Hello Coastal Window & Exterior blog readers! I’m Jen from Migonis Home. I blog about the transformation of our Cape style house in Manchester by the Sea, MA. We purchased our house in 2010 and have been slowly fixing it up. The home was built pre-1940, most likely as a summer cottage (there was no insulation!). We believe the windows are original to the house and have lead paint throughout them. Because of that we needed a window company in Massachusetts that was certified to remove the old windows and dispose of them since our house almost certainly has lead paint.
Enter in Stephanie from Coastal Windows & Exteriors.
She set us up with one of her fantastic install crew members who came out to our house. Rocky looked at the replacement windows that had been ordered and took the critical measurements of both the new energy efficient windows (all while being wonderful to my two kids who were either in my arms or running around during the measurements!).
The replacement windows we ordered were intentionally a little bigger than the existing windows so that we could have the maximum amount of light between the existing studs. To install larger windows Rocky is going to need to cut into the clapboard on the outside of the house a few inches on each side. He’ll have to do the same thing with the drywall on the inside of house. He’s obviously a whiz at this because he kept saying that it was no problem and that it is easy enough to install a slightly larger window.
We are adding in one new construction window which just means Coastal Windows & Exteriors is installing a window where there has never been one before (all the other windows are referred to as replacement windows). To get the correct measurements for this double hung window Rocky got out on our front porch’s roof and measured to find the halfway point between the two windows.
Then he took me into the walk in closet, where the window will be, and walked me through exactly where the window will be. It’ll be behind a chest and where the pole currently hangs so he told me what needs to be moved before he returns to install the new energy efficient windows. We had held off doing any built-ins in the closet as we did not know the exact placement of the new window.
After Rocky finished all his measurements, he wrote all his notes (while being incredibly flexible and writing on my son’s car board that he set up on our desk!). He then walked me through each of the next steps and gave me his number so we could connect directly about setting up a date for the install.
Here is what I learned today…
1. Rocky measured to the 1/8 of an inch so that all of the double hung windows would have a snug fit to ensure proper energy savings as well as to install them quickly and efficiently in one day.
2. To remove the old windows, because we most likely have lead paint in them, Rocky needs to completely tarp off the area inside the house so no lead filled dust flies around. This is considered a LSI…a Lead Safe Install.
3. I learned that a LSI is required for any home built before 1978 and I can get fined up to $30,000 if I would do any projects without one. Good thing we have Coastal!
