Kent, UK - Salvo handy hints for repairing and reusing antique reclaimed and salvaged windows:

• Do not replace old wooden windows with uPVC, just repair and draftproof them
• When reusing old windows as replacements they need not comply with Part L of the building regulations
• Use a free SalvoWEB wanted advert to find second-hand windows
• Window glass made prior to 1950 was handmade usually muff or cylinder glass which is always slightly wavy and gives the windows their character.
• Around 1960 Pilkington first started production of its newly-invented float glass. Float glass has two absolutely parallel faces.
• If replacing pre 1950's glass try to reuse old cylinder glass to keep the character from inside and out
• Old salvaged embossed pattern glass can sometimes be found with difficulty - try a free SalvoWEB wanted advert
• Instead of replacing old windows with small rotten areas find a carpenter who can do an in-situ scarf joint
• If reputtying use linseed oil window putty for old wooden windows
• Make sure the putty line is inside the rebate and cannot be seen from inside the house.
• Clean external paint back to the putty line before repainting windows.
• Clean internal paint back to the rebate line before repainting windows.
• Use dark coloured paints to repaint old external woodwork, they will last much longer than light colours. Matt black, dark green and dark brown are traditional pre-1900 window colours.
• If your house has its original wooden windows try a paint scrape to see what colour the windows were first painted.
• Use reclaimed Victorian softwood from a specialist reclaimed pine supplier such as Pine Supplies in Bolton to replace softwood window parts as it is better quality.
• Reclaimed shutters make effective eco window insulation.

It is all summed up for me by Mathew Cummings, AIA, an architect based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, who has worked on some of the oldest houses in the USA when he said, 'Never, never, never throw away old windows. People replace two hundred year old windows with new vinyl ones that are guaranteed for five years. They are made of oil products and evil gases and soon their useful life is over and they end up in the landfill. Old windows are made of clean wood and glass, and, once rebuilt, are good for another two hundred years.' This quote comes from an article by Regina Cole for Forbes Media. Read the full article at the link below.

Find local craftspeople and window repair specialists to repair old windows some of which are listed on the Salvo directory. One example is the Old Window Workshop, a repair and restoration cooperative creating jobs for women based in Massachusetts, USA . Or Sash Heritage Restoration, based in East Sussex, UK who stock a large supply of one hundred plus years old seasoned reclaimed wood for all repairs to original heritage sash windows.

Unfortunately most old windows are usually replaced rather than repaired. In the UK alone around five million old windows come from demolition sites and about seven million are removed in window replacement. Very few of these are saved.

It is also interesting to know, from report commissioned by WWF UK, that the average replacement time of uPVC windows is very short considering their carbon footprint. They are disposed of after just eighteen years compared to that of an original wood framed window, which has an average lifespan of over one hundred years.

Circular Ecology research from Craig Jones also posed the question as to whether replacing windows is the best environmental choice when you compare the carbon footprint and embodied carbon of wooden, uPVC triple and double glazed windows:

'Intuition tells us that triple glazing should have a lower carbon footprint. The additional panel of glass in the window provides an extra barrier against the cold air outside. However, this extra layer of glass comes with an additional embodied carbon footprint penalty.'

Embodied carbon of a window would take into account the carbon footprint of materials i.e. 'the amount of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) released to extract, refine, transport and process the materials' used to make the windows and operational carbon is added from the use of the window.

'Taking an average domestic window (assumed 1770mm x 1200mm) our research showed that wooden frames are, as expected, the lowest embodied carbon option, at 85 kg CO2e per double glazed window, this is followed by uPVC windows at 110kg CO2e per window and finally aluminium at 161 kg CO2e per window.'

'The results showed that for all frame types it takes almost 20 years for triple glazing to pay back the additional embodied carbon. This is on a like for like frame comparison, for example uPVC double glazing compared with uPVC triple glazing. This is beyond the lifetime of most uPVC windows and therefore is not quite the obvious choice that you would think.'

Craig's research discovered that 'double glazed wooden windows outperform triple glazed uPVC windows over 20 years, double glazed uPVC windows outperform triple glazed aluminium framed windows.' and 'that wooden glazed windows outperform both uPVC and aluminium options.' In fact, 'if you were to choose uPVC triple glazing over double glazed wooden windows it would take over 50 years, which is well beyond the life of any window money can buy.'

So when you consider the whole lifetime of wooden windows compared to uPVC or aluminium framed the research shows the best environmental option is to use wood.

Therefore maintaining and repairing old wooden windows, fitting external/internal reclaimed wooden shutters or extra wooden framed double glazing becomes the most eco green option.

And if you still want to replace your old windows then please help save some from landfill by selling or buying them on the SalvoWEB global marketplace for architectural salvage at salvoweb.com.

Also repurposing, recrafting or upcycling windows can save them from ending up in landfill. Old windows can create mirrors, room dividers, kitchen islands and outdoors as garden cold frames, sheds and greenhouses.