Hurricane Katrina left us with two smashed windows on the east side of the house. So why not just replace them all?

When Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, the brunt of the wind in the first hours of the storm came from the east. We lost two windows on that side of the house. The ones on the south side – basically a wall of glass – had been replaced two years earlier and were protected during the storm by metal storm shutters. We had talked about replacing the other 8 at some time, especially since the house was built in 1964 and the original windows were single-pane – not very heat or cooling efficient. Well, Katrina gave us the impetus to just go ahead and do it, since we had to replace two windows anyway. I had replaced one already last September – it was totally smashed. Not being a carpenter by trade, it was a bit of an adventure for me to get that window out of its frame. They say you learn by doing, so putting the first new window in (not the one in the photo, by the way!) was somewhat of a crude job. But with wood trim you don’t notice it. For the others, instead of removing the redwood siding, I am just cutting a one inch piece of the siding out around the window to get the window frame clear. Then the window comes out fairly easily. The new window goes in, insulation and filler are used to close any small gaps, and some trim is then used around the edges. The new windows should hold a few years – unless one of Katrina’s relatives decides to get nasty in the future.