Keeping the Craftsman Window Style Charm in Louisville
Nov 30, 2021Who: Sarah Whittle
Where: Louisville, KY
What: Prairie Style Window Replacement
Products: Performax54 Double-Hung Windows in Beige with Prairie Grids
Updating a Charming Craftsman Home in Louisville Means Prioritizing the Right Projects
Sarah Whittle knew the drill when she purchased her 1920s-era home in Louisville, KY. With a good deal of house-flipping experience under her belt, Sarah knew plenty of work needed to be done, but one project took precedence: replacing the windows.
“I’ve flipped a few houses and I’ve always been intrigued by craftsman architecture,” Sarah told us. “For this home, I made sure the bones were good, but I wasn’t living here very long before I knew replacing the windows would be the first thing I had to do.”
Old craftsman Windows Were No Match for the Louisville Climate
The way Sarah’s home is situated, the living room is drenched in afternoon sunlight. This is a great feature for daylighting in a home and relying less on artificial light – but can be a big problem if old windows also allow heat to enter the home along with the sunlight.
“I was sitting on the couch and the whole room just heated up,” she says, describing the phenomenon of radiation that we see so often in older homes. Her old wood windows, original to the house, had a great deal of charm thanks to their prairie window grids. But without the advanced technology of Low-E glass, both light and heat were flooding the home. Sarah knew this would end up costing a lot of money in air conditioning bills in the summer. And considering the state of the windows, they were likely to have drafts that would leave her house cold in the winter as well. An energy loss nightmare, no matter the season!
Finding the Value in craftsman windows
With windows as her top priority, Sarah used her home improvement knowledge to reach out to several companies to solve her problem. “I had four different bids, and Improveit was the best and really made the most sense,” she says, noting the value she would receive for her investment in new windows.
“One company wanted to wrap my concrete window sills to match the windows, which I thought would take away from the architecture and also get damaged over time,” she says. “Others were too plastic-looking, but I didn’t want to pay for wood windows, which are expensive – and you have to paint them. Improveit’s windows look great, they fit with the house, and the company is really professional!”
Working with Improveit, Sarah replaced her drafty, inefficient wood windows with Performax54 double-hung windows. With Thermostat glass, Performax54 windows have three layers of low-e protection (50% more than most replacement windows on the market) and feature smart technology that ensure they help maximize the home’s energy efficiency. In summer, Performax54 windows reflect the sun’s radiant energy, while in the winter they allow low-angle solar energy through the glass to help warm the house. No matter the season, Performax54 windows help maximize energy efficiency by reducing the strain on the home’s heating and air conditioning system. This is in addition to great window construction and installation that help eliminate drafts too.
Design wise, Sarah chose a beige frame and sash color to match her home, and selected prairie grids on the upper sashes to match the style of the previous windows. “Several people didn’t know what I was talking about,” she says, with regard to her window grid choice. “I wanted a 100-year-old house with character, and knew that my new windows would have to stay within the style of the home. I didn’t want a 1920s house with plain replacement windows – how would that look?
A Perfect Fit
We think the prairie grid selection looks perfect with Sarah’s craftsman home! And as an experienced home-flipper, Sarah knows that Improveit’s transferrable lifetime warranty will increase the value of her home for future owners.
Craftsman window style, Updated by Louisville Craftsmen
Sarah says she was impressed by the entire Improveit staff from her design consultant to the team that installed her new Performax54 windows. “My salesperson was awesome,” she says. “He was really good at explaining everything well, and wasn’t trying to sell me a bill of goods. The installers were great and really knew what they were doing. They cleaned up well after themselves, and were Covid-friendly too. It was so hot out on our installation day, I had to tell him it was okay to take his mask off!
After only having her new Performax54 windows for a few months, Sarah says she could already tell a difference in her comfort level inside the home. Her initial window replacement included 10 of the windows around her home, and she plans on having the remaining windows (an attic window, plus a couple of others) replaced down the road. She’s also recommended Improveit to her friends and family!
”My neighbors have said to me, ‘you’ve done so much to the house – it looks great,'” she says. “I have no complaints, and my daughter has already purchased windows from Improveit too. She’ll be up next!”
