I made a fateful decision when walking past that real estate ad display window in the summer of 1991. There was a triplex for sale. It was located in a near by suburb of the town where I lived and it was within my price range. This deal was not to be missed.

I knew little about real estate or building construction. The realisation as to why the real estate deal was so cheap came quickly. The building was almost thirty five years old. The insulation in the walls was thin, consisting of a couple of inches of sawdust. The windows in two apartments were ill-fitting. Cold air blew in and precious heat leaked out. The windows definitely needed remodelling before winter set in as making them air tight would at least keep in some of the heat.

I advertised in the local paper for a contractor to do the work. Someone applied for the job and I hired him after he signed my project contract. The contract set out in writing the changes to be made to the wall and window area. It covered how much the contractor was to be paid as well as the materials to be bought. It also stipulated what storage and clean up was to be done after the remodelling was finished.

The contractor did some measuring around where the windows would go. The plan was to put in sealed windows encased in a frame. Some sketches and specs were drawn up. Next, it was off to the window and hardware store to buy the supplies needed. It wasn't cheap. The windows, lumber and plywood cost several hundred dollars.

The work started. I didn't see most of the construction process as I was working a night job at the time so was sleeping during the day.

The remodelling was completed successfully. It looked good. Two apartments each had two large new sealed airtight windows. All the clean up of materials had been completed to my standards. The remodelling was a success. There was still some painting needed to seal the new wood but I planned on doing that myself. The contractor was paid in person by me. He even filled out a tax receipt for me.

As soon as possible I bought the exterior paint which I needed to seal the new woodwork outside and protect it from wet weather. On a nice warm sunny day, I did the exterior painting. The window trim area was done with a small brush. The area around each window was carefully painted and any paint spattered on the windows was quickly wiped off before it could dry. A steady hand is needed for window frame painting. That took the most time. The remainder was done with a roller, which is a very fast and efficient way of applying paint to flat surfaces. With the roller, you don't have the exact control of a small brush. After the first coat of paint dried, a second one was applied.

The remodelling of the windows was a real success and made it much more comfortable inside during the cold winter months.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Remodelling