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849
29th Street
Oakland, CA 94608
ph.
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510-893-1157
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415-357-1370
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fax
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510-834-3662
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email:
info@woodenwindow.com
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Winter 2006 Editor:
Chris Reilly
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The
Wooden Window team has recently become more involved with ...
...associations
and groups interested in preservation and restoration. The alliances
with these groups help us to better understand the needs of our
clients and the community. We give presentations on the benefits
of restoring or creating new windows
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that
retain the integrity of the building and preserve the rich architectural
history of many areas throughout the bay area. We address many
design issues and options that may come up with your project and
may be able to give advice with the planning process. Contact
us if you would like our team to come meet with your group.
If you have a digital camera, send
us your pictures of your project to expedite the process.
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Left: Carlos
Pena &
Franz Fischer showing off their work. Right: Antonio
putting the final touches on.
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These
beautiful redwood doors have now left the shop for
their new home up by the Russian River area. The final
destination is confidential, but they will reside amongst
captains of industry and movers and shakers that come
to visit. The shop craftsmen's work really shown through
as the doors were loaded onto the truck that took them
to their destination. Many thanks for all their hard
work in getting these finished.
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We are
the first and only California window company that can hand-craft
sash matching the look of True Divided Lite windows found
in the traditional home, while offering the homeowner, builder
or architect a range of sound- and energy-insulating glass
previously unworkable in a window upgrade without sacrificing
the beauty and character of the traditional, multi-lite sash.
Wooden
Window has taken a year to develop a product
that
will redeem SDL
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We offer custom SDL solutions, in-house,
for both double-hung and casement applications. We can even
upgrade your existing, single-lite sash to SDL, saving you
the cost of full sash replacement, something no other company
offers. Other window companies manufacture SDL sash on a factory
scale, with little or no ability to customize the design to
conform to the architect or homeowner's vision. And no one
else offers the expert installation for which Wooden Window
is highly regarded throughout the Bay Area.
The
advantages of upgrading your windows to SDL include:
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- Aesthetically pleasing
- Virtually indistinguishable from true divided lite(TDL),
even close up
- Upgrade your existing, single-lite sash without replacement
- Lower glass failure rate, compared to TDL
- Improved weather resistance - no more leaks around lites
- Lower maintenance cost
- Energy efficiency
- Soundproofing
- Less vulnerable to paint failure issues
- Improved lifespan
 For
some, SDL may have negative connotations, for the concept got
its start as cheesy stick-on grids of plastic or lattices of
cheap wood, a way for manufacturers to cut costs and skimp
on quality. But after a careful study of market trends, Wooden
Window has taken a year to develop a product that will redeem
SDL, combining expert technology and tooling, hand-selected,
vertical-grain woods, the same high level of craftsmanship
that goes into each of the windows produced in our shop, and
the result is a Steinway of windows.
As an example,
we recently upgraded the existing sash in an 18,000 square-foot
show-piece home to SDL in order to match other windows in the
house, saving the owner tens of thousands over what it would
have cost to replace the existing sash with new. The home was
featured in The Heart of the Home Kitchen & Home tour, a fundraiser
for The East Bay Children's Support League.
The
art of making Windows goes back centuries.
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In medieval times, the size of a pane of glass an artisan could
make was very limited, so large windows were constructed by
using multiple divided lites, either diamond-shaped or rectangular,
suspended in a lattice of wood "mutts" or mullions, or else
held in place by lead. It's a look still prevalent today, though
large sheets of glass have been readily available for generations.
The architectural unity of a Victorian mansion - or arts & crafts
bungalow - is to a great degree reliant on the integrity of
the original windows and their characteristic divided lites.
The presence of such windows (in good, working order) is a
substantial factor in an older home's value, not just an asset
to its looks. Schedule an appointment to view our SDL samples
in our s howroom and email us your digital pictures to expedite
the quoting process.
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Mills Act Tax Relief
for Preservation?
A
little-known law gives owners of historical homes tax relief for
preservation.
Homeowners can save 40-60 percent on property
taxes if they're granted relief under the Mills Act. Using a little-known,
25-year-old piece of California legislation called the Mills Act,
homeowners can reduce the property tax historic properties by at
least 40 percent. The legislation could be considered the single
most important economic incentive program available to owners of
California historical buildings.
Homeowners
can save 40-60 percent on property taxes
if they're
granted relief under the Mills Act
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Authored by former San Diego state Sen. James Mills in 1972, the
Mills Act lightens the property-tax burden on historical structures
from 40 percent to 60 percent, to encourage owners to spend more
money rehabilitating their homes. The property-tax savings are based
in part on the owner's income and how much is spent to maintain the
property. Owners who enter into the 10-year agreement with their
local governments must actively maintain the historical integrity
of their properties. That means homeowners can't change the historic
integrity of the building, but can preserve, restore and maintain
the integrity of it.
If they don't hold up their end of
the bargain, they could suffer a breach-of-contract penalty equal
to 12.5 percent of the home's market value. The penalty sounds severe,
but the positive outweighs the potential negative. The agreement
is made between property owners and their city, and each participating
city has its own guidelines for requirements and eligibility. Historic-property
owners in cities that don't have Mills Act agreements can't participate
in the program.
In its original form, the Mills Act called
for 20-year contracts that required property owners to open their
doors to the public for a specified number of days per year. If owners
grew tired of having tourists in their living rooms and wanted to
pull out of the deal, they'd face a stinging penalty equal to 50
percent of the home's market value.But the legislation has been amended
to limit the contract, eliminate the open-house requirement and reduce
the penalty, more homeowners have warmed to the idea.
The
impact the act is expected to have on preservation is great.
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Many
cities limit the number of applications it will process in a year.The
impact the act is expected to have on preservation, on the other
hand, is great. The benefit is, we get to help preserve the historic
structures in our city. Some property owners have been doing this
regardless of incentives. This provides them with a sort of a thank
you.
The City of Oakland is currently considering the prospect
of establishing the Mills Act.
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