Window repair in Lawrence, Indiana
Lawrence started as Lanesville, platted in 1849 beside the Bee Line Railroad and Pendleton Pike, and took its present name in 1866. It incorporated in 1929 and is one of the cities that kept its own government when Indianapolis and Marion County merged under Unigov, with its own mayor, police, fire department and parks.
Two things shaped the city. The first was Fort Benjamin Harrison, established on land the federal government bought north of town in 1903, and annexed into Lawrence in 1970. The second was the postwar boom: Lawrence had about 2,000 people in 1950 and more than 25,000 by 1980, as subdivisions filled in around the Western Electric, Ford and Chrysler plants on Shadeland Avenue. Lawrence also annexed Oaklandon and Indian Lake, an annexation the courts upheld in 1976.
Two big groups of houses
Census Bureau estimates show Lawrence’s housing in two large blocks. About three homes in ten were built between 1950 and 1979, and almost exactly as many in the 1990s alone, with a further sixth in the 2000s. Those two blocks have different problems.
The mid-century houses
The ranches and split-levels from the boom years are now fifty to seventy-five years old. Many have had their windows replaced once already, and some of those replacements are now older than the original windows were when they were taken out.
Rot behind insert replacements. Replacement windows are often set inside the original wood frame. When that frame was left unsealed or uncovered, it can rot behind the new unit for years before the trim gives it away. We check sills and exterior trim on every one of these visits; see wood rot repair.
Tired first-round replacements. Fogged glass, cracked corners and failed balances in windows from the 1980s and 1990s. If the frame is sound, we replace the glass or the hardware. If it is not, a new window is the honest answer, installed with the old frame properly dealt with.
Original wood windows. Where they survive and the wood is sound, they can usually be repaired, re-glazed and weatherstripped for less than replacing them.
The 1990s and 2000s subdivisions
These houses are twenty to thirty-five years old, which is the age at which builder windows start failing one component at a time.
Fogged insulated glass. The edge seal on a double-pane unit eventually lets moisture in, and the haze between the panes will not clean off. The window is usually fine; we replace the glass unit. See foggy glass.
Hardware. Casement cranks, operators, balances and locks wear out, and all of them can be replaced. See hardware repair.
Doors. Sliding patio doors that drag and entry doors that no longer seal are common in houses this age. See door repair, or door replacement when a door has reached the end.
Fort Ben and Oaklandon
Some of Lawrence’s most interesting houses are its oldest. The former officers’ quarters at Fort Ben are now private homes, and Oaklandon has its own older village core. Where houses like these still have original wood sash, we would restore it before we would replace it; see window restoration. The redevelopment of the old base has also brought new houses, which fall into the same warranty-first advice we give for any new home.
Repair or replace
We install wood, clad and vinyl replacement windows, so we have nothing against them. We just do not recommend them when the real problem is a single failed part. The repair-or-replace quiz is a good place to start.
What a visit looks like
We come out, look at each window and door you are worried about, and leave you a written estimate that separates urgent work from what can wait. The visit is free.
Nearby
We work across the northeast side, including McCordsville, Fishers, Fortville and Indianapolis. Most of our jobs are within about forty-five minutes of our Indianapolis shop. The full list is on our service areas page.
Roofing and exteriors in Lawrence
We are an exterior contractor as well as a window shop. If the roof, siding or gutters need work too, see our roofing and siding pages, or ask when you call.