CONSIDER THE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE OF RESTORED ORIGINAL WOOD WINDOWS

A Comprehensive Program for Historic Wood Window Restoration: 

After a century or two to the weather in all seasons, historic wood window sash will show the effects of sustained exposure and rough handling. Building owners rely on us to get their existing leaky wood windows to look great and to operate efficiently once again. Honeoye Falls Millwork offers a complete range of historic wood window restoration services for commercial and residential clients throughout upstate New York, including wood window restoration, window sash reproduction, hardware restoration, glazing, high performance weatherstripping and complete paint removal using safe "Steamstrip" technology. The immediate benefit to our client is to address all issues at the window opening in one turnkey package. The long term client benefits are the proven low cost over time performance of windows constructed out of durable old growth lumber, and the increased beauty and added property value of the original, historic wood windows. To view samples of our work, visit our Window Restoration Portfolio.

Faithful Reproduction of Historic Window Sash:  

To make your historic wood windows sound and weatherproof once again, we have established window restoration procedures which include complete stripping of paint and putty and removal of glass, epoxy restoration of all damaged sections, preservation of existing wood and then refinishing, reglazing and reinstallation. While this regimen will restore the original performance of historic wood windows, some elements, parts or even complete sash may be too damaged to be suitable candidates for restoration. In such cases, reproduction of the damaged work is the only solution. Honeoye Falls Millwork is a full service custom architectural millwork shop, and is fully capable of exactly duplicating all historic window elements including window sash, window casings and all necessary trim elements.
A reproduction garrison type window.
A reproduction garrison type window, a residential application. Click the image for more photos of windows furnished for this Craftsman style home in Ithaca, New York.

Paint Stripping and Safe Removal of Lead Paint and Putty:  

Historic wood restoration projects typically require the removal of significant amounts of dangerous lead paint and lead based window putty. We use the "The Steam Stripper" system for our paint removal operations and have found it to be far and away the safest, cleanest method we have seen yet. Your window sash are removed from the site and placed in The Steam Stripper, an insulated, stainless steel chamber with an attached steam generator. Steam fills the chamber, heating the sash on all sides and softening the glazing putty and paint for removal with a putty knife. Breakage of original historic glass is significantly reduced with a Steam Stripper so more of it can be reinstalled after the wood has been restored. Heat remaining in the wood quickly dries out the sash, making it ready for sanding, repairing, and painting in a matter of hours. The Steam Stripper leaves no chemical residue in the wood fibers to destabilize paint finishes as do other methods of paint removal. We are extremely pleased with the overall safety and performance of this technology.

Consider the True Costs and Benefits of Historic Wood Window Restoration:  

To owners considering replacement of their historic window with modern replacement units, please consider that rarely does a replacement compare to the original, either aesthetically or for cost/performance. Older windows will nearly always far outlast their replacements if properly restored. The reason is that old growth lumber is many times as durable as the new growth lumber from which modern replacements are now constructed. Don't act just on the basis of the replacement window salesman's cost benefit figures. Don't fail to factor in performance and value. Click here for an off-site scientific white paper about the durability and performance of original, historic wood windows.

We are always glad to talk to you about the costs and benefits for restoring your historic windows. Contact Jim Turner, Proprietor of Honeoye Falls Millwork, at 585.624.3340. Our email is jim@hfmillwork.com, but for the quickest reply, be sure to communicate with us by telephone.