Am in the process of renovating a circe 1870-80 home in historic district of Gettysburg PA and badly need to renovate the original wood windows. I have heard there is a company in PA that renovates existing wood windows using low-e double paned glass, etc. Need contact info. The house was converted into apartments in 1953 and I am in the process of turning it back into it's original single family configuration. All woodwork is Chesnut and has never been painted (did I get lucky or what?) Thanks for any help.
Phil,
Another alternative for you to consider would be inside storm windows.
I faced a similar issue - a house built in 1870 with wooden windows and outside storms.
I opted for inside storm windows as they provide another insulating layer at a reasonable cost with no negative visual impacts.
It cost me about $100/window to do this (avg window size = 3' x5').
The main cost was in the plexiglass for the windows. I used 1/4" plexiglass (you could probably get away with 1/8") as I also wanted to reduce road noise into the house.
It took about 45 minutes of work to fabricate each window - lots of cutting and adhering for the magnetic gaskets.
Here’s a guy who gives seminars on repairing historic homes. Maybe he can help you.
http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/education/seminars.htm
Good luck.