Serving Tacoma’s historic home community.

Historic preservation + energy efficient upgrades.

A wood window with white curtains and a white window frame. The window is divided into six panes, with side brick walls and a top trim around the window.
Close-up of a window with white curtains and a black tie-back, set in a brick wall.

Our mission…

At Northwest Historic Window Restoration, we know your original wood windows add to the beauty of your home and to our city’s architectural legacy.  Built from first-growth Douglas fir and hand-blown glass, your windows were built to last for centuries, requiring only periodic maintenance every few decades.

Professional restoration addresses the issues that wood windows develop over the years. Our services will greatly improve the thermal performance of your house, and will restore this beautiful element of your historic home to full functionality. Properly maintained, your original wood windows will look great and last indefinitely.

Restore, don’t replace!

Close-up photo of a window frame and windowsill with some brown window locks and dirt or dust on the sill, with a view of a residential neighborhood with trees and rooftops outside.
Close-up of a window sill showing painted white wood, window latch hardware, and a view of neighboring rooftops and trees outside.

When your home was built…

The windows opened effortlessly to allow for ventilation warm weather. They sealed tightly to shut out the drafts in winter. But after 100 + years of house settling, and the buildup of many coats of paint, most windows have come out alignment, and thus won’t open or close as designed. The sash cords have often broken, so the weights no longer assist in the balanced operation of the sash. Outside, the glazing compound has become brittle and no longer provides an airtight seal to the glass.

Fortunately for those who value both historic preservation and energy efficiency, your wood windows were also designed of parts that could be (and should be!) disassembled and restored as needed.

On the other hand - modern replacement windows, which detract from the historic look of a home, are installed as a single unit, with parts that are not repairable. When they begin to fail (in 5-20 years) the entire unit must be landfilled, leading to a costly cycle of replacement, with an inferior product.

A man in a blue shirt and gloves working on a stained glass project at a worktable inside a bright room with large windows showing a neighborhood view.

Our services…

Every homeowner’s needs are unique - contact us today to discuss how we can help…

  • Strip old paint and refinish

  • Stabilize joints

  • Replace glass if needed

  • Re-bed glass with new glazing compound

  • Repair or replace rotted wood

  • Refit sashes

  • Install weatherstripping

  • Repair moving parts

  • Refinish hardware

  • Replace sash cords

Schedule a free estimate

I look forward to meeting you and your historic home!

View through a window showing a backyard with trees, houses, and cloudy sky, with kitchen appliances and cabinets visible inside.
A man and two girls standing outdoors in a forest, with the man in the middle extending his arms around the girls, all smiling slightly.

Who
we are

I’ve been remodeling and maintaining Victorian and Craftsman homes in Seattle, San Francisco, and Tacoma for over 25 years. After decades as a generalist, I decided to focus on wood window restoration because its my favorite part! I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the historic neighborhoods of Tacoma, and to share my skills with next generation of craftspeople.