Buying an Older Home - Renew the Windows!

Buying an old house comes with many quirks often including getting new windows. When you buy an older home you get the benefit of unique architecture that may not be around anymore, different styles or designs that harken to a lost stage. But with an older house, you also get the same issues that age brings to any home. That said, one of the first things you will want to fix is the windows.

Security First - Best Window Security Methods

It is always a good idea to have a Locksmith inspect the windows of hold homes yearly to ensure they are secure. Window locks should be replaced on a regular basis. Getting new windows should improve security, but this isn't always the case. Most standard locks are not very strong, and a Locksmith will tell you if you need to install new locks for your windows. As a result, ensure that a Locksmith inspects both windows and bars as soon as possible after installation. In addition to locks, many homes have installed sensors. These are particularly useful on larger windows through which a person can climb into or out of the home, as well as sliding glass doors. If you have any windows on the ground floor that face the street, these sensors can be activated at any time so that if the window is opened for any reason, it triggers an alarm. This alarm can be a very high-pitched sound, or it can be linked to a smartphone so that you receive a notification on your phone as soon as someone opens your window.

All of these measures can, with the right technology, be linked to a smartphone so that you can actually monitor any cameras spacing near your windows while on vacation or out of town or just at the office, turn on or off an alarm, or turn on or off all window lock. 

You can also have installed things like bars around your windows, particularly if you have part of the older home on a ground floor or near a heavily trafficked area. Bars are very useful in commercial settings. There are plenty of downtown areas of metropolitan cities where older homes are now rezoned to serve commercial purposes which is why many office buildings like lawyers or doctors will operate out of small, older homes in a downtown area. These businesses need to consider extra locksmith security measures like bars and cameras around the windows.

Energy Efficiency

If you call in a professional contractor they can use specialized technology that scans the entirety of your home to verify which areas are resulting in a lot of heat loss or cooling loss depending on the season. These are areas where insulation isn't up to the level it should be. Windows are of course one of the most common places for temperature loss.

• It is the summertime, windows are where the hot sun comes through and the cool air you paid for goes out even if the windows are closed.
• If it is the wintertime the windows are a place where cold air penetrates the home and the warm air you have paid for goes right out the window, literally and figuratively.

Why does this happen?

There are a lot of reasons. For starters, older windows might simply have an outdated glass without enough thickness to retain your internal temperatures or rebuff the external temperatures. The thickness of the glass and the layers to the glass can play a significant role in how much energy is lost through your windows. Older windows might not have the same multi-layers of protection in between the exterior panes of glass and if you renew the windows in your older home you can keep the older feel with the antique, nostalgic style but still replace the windows.

Another reason is bad sealing around the window frame. This isn't necessarily reflective of a problem with the initial installation nor does it mean the person who originally built the house was a cheapskate. This is something that typically happens over time so if you have an older home it's something that you will have to contend with immediately. As houses age and they fluctuate because of temperatures, you might see something like the windowpane pulling away from the window frame so it's not a perfect seal anymore. Even a small seal can result in a lot of temperature loss in either direction. By replacing and renewing the windows in your older home you can more precisely affix window frames to the given space so that you don't have these issues and you can fill in the seals around the window frames so that nothing can get in or out.