It now feels like forever ago that we had new windows installed in our house — and for a while there, we weren’t even sure if they would ever arrive. But let me just tell you that they are already making all the difference in the world, even though they aren’t 100% finished.

About 3 weeks before we were supposed to leave for Florida, we got the go ahead from the Denkmalschutzamt (German Historical Society) that they were going to approve the replacement of the windows. You see, we still had the super old, single pane windows in our house. And as much as I loved the history of them, many of the panes were cracked, they let all of the street noise in and judging from the draft they let in to the house, they might as well have been left open all the time.

So we put in the order for the windows, and then hoped and prayed they would arrive in time for them to be installed before we left. By some miracle (and a few phone calls) the process began. I have to admit that I was pretty scared and sad at the same time when everything started. For one, I had no idea just how much mess and chaos was going to be involved with this. The last major renovation we did in our house caused a thick of layer of dust to settle over the house. And if the weather had turned out to be super cold (which it thankfully wasn’t) it would have been like throwing money out of the window as far as heating was concerned.

And I was sad because I feared we would lose some of that old house feeling by removing these old windows. And we did. But at the same time, we also gained a whole lot as well.

As it turned out, replacing windows is not all that horrible — or perhaps that’s only the case if you have a professional do it.  A team of 2 guys (it was actually 3 on one day when we started really leaning on them to wrap things up) removed and replaced 12 windows throughout our house. They laid down blankets under and around where they were working to catch the mess — and in almost all cases it worked well. The only fail they had was in the living room, where they just insisted that we didn’t need to move any furniture. Note to self: Don’t listen when they say they’ll just nudge the furniture out of the way. Apparently that is a sure fire way to get your sofas covered with debris.

At any rate, they managed to get 12 windows switched out in just 3 days time…they also sprayed in some insulation foam and have the windows mostly set. They just need to come back in the next week or so and finish things off for a final look.

The difference is remarkable. Not only can you hardly here our neighbors’ dogs barking up a storm but a major portion of the street noise has also been cut back. And there is a huge difference in the heating. Since we returned from Florida, we have barely had to touch our thermostats. And we’ve had some pretty major temperature fluctuations, from in the 50’s (12°C) to below freezing (-2°C in the day, -7°C overnight). I have only turned up one heater by a degree…and the rest has just remained comfortably warm. That aspect alone is going to have these windows paying for themselves over the next couple of years.

Something that is rather nice is that the window guy ordered frosted glass for both of our bathrooms. We had a film from IKEA over two of our windows downstairs to keep our neighbors from peaking in. But it’s incredible just how much more light comes through with this glazing versus the film. I will have to ready myself for a trip to IKEA at some stage though. My office window is now without a cover, and I have to admit that I am not so keen about everyone being able to peak in here. But I do kind like being able to spy on the neighbors more often now. 😉

Although I wanted to cry the day after the first three windows were installed, I’m totally happy with them now. So if you have some great ideas about where we can get about 24 handles for less than €30/each, please feel free to fill me in. Our windows guy assumed we’d want the icky standard white ones…he was wrong.


What’s the latest renovation project you’ve been up to?