If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, one of our biggest frustrations with the Merc is the road it’s on, more specifically the road noise. Couple that with the fact that the original windows are only single paned glass, and that neither of them were going anywhere, it seemed like a bleak situation. Not keeping the original windows wasn’t even an option for a few reasons, replacing them would have taken a huge chunk of character out of the Merc and helloooo expensive. Remedying this window dilemma was one of the first things that I looked into when I found the Merc last year and I’m happy to report that I found a solution! I LOVE it when google delivers!
Friends meet Indow. They are a cool company based out of Portland that makes window inserts for all types of properties, but I’d venture to guess that historic properties are their favorite. For the last year I waited until the Merc was ours, and waited for the reno to be in a place where it made sense to install them. AND THAT TIME IS NOWWWWW!!!!
So let’s talk about Indow. What do you do if you can’t (or won’t) replace your ineffective windows? You have a few options, you can have bad feelings every time you walk by them. You can make a deal with the universe to change the weather and traffic patterns. Or you can get an Indow Insert. But if you have the universe’s email I’d be open to that one too. In all seriousness, your options are to live with bad windows, replace them, use storm windows (that COMPLETELY ruin the way they look on the exterior) or use Indow inserts.
Indow inserts are acrylic sheets that are precision cut and held in place by pressure moulding. Cool right? They’re totally removable and if I had to pick, I’d say the best thing about Indow is the ease of EVERYTHING. Requesting a kit was simple, their measuring process is flawless (even if you’re like me and don’t always read instructions) and the install can be done in 3 minutes.
The issue we had with the Merc was noises, but if you’ve got other frustrations, they’ve most likely got an insert for that!
Oh and did I mention that they completely disguised our window wonkfest? Remember how nothing is straight in the Merc? That includes all of our windows. When we were putting the frames and casing in we did the best we could to remedy it, but they just were too off. (You can see in the picture below how uneven the trim directly against the glass is).
Installation is so easy! You unwrap your indow
Make sure it fits
Remove the back film and push it into place
Then remove the front film.
Look at how much better the above picture looks compared to the window without the Indow insert:
The road noise has noticeably been reduced. You can still hear it a little, but nothing like it was! And I can’t get over how great they look. I was a little unsure because of the rubber pressure tube but I am SO glad that we put them in!
Here you can see what it looks like when it’s pulled away from the window a little.
There are just so many little details that they’ve thought of, like a specific label per insert letting you know exactly where it’s supposed to live.
HUGE thank you to Indow for partnering up with us on these inserts and saving our historic windows! If you’re in a historic house, or a house where buying new windows isn’t an option, please take the time to check out Indow!
I’m doing a Facebook Live today at 1pst to chat through all things renovation, including answering your Indow questions, I’d love it if you’d tune in! You can RSVP here!!
Check out our video below, you will die when you see how easy they are to install!
THIS IS AMAZING!
We’ve got the original windows from 1929 in our house, and I hate the idea of replacing them with something with less character, or putting storm windows over them and messing up the look of our front.
I’m so glad you made a post about these! Saw them the other day on your story and immediately fell in love. 🙂
The previous owners of our house installed really cheap, drafty windows and I just downright hate them. Right now we have them “shrink-wrapped” and it’s not the best. Something more solid would probably do our utility bill wonders!
This is pretty great.
However, I wanted to say that I love that your hands are always black. Seriously!! ? I aspire to your DIY commitment.
And I need that thrifter shirt!!!!
YES! These are so cool. Just read about them in Atomic Ranch’s reno issue. Owners of a Case Study house in Northern California used them on walls of glass to great effect (UV protection too for artwork) – gorgeous! Gives me hope for my future MCM plans… https://www.atomic-ranch.com/architecture-renovation/invisible-solutions/
GREAT info on the windows but I too need that Thrifter shirt. It’s awesome!
Holy crap, that is SO COOL!!! My shitty old windows need to open, because I love fresh air when it’s not a billion degrees out, but if I had old picture windows, I would be ordering right now instead of commenting.
Ahhh! I need these! We rent a house on a busy street with drafty single paned windows. It drives me crazy. I would love to try these out on our street-facing windows. Maybe our baby would even sleep better!
This is some really good information about window inserts. I liked that you talked about how you should remove the front film after installing the window. That does seem like it would help you from damaging the glass. It would also help you get fingerprints on the windows.