New Windows for the Basement, Work We Contracted Through Angie's List

We cheated. We didn't replace the basement windows ourselves. For only the second time this year, we hired a contractor to do some work on The Box House.

Earlier this past spring, we removed the overgrown yew bushes from around the house, giving them away on Craig's List to whomever wanted to dig them out. When the trees were gone, we discovered that our basement windows were essentially falling out:

That's not quite true. We knew they weren't in great shape, but from inside the basement, you couldn't really tell just how bad. Note in the next picture how there is greenery growing behind the glass. (Hmmmm, on closer inspection, I think that's some wayward late-season mint. We had it growing everywhere, and enjoyed an abundance of mint juleps over the summer. The storm window is no doubt acting as a green house.)

Regrading the yard helped with some of the garden encroaching inside, but with the bushes gone, anybody walking by could see how bad the windows were. Blow on them too hard, and they'd fall off. In fact, after a storm we'd go outside, pick them up off the ground, and set them back in place. Pull them off yourself, and you could rob us blind.

Of course, the rooms where Ted and I have our offices, and spend a good part of the day, had security bars. Unfortunately, if there was ever an emergency from within, these bars would prevent our escape.

The old windows were quaint and old-fashioned. They swung up and inward, attaching to a hook on the ceiling.
Unfortunately, the windows and frames were kinda rotted, the glass was thin, and they leaked like crazy. You could feel a breeze coming in through the closed windows. Restoration wasn't worth it for a number of reasons; the windows weren't really quality to begin with, and we wanted egress windows that we could open quickly and easily--without struggling to open them and hook it to the ceiling just to get out.

We knew we were losing a lot of heat through these windows. At the end of last winter, when we moved in, we worked in the basement in our winter coats because it was so darn cold. So we wanted to replace all the windows and get them hooked into the security system before winter settled in again, and knew we couldn't do it ourselves quickly enough. Besides, they are oddball sizes and needed to be custom made.

After interviewing several companies and gathering estimates, we settled on Scientific Window of Chicago, which we found on Angie's List. Although they said it would be six or so weeks before they could install the windows, they were here in three and a half. A crew of four came in and got it all done in a day.

We chose slider windows. They can be opened to let air in without having to maintain clearance in front of them, and the glass can easily be popped out for quick egress. We didn't really lose much in the way of light coming in.

Overall, we're pretty happy with the work. It was freakin' expensive to replace everything at once, don't get me wrong. But to replace 13 custom-sized windows ourselves would never have gotten done. Anyway, heating cost savings in the next few years should balance it out. It's not quite as cold in the basement with the winter winds now properly blocked.

This pic with Ted is before they finished cladding the exterior with aluminum.

The finished product:

Sometimes, it's worth hiring out the work.

Basement Windows, or Why I Will Never Complain About Our Spiders Again

Our basement windows are in terrible shape. They are the kind that swing up and inward, attaching to a hook in the ceiling to stay open. They are as old as the house and completely inefficient. Many are broken or rotting and they leak like nobody's business. They were never meant to seriously hold back the elements, and it gets quite cold down here. And while the previous owners installed heavy-duty security bars that do keep people out, they also prevent us from using the windows as any sort of egress. Although we can't turn any of the basement rooms into bedrooms unless we create full-sized egress windows, we do have our offices and workshops down here, and we'd like to stay warm and be able to squeeze out in case an emergency of some sort prevents us from using the stairs to the exterior.

But the biggest problem with the windows is that they let all manner of bugs inside.

We fought a long, valiant battle this year against the spiders that infest the basement of The Box House, ridding ourselves of thousands (I'm not kidding) of egg cases. How did the previous owners stand it? By summer's end we were definitely down to a handful of the creepy crawlies. I suspect we'll see a reemergence in the spring, but it can't be anywhere near as bad as it was.

In the last few months I've (reluctantly) squished or tossed outside more spiders than I have in my entire life up to this point. Ick. I've found them walking across my keyboard, sitting next to me on the sofa, peering at me from the rim of my coffee cup, and popping out from behind the washing machine. It's like some seventies b-grade horror film. Attack of the Basement Beasties, or something. Some of the spiders are quite large, too, big enough to put up a good fight as I try to scoot them out the door.

But none of The Box House spiders are anywhere near as big as this Golden Orb Weaver, photographed in Australia recently:


Yes, that's a bird. The spider is eating a bird. You can go to the original story to see more of the gruesome pictures.

I will never complain about our arachnids again.

Worth Getting Up in the Morning

I am feeling rather creaky today, still a little stiff and sore from the carpet pulling adventure. But it's hard to feel truly cranky when waking up to this. This is one of the living room piano windows on floor one. The house faces southward, so we have light streaming in for most of the day. The window opens, too, so on warmer days we'll be able to get some great breezes coming through from all directions.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.
—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross