Replacing windows in a 120 years property

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Replacing windows in a 120 years property

Tal Shachar
Rental Property Investor · Rockville, MD · Member since 2021 · 37 posts · 32 votes

Hey there,

Hope I can learn from all the experienced landlords here...

I just had my inspection completed, for an investment townhome I'm interested in Baltimore, MD.
The house is ~120 years old, and besides the expected wear and tear, it is in a good shape overall

However, most of the windows as "past their EOL" and also, when opened, they do not stay up.
The house inspector told me that this could be a liability issue, if something happens to a tenant/child, due to a window shuts down on them.

Two questions, if I may - 

  1. 1. Does anyone know how much does it cost to replace these old house windows? I think their size is not "Standard"
  2. 2. Should I really be concerned about this "liability" issue?

This is my first investment property, so I'm not sure what to do with this info...

Thanks a lot for any insight!

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Karl B.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y

In my local market I deal with a company who takes window measurements and has the vinyl windows custom made as well as the install and it includes capping. When I started working with them back in 2017 I was paying $265 a window installed (when I bought five or more windows) and now thanks to all this money printing it's around $380 per window installed. 

Look for a company that includes capping and doesn't nickel and dime you. I got a quote from Window World once and those clowns tried to charge me $90 extra per window for capping amongst other things. 

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  • Gail K.
    Augusta, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Nice pictures Patrick M.  Your picture of the newspaper reminds me that in an older house (not as old at the 1901 house) we found lots of old newspapers used as insulation.  Many of them crumbled while being pulled out but a few were intact.  "Only" back to 1958 but I was able to open the "want ad" section to learn the going rental rate for a three room house (probably part of our "Mill Village" area) was $35 a month.   Interestingly the "exciting new" washing machines (probably replacing the old hand cranked roller things) cost over 10 times a much; almost $400.  Out of range for most folks back then.

    2Reply
  • Patrick M.
    Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Gail K. I found a nice wall calendar from 1920 that had a beautiful woman on the front... you realize how fleeting our time is!

    Fortunately we had some Polish warriors to do the masonry work... man they are born masons and become master masons by the age of 12! ;) Over there 100 year old masonry buildings are new construction ;)

    1Reply
  • Chris Smith
    Member since 2020 · 8 posts · 1 vote
    4y

    @Tal Shachar We have ran into the same issue with our 120 year old row home. We reached out to a local building supply house. Not only were they about half of the price of what we were quoted at the big box stores but they arrived a month ahead of schedule. Ordered Sept 9 2021

    0Reply
  • Tal Shachar
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Rockville, MD · Member since 2021 · 37 posts · 32 votes
    4y

    Thanks @Chris Smith, I'll look into some local big box stores.

    0Reply
  • Laurie SnyderPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Meadville, PA · Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    We just had one of our units go through a yearly section 8 re-inspection.  5 of our older, but still functioning windows wouldn't stay up without being propped and the inspector told us about $5 clips you can buy at the local hardware store to fix the problem.  Took less than 40 minutes to put all 5 of them in.  

    0Reply
  • Tal Shachar
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Rockville, MD · Member since 2021 · 37 posts · 32 votes
    4y

    Funny Laurie, this is exactly what my wife suggested...

    We may go with this option for the first year and then replace the windows throughout the year

    0Reply
  • Laurie SnyderPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Meadville, PA · Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    They definitely work and a much more economical choice if you can squeeze another year or so out of the old ones!

    0Reply
  • Wale LawalBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    No problem! good luck @Tal Shachar

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    0Reply
  • Parker Brooks
    Contractor · OH · Member since 2021 · 25 posts · 14 votes
    4y

    @Tal Shachar

    I am renovating a duplex built in 1853

    Heres my materials only quote for 25 windows. Good luck its gonna need a lot of 2x6s ripped to rebuild the frames.

    [url=https://ibb.co/cvfngbc][img]https://i.ibb.co/4fvrmsZ/Screenshot-20211026-101553-Adobe-Acrobat.jpg[/img][/url]

    [url=https://freeonlinedice.com/]roll dice 2[/url]

    0Reply
  • Parker Brooks
    Contractor · OH · Member since 2021 · 25 posts · 14 votes
    4y

    [img]https://i.ibb.co/4fvrmsZ/Screenshot-20211026-101553-Adobe-Acrobat.jpg[/img]

    Maybe this will work sorry for double post

    0Reply
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