The goal of maintaining a building in its original condition. But what if leaky windows cause weather to attack the historic facade?

When a building is listed, it is usually to protect its historical importance and history. Therefore, the preservation of such buildings is particularly important. But what to do when leaky windows are the reason that the building fabric is attacked? What about the monument law?

Many people think that it is impossible to renovate or even replace windows on historic, listed buildings. But it is not. Because, renovation or replacement may even contribute to the preservation of the building. This means that if the serviceability of the old material is impaired or lost, it may be rehabilitated or even replaced under certain circumstances.

Impaired function, for example, may be due to the following defects: damage to the material, such as porous seals or poor thermal insulation due to thin glass. Or even a warped wooden frame, which makes it impossible to seal from the wind and weather, and promotes the growth of mold.

Nevertheless, there are still some things to consider in a potential renovation:

First of all, as a building owner, you should contact the responsible municipality and the monument protection authority with the project in order to coordinate the project and avoid subsequent mistakes during the renovation. The requirements for historic buildings are, as you know, not without.

In addition, it should be noted that the new windows charmingly fit into the image of the old building and do not disfigure the facade. The appearance, which also determines the history of the building, should not be affected by replacing the windows. This can also mean incorporating certain styles of eras or features of the time into the plan to ensure a harmonious overall look.

The overall appearance and its preservation is usually expressed by the materials used. For the most part, plastics have no place in historic buildings, and a lot of work has to be done with wood and antique glass. Preserving the overall look often means using colors or techniques as they were used at the time.

In general, you should only try to repair and replace the entire material when the original materials are no longer salvageable. Even through a touch-up, nowadays can be performed great results in terms of thermal and sound insulation.