Settling for 'good enough'

[Country Geek]

Something's wrong there, even el-cheapo "contractor grade" should have lasted longer than that. Didn't you paint them?

I see you're in NH that might make a difference. The windows were good Anderson windows properly painted but it's a two story wall of windows facing south and not shaded. That set of windows just has a particularly harsh exposure. The sun beating down on them, and the rain as well, just bubbled up the paint after only a few years. No rotting had set it in yet but it was starting and it became apparent that scraping and repainting every 2-3 years was going to be necessary to keep the windows in decent shape. Since it's a forever house we decided to just bite the bullet early and replace them with metal-clad, which have been rock-solid.

The same brand and model of wooden windows with the same paint on other facings of the house are lasting fine, with no problems.

I have wood windows on my house that I'd guess are 100+ years old, easy and are in perfectly good shape. Went thru and re-did the glazing a couple summers ago, it probably was last done in the 50s.

100 year old windows are probably made from dense hardwood or heartwood that hasn't been available or used in window manufacture for decades, and might also be covered with really durable material that isn't available any more either, like lead paint.

 

[newbury]

Reply sent with requested info.

Also - I'm posting one more thing I forgot to mention in regards to lot size for other members benefit as well. Our original parcel co-owned between me and Dad was just over 80 acres. When we had the smaller parcel surveyed out for the house, the bank wanted us to try to keep the lot at 25 acres or less. The reason for this was for getting comps for the appraisal. In our area, there is just not enough sales of homes sitting on 80 acres of land to get reasonable comps. Without comps, the appraiser could not provide us an appraisal on the home. Without an appraisal there is no loan from the bank. Just something else to consider and discuss with the bank if you do end up partitioning the land for the home.

Jeremy

Same in my area of Mississippi. We've got 3.5 acres w/ house and workshops, and about 70 acres surrounding it. When I asked about "combining" the properties I was strongly advised AGAINST it. Hard to get loans, difficult to appraise.

 

[Oaktree]

I see you're in NH that might make a difference. The windows were good Anderson windows properly painted but it's a two story wall of windows facing south and not shaded. That set of windows just has a particularly harsh exposure. The sun beating down on them, and the rain as well, just bubbled up the paint after only a few years.

Could be. We certainly don't get the brutal sun up here you southerners get.

100 year old windows are probably made from dense hardwood or heartwood that hasn't been available or used in window manufacture for decades, and might also be covered with really durable material that isn't available any more either, like lead paint.

Well, no covering (other than paint), but I'm sure the old-growth lumber was a lot denser than the farmed trees of today. I don't think you could build this house today...it's plank construction, and some of those boards are better than 24" wide. This is an area where logging was the primary industry from the 1800s thru the 1960s.

 

[catfishdaddyengineering]

Two things: 1) The house: If you have enough money now for $99,000 and another $60,000 for repairs for the old house that you were considering, why not build a smaller version (or part) of your dream home if you can. Then add on the rest in the future. 2) The land: I would only include the portion of land that you need with the house to get the loan. I don't know if SC is like AL, but we have what is called "current use" taxation. We have 40 acres separated into 10 acres with the house and 30 acres. The 30 acres is current use and taxed considerably lower because it is just growing trees.