Shelter with a Storm

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A conscientious renovator's answer to changing seasons and chilly nights.

Windows often present a dilemma to people involved in renovating older houses. Beautiful though they may be, multiple-light, double-hung windows are simply at odds with comfort and energy efficiency. No one likes to sit near an expanse of glass on a frigid evening and feel the heat being sucked away.

Storm windows are the traditional solution to winter weatherization in a home with single-glazed windows — for good reasons. Add another layer of glazing (a catchall term that covers glass and its plastic imitators), and the heat loss from a window is virtually halved. Air leakage will also be reduced, further improving overall performance. Storm windows are convenient, as well. They can easily be removed in the spring and replaced with screens to let air in and keep bugs out.

With the advent of more-efficient windows, though, the storm window business all but collapsed. The only readily available products are aluminum framed, and mount to the face of the exterior window casings. If you find this solution aesthetically unacceptable, there's only one other option: custom storm windows, made by a mill works or by you.

Storm windows like the ones shown here have served five years now on a staff' member's turn-of-the-century farmhouse. Over the period, the design has been improved bit by bit to become as simple to build as possible while maintaining strength and appearance. This sorting-out period has shown us where to economize and where to buy the best.

Glazing and Wood

Even though it's the most expensive glazing, we use Plexiglas or another transparent, rigid plastic. Over the years, plastic films deteriorate in sunlight or end up punctured by tree limbs, errant Frisbees or berserk birds. And if one of those hazards doesn't spell the end of a glass pane, annual removal and storage eventually will. The only precaution we've learned concerning working with rigid plastic is to be sure to leave a 1/8" leeway on all sides of the panel so that it has room to move in the frame as it expands and contracts with temperature change.

We've made storms out of clear yellow pine, No. 1 spruce fir and banak, but any reasonably stable, sound wood will do. Since the frames are painted, the appearance of the grain isn't important. You can either buy 1 X 2 stock, or rip pieces out of wider material to save a little on lumber costs. If you're making more than three windows at a time (an efficient approach), take a few minutes to make simple jigs for the stiles, rails and lap joints. You'll be more than repaid in ease and accuracy later. The same jigs will work for screen windows, too.