Sierra Madre Windows & Doors with the Trim Kept
When the inside casing comes off for new windows in an older Sierra Madre house, and how that trim is numbered, saved, repaired and put back.
Does the inside casing have to come off for new windows? On an older Sierra Madre house the answer depends on the method chosen for each opening. A retrofit unit fits into the old frame, and the casing and plaster around it are left alone. A full-frame replacement takes the frame out, so the casing comes off first, is numbered and stored, and goes back on once the new unit is set and flashed.
How casing is saved
Old casing is nailed into the framing and bonded to the plaster by layers of paint. We score that paint line with a sharp blade so the plaster does not tear, then ease the casing off with flat bars against a protective shim. Each piece is labeled by room and opening, and nails are pulled through the back so the face is never marred. Before it goes back, split ends are glued, gaps are filled with matching wood and the paint is tested for lead, since scraping old paint calls for lead-safe handling.
When full frame is the call
A frame with a rotted sill, an opening that has racked out of square or a wall with water stains under the window all point to full-frame replacement. So does a bedroom window that has to be enlarged to serve as an exit. Where a Sierra Madre house stands on mapped fire hazard land, a new unit may need tempered insulated glass. Whether a kept original also needs an upgrade is settled with the city reviewer before ordering, so the casing comes off only at the openings that truly need it.
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Keep it when the wood is firm and the joints are tight, because restoration leaves the frame, the glass and the casing where they are. A bottom rail with rot through it can often be rebuilt alone. Replacement makes sense where the frame itself has failed, or where the opening needs safety or ember-rated glass the old sash cannot hold.
With the casing kept, the match comes down to the sash. Its rail and stile sizes, the grille pattern and the glass setback are copied, and new wood sashes can be built to those figures where a factory unit cannot get close. The kept casing is filled, primed and painted with the new frames, so nothing on the wall looks newer than the rest.
Sierra Madre's own building office reviews full-frame replacements, enlarged or new openings and added doors, and each of those needs a permit. New glass is checked against the state energy code. Restoring a sash in its own frame is repair work, and whether it needs a permit at all is confirmed with the city before the quote is final.
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