This guide shows you the basics of restoring steel windows, with a focus on steel casement windows that open and close. 

Steel windows were a popular post-war choice that remain on many homes and industrial buildings built in the late 1940s, 50s, and 60s.  Once restored they look beautiful.  A restored steel window can transform the look of any older post-war home or building. 

They can also be restored to be airtight, open easily, and lock as they originally did. 

There are two routes I cover – (1) where you keep the glass in place during restoration or (2) where you replace the glass during restoration.

Keeping the glass in place is the quickest and simplest way to restore your steel windows.  However, sometimes you need to remove the glass for whatever reason, so I have videos that also show how to replace the glass.

This course focuses on restoring the steel window frames in place, without removing the window from the actual building.  If you need to remove the frame for whatever reason, I suggest obtaining a professional.  They usually do not need to be removed to restore them.

No matter how bad your windows look now, they can be restored!  Mine were in horrible shape.  They were rusted, all the cranks and locks were broken, and they were truly on their last legs.  I restored them all in place.  And once finished, they were one of my favorite details on my house. 

Also, here is a great article on why you should save your historic metal windows: National Park Service - Steel Windows and Historic Character.

Before

These were my steel casement windows when I started.  They were rusted, barely opened, all the locks were broken and the cranks did not work.  They looked like trash but there was beauty still there.”" width="200" height="200"> “These were my steel casement windows when I started.  They were rusted, barely opened, all the locks were broken and the cranks did not work.  They looked like trash but there was beauty still there.

After

These were my casement windows after I finished.  The rust was now removed or mitigated.  The windows had a new layer of glaze, and everything was freshly painted.  All of this was done without removing the windows from the house itself.