vary in price based on the fabric and the window size. Department stores or curtain shops sell them. They range in price up to $200 (or more if customized).
Another alternative is plastic shrink-wrap kits, available at most department and hardware stores. Generally they don't cost more than $10 per kit. Kits have everything you need to wrap your windows in plastic, except a hair dryer.
If you have windows that cannot easily be shrink wrapped, or if you don't want the inconvenience of wrapping windows every winter, Leeke has another suggestion.
He has designed what he calls interior storm windows. These are removeable lightweight wood frames on which you install plastic wrap. You fit the removeable frames inside your window frame.
You can reuse these storm windows without the hassle of putting up and removing wrap each year from your permanent windows.
The interior storm windows Leeke has designed are easy enough to make on your own if you have some basic woodworking skills. It'll cost you less than $20 per window, more if you hire a carpenter.
If you aren't handy, most carpenters could make them for you, or you can order a similar product made by Windo-Therm of New York.
Windo-Therm's aluminum insulating panels are custom-ordered and will cost more than Leeke's homemade wood frames (an estimate for a 30-by-60-inch window is $90). Windo-Therm claims using its panels will triple the insulation value of your windows. "
Landmarks Observer, Spring 2003, The Problem with Vinyl Windows, by Virginia Wright
"...In addition, vinyl replacements cannot replicate the unique details of early windows. Nineteenth-century window sashes are often divided by muntins, the vertical and horizontal strips of wood that hold individual glass panes, creating what is called a “divided light.” "That divided light is an important part of the character of the windows,” says John C. Leeke, a Portland preservation consultant. “The glass in historic homes is also slightly variable in the thickness. ‘When you look through it, it waves a little. That’s another one of the subtle characteristics of early windows.”
Vinyl replacements may come with imitation muntins—flat strips sandwiched between the panes of dual-glazed sashes or snapped on atop the interior glazes. “To a discerning eye, they do not look like historic windows,” Deborah Andrews says. “They don’t have the three-dimensional quality that makes true divided light.”
Even if they appreciate the aesthetics of wooden windows, some homeowners are tempted to plunge ahead with vinyl replacements because, after being told their early windows are beyond repair, they want the least expensive course of action. “When you compare the true costs, vinyl windows are not always the bargain you think they are,” says John Leeke. “One of the characteristics we see in the vinyl windows around Portland is that they last five to fifteen years.” (Some preservationists allow vinyl replacements a little more longevity, but generally no more than 25 years.) That’s not particularly impressive considering that the original windows may well be one hundred years old or more.
Moreover, a wooden window is constructed entirely from renewable parts and is rarely beyond repair. Vinyl window salesmen often tell homeowners their wood windows are in bad shape if they stick or rattle, are drafty, need to be painted or have broken latches, glass or sash cords. In fact, these are some of the most cost-effective problems to fix. Furthermore, broken pieces can be spliced; rotted rails can be repaired or patched with epoxy. The work is labor-intensive but not complicated, skills that handy homeowners can easily master (Landmarks Observer, Spring 2001, Vol. 26, No. 1). By contrast, when something breaks on a vinyl window, the entire window usually must be replaced. “It’s a short-term building product, one made to sell, not to perform,” Leeke says. “It’s certain that they are not going to be around as long as the windows they’re replacing. That people are convinced to replace with something worth a tenth of what they have is an astonishing piece of marketing.” A single custom-made wood replacement could cost as much as $1,000 to $2,000, but there are many fine standard-size wood products that cost about the same as higher-end vinyl windows.
With his original, renewable and repairable windows gone to the dump, the homeowner has now begun a wasteflul window replacement cycle in which the principal product is made from a nonrenewable petroleum source. “There’s a reason they’re called vinyl replacement windows,” observes Leeke, who says that the product seems designed to last about the length of an average home ownership, which means that the buyer will likely move on just before the windows’ thermal seals begin to fail..."
Old-House Interiors, Sept. 2002, Avoiding the Aftershocks, by Brian D. Coleman
"John Leeke is an old-house preservation specialist and consultant who teaches courses across the country on how to prepare your historic home from major disasters. John heartily agrees that prying the homeowner out of his recliner is the important first step in preparing for a disaster. John Leeke, who now is the historic-homes [specialist] for Middlesex Mutual [Assurance Company], divides management of disasters into three steps: prevention; response; and recovery.
PREVENTION is what we all know we should do but find so easy to put off: tacking earthquake putty under our crystal, checking the gutters to make sure the house’s weather “envelope” is intact for the next big storm. Making an inventory of your valuables is essential. After all, who can remember everything that’s in a room? Take photographs or use a video camera, and make an accurate written record. Then duplicate and store it all out of the building—say, in a safe-deposit box.
Thinking ahead doesn’t stop with preparation, John emphasizes. Planning your RESPONSE to an emergency is crucial. Determine what are the three most important items you would rescue if you needed to leave the house in a hurry. Pull together an emergency stockpile of tools and necessities you might need—radio and flashlight, water and food sup plies, plastic sheeting to cover furniture if the ceiling springs a leak.
After a disaster is over, the RECOVERY process begins. Once again, planning ahead is the key to success. No one, John says, is levelheaded enough after a disaster to make all of the complex decisions needed for restoration. Having a planning team already in place makes all the difference. This way, you have someone to help you decide if the antique Persian carpet in the flooded parlor is really worth saving. Your team may include everyone from your con tractor and architect to restoration specialists who have been involved with your home. Setting priorities is hard, especially when your budget is limited; this is where a team of experts can be particularly helpful."
(Call 800 462-0211 for Old-House Interiors subscription information, or 978 281-8803 for back issues.)
Smart Homeowner, Nov. 2001, Home Pages, Helping Your Historic Home
"Where do you turn for advice on restoring old wooden windows? You can start with the appropriately named John Leeke, whose website--www.HistoricHomeWorks.com--covers that and more.
Leeke is a craftsman of the old school whose stated goal is 'helping owners, tradespeople contractors and professionals understand and maintain their historic and older buildings.' Indeed, there is something on his site for just about anybody whose home wasn't built yesterday--including a searchable compilation of the National Park Service's Preservation Briefs, among the most useful documents the federal government has ever produced. Those who are lyrically inclined should check out Leeke's [Front Porch,] a collection of Zen-like musings on he art and science of his craft. It's a site guaranteed to teach you something about your shelter."
CAPabilities Newsletter, Heritage Preservation, Spring 2001, Of Note on the 'Net
"Several conservation and preservation training reources on the Internet have recently come to our attention. "From the Roof Down & Skin Deep: What Your Historic House Really Wants from YOu" (http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/roofdown) is a long-distance learning program that explains how the parts of a house are inter-connected and how to maintain those connections to prevent damamge. Sponsored by the National Park Services's Technical Preservation Services and developed by Kay Weeks and CAP architectureal assessor John Leeke, it is fun to use andan excellent training tool for maintenance stafff and volunteers."
Maine Preservation News, The Weekend Renovator, Spring 2000, Remove That Vinyl, by John Leeke, Preservation Consultant
In a quick walk around my own neighborhood I notice there are two vinyl siding removal projects under way this spring, and there were three last year. What do these folks know that the rest of the world is missing? Why do so many old house owners succumb to the pitch from the vinyl siding salesman? Because they promise no maintenance, good appearance, savings in fuel costs and (the real clincher) more comfort.
Vinyl siding is not maintenance free, eventually looks poor and can cause serious problems, mostly due to moisture trapped in the walls. I have a lot of experience with old houses here in Maine and see too many cases where vinyl siding has caused substantial structural decay after 5 to 20 years. The installation of modern systems and materials in these older houses often cause damaging conflicts with the early design and technology used in the original building of these houses.
If you want to save energy dollars limit air infiltration by tightening up existing windows and doors (don’t install vinyl ones!), install dense-pack cellulose insulation in the horizontal spaces between ceilings and floor (but not in side walls, and install a high-efficiency furnace or boiler. Heat the rooms not the halls by keeping the hail doors closed in the winter. This is the way these houses were designed to be used. and guess what — it still works.
If you want to be comfortable in the winter, use radiant heat distribution like old-fashioned radiators. You can also put thick curtains on the windows to prevent radiational cooling of your body, wear a sweater, and have a fireplace or wood-stove to cozy up to when you really need a blast of that good old radiant heat that our bodies have evolved to appreciate.
In short, there are alternatives to the vinyl siding sales shinola and you are asking for trouble over the long-term if you wrap your old house in plastic. There are lots of stories about how vinyl siding is a good idea, but those stories are usually told by the folks who bought into the plastic wrap myth, moved away after a few years, and never looked back.
Could this really be true? Let’s just say that enough old houses have been plastic wrapped in the past 40 years that it is now possible for me, an ordinary carpenter, to earn a comfortable living as a consultant diagnosing moisture problems in old houses and recommending solutions for the serious problems I find. A frequent recommendation is: REMOVE THAT VINYL. And this year I’m following my own advice and taking some of the pesky stuff off the front of my own house.
The Washington Post, Saturday, March 11, 2000; Page G01, Keeping Windows To the Past, By Kathleen Howley
"Experts Say Modern Doesn't Mean Better
...John Leeke, a preservation consultant based in Portland, Maine, said the worst possible scenario is to replace original wooden windows with plastic. "If you hire an ordinary remodeler, he will knock out your old windows and replace them with plastic. It's like the 'tin men' who sold aluminum siding to everyone in town a generation ago. Even the old-house fanatics fall for it," said Leeke.
Leeke is a man on a mission. He travels around the country lecturing and giving workshops on a variety of topics related to the preservation of old homes. Windows are high on his list. "I've seen windows that just had to be cleaned being pulled out of houses and plastic-framed windows put in. It's a significant loss to the homeowner because it's a loss of value. It doesn't make too much sense to replace a wooden window worth several hundred dollars with a plastic window that is worth about $80," he said.
Leeke said he is not opposed to plastic windows in all cases. "They are not all bad. They just don't preserve the character of old buildings. And when they break, you have a problem. The only thing you can do is buy an entire new window because there are no craftsmen who can repair them," he said. Leeke said putting double- or triple-insulated panes in old wooden window frames is not the answer, either. First, it means the mullions likely would have to be replaced to accommodate the thicker glass. But, more important, the insulated glass doesn't last as long as single-pane glass, he said. "The seal between the panes of glass leaks, moisture gets in and it clouds up. So you're throwing away all your good glass, knocking it out and replacing it with double-insulated glass that is going to fail in 10 years," he said. The newest generation of insulated glass is predicted to have a lifetime of up to 18 years, said Leeke. Still, that doesn't impress him. "A single pane of glass will last until it gets broken. We work routinely on windows with glass that is more than 100 years old. We repair the sash and put the glass back in," he said..."
Early American Homes magazine, April, 2000, page 30, Restoring and Replicating Historic Roofs, by Gladys Montgomery Jones
"First, for restorers of antique houses, there's the issue of what the original roof was. In most cases, "a house is its own best record," says John Leeke, a Portland, Maine-based preservation consultant. Fragments of old roofing can often be discovered where additions or dormers were put on over an early roof. "You can also tell a lot by marking the patterns of nail holes in roof sheathing boards in the attic, if those boards date to when the house was built," Leeke notes. "Early nail holes are rectangular, usually two for each wooden shingle. Modern nail holes associated with later asphalt roofs are round."
(You can subscribe to Early American Homes by calling 800 829-3340.)
Fine Homebuilding, July, 1999, pgs. 150 and 152, Exterior Wood Filler, By Scott Gibson
"John Leeke, a preservation consultant in Portland, Maine, uses epoxy wood fillers even on minor dings when he wants repairs to last. Of other types of fillers, he says, "Don't expect them to fill a 1/4-in. gap where you should be using a designed joint with backer rod and high-performance sealers." He also stresses good methodology, which means cleaning out the defect, protecting the repair with compatible products and maintaining it properly with a continuous paint film. "
Portland Press Herald, May 14,
1999, Real Estate section, Paint Makes a Splash for
Potential Buyers,
by Nancy McCallum (free-lance writer).
"Leeke says homeowners often seek information and ideas about colors through external sources. For example, we look in books or magazines, and go to the paint store and study paint chips of special historic paint series. Yet, sometimes those series aren't based on actual colors from our geographical area, Leeke says.
"For authenticity, Leeke suggests looking at the building itself. 'Let's see what's there," he says. "Then work from there."
"In order to discover what colors a house has worn over the years, he suggests a technique called "cratering." Taking a small piece of 100 grit sandpaper, he swirls it in circles, about 2 inches across. Then using a finer grit paper, anywhere from 220 up, he polishes the surface. By applying water or oil to that surface, "The rings of different paint layers [and colors] will appear," he says. Employ this technique in areas where paint variations may have occurred...window trim, clapboards, door casings.
"...However, Leeke says that what will determine the success of a paint application is determined far more by the preparation and the expertise of the applicator than the actual paint. In what he outlines as a 100 percent success story of paint application, brand choice is five percent or less of the final equation, he says. "Which is almost the reverse of what the homeowner hears [from paint contractors and manufactures]," he says.
Newsday, Oct. 24, 1997, COVER STORY, Restoration Puts Past and Present Under One Roof In Older Houses. SIDEBAR: Home Advice Of Historic Proportions-By Ellen Mitchell (freelance writer)
"The Internet: Numerous Web sites provide information and helpful hints on how to avoid mistakes associated with restoration and give running commentary on other people's experiences. This resource also provides information on where to buy just about anything for restoration. Check out Housenet's Web site (http://www.housenet.com), where preservation consultant John Leeke and do-it-yourselfers Gene and Katie Hamilton offer advice and answer questions."
Preservation (magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation), Sep./Oct. 1997, page 17:
"Preservation consultant John Leeke calls himself "another one of those old-house nuts." His Homeworks site...not only drums up business but also helps homeowners "understand and maintain their historic homes and buildings." Leeke offers his own practical restoration reports, priced from $9.95 to $14.95. What's priceless at Homeworks is the interactive message board, where professional preservationists, contractors, and amateurs analyze problems."
CyberYard, Top Five Sites, 1997
"Great information on special materials, methods and techniques needed to work on older and historic buildings."
Magellan Internet Guide, Feature Review, Sep. 1997:
Historic HomeWorks is full of "wonderful links on historic preservation and disaster relief."
Today's Homeowner, June 1997:
"Then ask a local realtor how vinyl affects home values in your area. It will probably have a positive effect on most houses. But, John Leeke, a home-restoration consultant in Portland, Maine, warns against installing vinyl on homes in historic neighborhoods. 'If there are 10 restored Victorians on a street and one has vinyl siding, the value of the one sided in vinyl will suffer,' he says." (in an article by Fran J. Donegon, page 41)
|
John Leeke's Historic HomeWorks™ |
|
207 773-2306 26 Higgins St. Portland, ME 04103 |
|
| [Home][Library][Restoration Reports][Seminars][Forum][Internships][Office][Workshop][Front Porch][Search] info.© 1994-2009 JohnC.Leeke |