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Window Repair? — Brooklynian

Window Repair?

sjp1
sjp1
edited November -1 in Park Slope
Some of our double-paned windows have condensation between the panes so that you can't see through them very well anymore. Anyone successfully fixed this? How? They are the regular kind of brown metal-framed double-paned windows present in most apartments.

Do they need to be replaced? Any good places in the neighborhood? Rough cost?

THANKS!!

Comments

  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    If is is a coop, generally speaking, these are the responsibility of the building. Every proprietary lease I've read explicitly makes the windows the responsibility of the building. Probably true of condos as well, check the offering plan.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    You have a fogged panel. Not knowing the size it's hard to estimate the price. It's not a ball breaker price wise however, it's a rather common repair. The whole panel has to be removed and replaced. Look inside the 2 panes along the inside edge for a date of manufacture. If it is a reputable company and they are relatively new there might be some credit toward a new one. I've used Park Slope Glass. They are competitive but like all Brooklyn glass companies notoriously bad on keeping dates. I would check a local hardware store for a recommendation
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    for what it's worth: a good window company might have a 5 or 10 year warranty on fogged panels. Price could be as low as 50 bucks excluding labor.
  • katbka
    katbka
    Go to Windows We Are in Bay Ridge (3rd Ave and either 93 or 94th Street), they fixed ours (replaced the glass pack) for $40. One caveat though - you have to take your window there, and live without one, until they fix it. It doesn't take them long, but I would strongly recommend closing the gaping hole with something. Plastic tape did the trick for us.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    katbka wrote: Go to Windows We Are in Bay Ridge (3rd Ave and either 93 or 94th Street), they fixed ours (replaced the glass pack) for $40. One caveat though - you have to take your window there, and live without one, until they fix it. It doesn't take them long, but I would strongly recommend closing the gaping hole with something. Plastic tape did the trick for us.
    Taking out those double hung metal windows is pretty tricky. If they tilt in for cleaning that helps, but it still requires a gymnastic move to unscrew one of the metal guides for total removal. You also run the risk of losing the tension on the springs if the nylon guide is not locked properly. I was only able to do "it" after watching a window guy do "it" (taking out the window, of course!)
  • longtimesloper
    longtimesloper
    BrooklynJack wrote: If is is a coop, generally speaking, these are the responsibility of the building. Every proprietary lease I've read explicitly makes the windows the responsibility of the building. Probably true of condos as well, check the offering plan.
    Not at our co op-windows are the responsibility of the apartment owner.
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    LongTimeSloper wrote: [quote=BrooklynJack]If is is a coop, generally speaking, these are the responsibility of the building. Every proprietary lease I've read explicitly makes the windows the responsibility of the building. Probably true of condos as well, check the offering plan.
    Not at our co op-windows are the responsibility of the apartment owner.


    Did you read the lease or is that just what you've been told? I worked for one of the bigger management companies in Brooklyn and have read a bunch of leases and never found one that didn't make windows the responsibility of the ccop. I'd bet money that yours is too.
  • longtimesloper
    longtimesloper
    I have lived here for 20 years, and this is how it has always been.
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    LongTimeSloper wrote: I have lived here for 20 years, and this is how it has always been.
    I've heard that before but, again, what does your lease say? I've heard many people say "The building says it is my responsability." but when you read the lease it says something different. Mine which is fairly typical reads, in Paragraph 18 (a):

    ...the Lessee shall keep the interior of the Apartment (including interior walls, floors and ceilings, but excluding windows, window panes, window frames, sashes and sills, entrance doors, frame and saddles) in good working order...

    So in my lease and I bet in yours if you read it, the windows are specifically excluded from the responsibility of the lessee. So you, or the OP in this case, might not get new windows but if you have a broken sash or a condensation between panes, and your, or the OP's, reads like mine the building should take care of it. Just because the building has not traditionally taken care of it doesn't mean that it is not the building's responsibility. Don't ask your neighbors or the managing agent, read your proprietary lease and see what it says.
  • longtimesloper
    longtimesloper
    BrooklynJack wrote: [quote=LongTimeSloper]I have lived here for 20 years, and this is how it has always been.
    I've heard that before but, again, what does your lease say? I've heard many people say "The building says it is my responsability." but when you read the lease it says something different. Mine which is fairly typical reads, in Paragraph 18 (a):

    ...the Lessee shall keep the interior of the Apartment (including interior walls, floors and ceilings, but excluding windows, window panes, window frames, sashes and sills, entrance doors, frame and saddles) in good working order...

    So in my lease and I bet in yours if you read it, the windows are specifically excluded from the responsibility of the lessee. So you, or the OP in this case, might not get new windows but if you have a broken sash or a condensation between panes, and your, or the OP's, reads like mine the building should take care of it. Just because the building has not traditionally taken care of it doesn't mean that it is not the building's responsibility. Don't ask your neighbors or the managing agent, read your proprietary lease and see what it says.

    You know what? all we have ever dealt with in the past is people wanting new windows and we have made it a co op rule that new windows are the responsibility of the apartment owner. We have never dealt with a broken sash or pane or what the OP here is dealing with. it is possible that it says something about fixing things like this in my lease-but, it has never come up. Thanks!
  • sjp1
    sjp1
    OP here--thanks for the responses, everyone; we're actually renting but if the repair is pretty easy and inexpensive, we figured we'd take care of it ourselves, hence the search for info on a good place to do it and cost.

    Might be difficult to remove the window this time of year, though, it's about 3 ft x 3 ft and in the living room . . . If someone could come out and do it here, it would be better but that is surely going to cost more than $40. If anyone has had this done, please do chime in.
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    sjp1 wrote: we're actually renting
    Don't do anything without the landlords writen consent. You will put your security deposit at risk.
    sjp1 wrote: Might be difficult to remove the window this time of year
    No more difficult than any other time of year. In fact I replace a broken window today ( my super did it he had a spare )
    sjp1 wrote: If someone could come out and do it here, it would be better but that is surely going to cost more than $40.
    Probably more like $100 plus the price of the window. But do call they landlord. Heck he might do it for nothing but is is his or her property

    BTW welcome to the foram
  • sam'sbbq-n-vegetarian
    sam'sbbq-n-vegetarian
    Related question, here.

    I'm a rent stabilized tenant, and am wondering what legal rights I may have to compel my landlord to replace faulty windows.

    We're on the first floor, the windows don't close all the way (and so don't lock), some panes separate from the frame when opening, several of the frame joints are falling apart, and one sash is missing a pane of glass (they're double-paned) and still has some shards of glass in the frame. The super wants to caulk them---his solution to all problems, including rotted floorboards---but that will only address (insufficiently, I'm guessing) the separation problem.

    It's pretty clear to me that they need to be replaced, but I'm not finding anything specifically about windows in my google searching of rent stabilization protections.
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