Something else old...

Continuing the theme from the last post, I'd like to share more ideas about the interface between old and new. Clearly, there is much to address.

Sometimes there is no cohesive marriage of the old and new, and it makes more sense to remove or replace something no longer useful. For instance, this is the last of the villa windows. Both panes are broken and it faces south (ie, poleward here in NZ). Although beautiful, it is a major energy loser and replacing the glass would be costly.

It will be removed in the same way as the old window that was in the center of the wall in the image below. The cavity will be insulated and sealed.

The window that was just to the left of the electric box faced southwest. This made it a net energy loser in winter and a net energy gainer in summer: the worst of both worlds. So we essentially "swapped" it across the house into the northeast wall.

This maintained the same amount of glazing, but this window is a net energy gainer in winter and more or less neutral in summer. As for the old rusticated weatherboards we removed to apply the new siding, some will find new life as pelmets indoors above the windows.

If you are asking yourself, "What's a pelmet?" tune in to a post in the near future. Until then...

Peace, and pray for Perry's Texas. Amen, Estwing