Return to SOHO Home Page


About SOHO
Membership
Our Museums
Magazine
Tours & Events
Museum Shops
Preservation Links
Giving to SOHO
Historic Districts
Lost San Diego
Research your House
Resource Directory
In the News
Videos
Standards & Regs
Historic Designation
& Mills Act Facts
2010 Most Endangered List of Historic Resources
2010 People In Preservation Winners
Preservation & Sustainability
Affiliations
Reflections
Newsletter

2002 - Volume 33, Issue 2

Say No To Vinyl Windows
Keeping your old windows & doors adds value to your home

  • Do not be controlled by telemarketers and synthetic window distributors.
  • Sellers of replacement windows do not want to admit that they do not have the appropriate windows for your older house. They do not make money by referring you to low cost repair alternatives and they have not been educated in old house aesthetics.
  • Savvy home buyers are understanding more and more the design importance of original material, are expecting pre-WWII homes to have their original windows and are paying a premium for it. This will help your home's resale value and the speed in which it will sell.
  • Removal of original windows is the most frequent reason for a home's ineligibility for Mills act tax savings, this would mean $1000's over the 10 year span of the contract.
  • The technology to repair wood windows will always be there. Synthetics lock you into a material destined to become obsolete and unrepairable, forcing yet another set down the line. In the interest of matching, you are sold a full house set of windows when usually only a couple of the wood windows need serious work.
  • Besides being available in a very limited number of colors, not necessarily period correct choices, vinyl and metal windows commit you to a lifetime color choice. We all know how color taste and fads come and go with the times, but when you want to change the color, the vinyl will not accept the paint.
  • Keeping your wood windows supports local business. No one in San Diego County is manufacturing metal or vinyl windows, but numerous small local shops are able to make or repair wooden windows.
  • Heat loss and soundproofing situations can be helped in many cheaper and less intrusive ways, including: landscaping, drape selection, and insulation.
  • Ironically, while much of the marketing seems to be aimed at the elderly, in our climate, heating savings may take many decades to equal the windows and labor.

More from this issue


SOHO Home

email: SOHOSanDiego@aol.com

Copyright © 2000 , Save Our Heritage Organisation. Copyright Warning