Faced with drafty and poorly operating original wood windows, residents of this Brookline co-op apartment building attempted to resolve the age old controversy: to restore or replace? To make it a fair contest, they elected to engage two contractors to produce an example of each, in place, to review the result and to vote on which course they preferred the co-op association to adopt. Cleary and Son, Inc. was hired to do a complete, in shop restoration of one window, equipped with a storm, and another contractor did a complete window replacement of another using a top of the line wood window with tape balances and insulated glass.
Put to a vote, the residents preferred the restored original window and Cleary and Son, Inc. was selected as the contractor to fully restore all the window sash, exterior trim and sills and to equip all the windows with new storms. Two additional benefits that the residents considered in their decision was, first, that they saved some money and, second, that the restoration process was much less dirty and disruptive than the full window replacement would have been. The single replacement window still remains in place. We worked with the property manager on this project, Dannin Management. See photo above.