Are Your Old Windows Really as Safe as You Thought?

When you purchased your home, you enjoyed the fact it had character. It was an older home and you knew you would be putting in quite a bit of work on it. Now you’ve gotten around to looking at the windows and you don’t really think they are a major problem.

From what you can tell, they may be 15, 20, or even 25 years old, but they seem decent enough and you could spend the money investing in other home improvements. Those windows, though, are probably costing you a lot of money every winter season and they may not be as safe as you initially thought.

They have old style hardware. It’s a simple latch mechanism that you twist into place. It only has one lock on each window for double hung windows. It seems decent enough.

However, somebody with experience breaking into homes will see these windows as a prime opportunity for them to simply slip a small item, such as a Slim Jim, into the gap between the upper and lower half of the double hung window, twist the latch open, and enter almost as silent as a ghost.

If the windows are wood, they may have been repainted many times through the years. The more they were painted, the more difficult they became to open and close. What happens if you struggle to open the window, finally get it open on a nice, refreshing day, and a storm is blowing through the area. Suddenly you’re rushing around the house trying to close all the windows and you just can’t get them all down. They are stuck.

The humidity has built up and expanded the wood. Soon you may be faced with a different kind of dangerous situation.

When you have older windows, they become a liability. There’s no reason to stand idly by and accept that. Consider making a quality investment in replacement windows for your home, no matter how old it is.