Hayes Window Restoration

We're hiring for our Project Manager position! If you are a detail-oriented communicator who enjoys working with a team of historic house stewards that value hard work, inclusion, and work/life balance, take a look at this position!

Field Project Manager - Hayes Window Restoration Join our team as a Field Project Manager! Lead projects on historic homes, ensuring exceptional client experiences and team success.

Our workshop at Split Rock Lighthouse is in the books! I want to share a big thanks to Lida and Nick for their care and attention as they presented to the historical site maintenance crew. We're honored to have had this opportunity to help preserve one of Minnesota's most iconic landmarks. I also want to share a huge thanks to the Minnesota Historical Society .info for trusting us to help maintain this irreplaceable cultural heritage.

This morning we had the privilege of hosting a field trip for the U of M's Historic Material Conservation Course for graduate-level architecture students. You don't have to twist our arms to talk about old windows, and this morning was no exception. We had a deep dive into what makes original wood windows worth saving and shared with these students a bit about our process. It's rewarding to get to play a role in helping the future architects of our world imagine the possibilities of restoration over replacement when approaching design for historic buildings. I want to thank the esteemed architect Todd Grover for bringing his class to our shop today and the students for bringing great questions!

Thanks .soro and everyone who came out for another window repair workshop. We talked about our love for old windows, why they're right for old houses, and common deferred maintenance that homeowners can tackle with some basic DIY chops. It's always a blast to meet others with the same repair and restoration ethic as us, and it's clear that many people went home tonight with some great foundational knowledge and direction for their next project. I want to share a special thanks to Nick, one of our lead field techs, who co-hosted the workshop tonight. He did an awesome job! We do these workshops in partnership with Rethos quarterly. The workshops always fill up, so visit the Rethos Education website early to register for our next class in June. See you there!

Last night we had the honor of receiving three awards at the 2024 Minneapolis Preservation Awards. We won in the category of Grassroots Advocacy and Education for our long-standing workshops and collaborative training programs. We also won two Preservation Gem awards that showcased two of our residential window restoration projects. We were delighted to be recognized for this work, and I want to share a huge Thank You to my team, to our trusting and committed clients (and specifically to Sarah and Spencer Bartl and Wade Johnson for the nominations), and to the Minneapolis preservation community. It's a team effort accomplishing all that we do, and we are beyond fortunate to get to do it together and as part of a greater preservation movement. Thanks to , the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission, and for organizing the event.

We traveled with a good part of our team to the Annual Meeting hosted by in Orlando this weekend. We had a blast workshopping with the most talented and accomplished window restoration professionals in the country. We left with new connections and friendships and great ideas to bring back to our work. I want to share a huge thanks to the WPA Event Planning Committee and Austin Historical for planning and hosting the event. I also want to thank my team members who joined on this trip. I can't say enough how much I appreciate your commitment to and enthusiasm for this work!

Today and tomorrow we have the privilege of hosting site maintenance technicians from around the state. They've come to learn the ins and outs of window restoration and repair so they can take new skills back to their historic sites to better maintain the original windows of their buildings. It was a blast today teaching this talented crew and we look forward to another day tomorrow. Thanks to my team for helping with many of the workshop sessions!

Wow! So many storm window projects this winter! It's not the winter we had in mind, but we'll take the productive exterior days while we can!

We love everything about this project! New wood combination storm windows over restored original double hung windows. The last photos show some of the "before" condition. If you have original wood windows that are in need of repair or restoration, or you are interested in updating your storm windows to something more traditional AND energy efficient, give us a call! 612-259-7855. We'd be happy to come by for a free assessment.

Are you a window restorer interested in developing your skills in our unique trade? Do you want to rub elbows with celebrated professionals from the industry in order to build a better business and improve your service to your clients? If so, join us at the Window Preservation Alliance Annual Meeting in Orlando this February 22-24. We have an amazing schedule of workshops and speakers--it's going to be a great event. Click below to register.
Early bird pricing ends today!

Window Preservation Alliance - WPA Annual Meeting A resource for owners of original and historic windows, the craftspeople who restore them, and the suppliers of sash cord, weather stripping, glazing putty, storm windows, etc

Lots of fun window sash in the shop these days. We even had a surprise visit from Lida's in-laws, all the way in from Bogota!

Look at this team! Last weekend we had our year end party, celebrating the restoration and repair of over two thousand original wood windows and the manufacture of over three hundred wood storm windows. We also celebrated each other and took time to slow down and connect away from the hustle and bustle of a work day. I'm fortunate to have this team of amazing people who show up, who care, and who are committed to historic preservation. From our team to yours, happy holidays and happy year end!

We had two crews in Northfield this week for some really fun projects. We also installed some beautiful new storm windows for a home in SW Minneapolis. When in Northfield, don't forget to stop at Hogan Brothers for some ice cream!

We love building our team with people who are energized by historic restoration who have a true desire to make this a career. Unfortunately there are too few businesses out there specializing in historic trades. The result is a conventional building approach that gets inappropriately applied to homes that have historic character and value, whether or not they have historic designation. Homeowners who mean to do right by their home are left with too few options and often make choices based on recommendations from contractors that are a quick fix today but have lasting implications.

If you're thinking about work in the preservation trades and walk to talk, reach out! We'd love to have a conversation about regional opportunities for getting into this kind of work. Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps is a great place to start!

https://www.wypr.org/show/on-the-record/2023-12-07/the-future-of-historic-preservation-depends-on-apprenticeships?fbclid=IwAR2sdpppngZ4iODIAInJ2sqlZQWGTblKz9pWz0XRGTdhD7vrWw5K8g2sk-M

The future of historic preservation depends on apprenticeships We’ll go On the Record with preservationists working to recruit and train the next generation of historic trades professionals. We hear about a national apprenticeship pipeline to meet the growing need for carpenters, masons, and other highly skilled workers.

We love how this custom wood storm window project turned out! What do you think?

We service original wood windows and make custom storm windows year round. Visit our website and contact us today to learn more about our work and to schedule a free, no obligation window assessment.

Here are some fun storms we made after restoring the primary eyebrow dormer windows. We've been taking advantage of this warm fall weather to get some extra exterior projects wrapped up. Weird weather, but we'll take it 🤷.

Give to the Max Day 2023 is a wrap! We have a tradition of making a donation on behalf of each of our employees to an organization of their choosing for Give to the Max Day. We're a team of committed, caring, and engaged people and it is inspiring to see the organizations our people most want to support. Thanks, team, and thanks GiveMN for making this an awesome day of giving!

This week we completed our largest combination wood storm window project to date. 47 storm windows custom milled, finished, and installed on this beautiful home built in 1931 in the historic Country Club neighborhood in Edina, Minnesota. We were fortunate to work with clients so committed to maintaining the historic character of their home. We're delighted with the results, as are our clients, which is what this is all about! We replaced failing wood combination storm windows that were made from rotten, finger-jointed pine. We use Accoya wood, with a fifty year warranty against rot, to ensure this home will have an historic aesthetic, improved weatherization, and reduced ongoing maintenance for many decades to come. Thank you to our clients and to for making a superior wood product.

My team and I were honored to win the Lighthouse Award for Achievements in Historic Preservation at the Rethos Gala and Awards Celebration last night. For the last five years, we've partnered with Rethos to teach workshops on historic window maintenance for homeowners. We do this to support our shared mission of preserving our architectural cultural heritage, in our case through window restoration. Rethos has been an amazing and supportive partner over the years and our region is a better place for the work they do. I am hugely appreciative of my team, without whom we could not restore windows at the scale and caliber that we are able to achieve today. Thanks to Rethos, the HWR team, and our clients and workshop attendees for making Minnesota a great place to work in the preservation trades!

We've had a lot of unique glass repair projects come through the shop from that August hail storm. This one is especially cool with its curved divided lights. Nick is doing an amazing job freehand cutting these curves panes.

Thanks to and all the folks who came out to our window restoration workshop this evening! It was an honor to get to spend an evening with these fine people who wanted to learn how they could repair and restore their original windows. We love seeing passionate DIYers take on projects like this and we love being a resource to help them achieve their old home stewardship goals.

We've had a blast getting deeper into custom storm window production this summer. We make traditional storms and combination storms using , an exceptionally rot resistant and dimensionally stable wood. Pictured here are our traditional storms, showing a 2-lite for a double hung window and 1-lite for smaller casement windows.

Congratulations to Leah and Jordan on their beautiful wedding last weekend! Our team and our customers count on Leah's amazing work as our Office Coordinator. We're so happy for Leah and Jordan and wish them many years of happiness.

Time for a van wrap update! We love hearing from new clients that they found out about window restoration by seeing our vans in their neighborhood. Gotta keep the wrap sharp! Thanks to Rocco for the design and Rachel for the installation from

Let's take a moment to congratulate Jens on his first storm window build! Under our woodworker's guidance, Jens milled and assembled this two light storm sash. It's been awesome seeing Jens's interest in this craft and his joy in learning new things. Nice work, Jens! May this be the first of many.

Let's take a moment to recognize these two exceptional people on their five year and two year work anniversaries with Hayes Window Restoration! Lida Gilbertson joined us five years ago this week and Janet Mason .mason09 joined us two years ago this week. They do inexplicably amazing work in our shop day after day and we are SO LUCKY to have them! First photo is of some sweet curved glass cutting and putty work they did on a radius top sash. Second photo is from August 2018 of Lida removing her very first inner stops! Last photo of Janet holding it down in the containment room. Thank you both for your stellar work over the years. Together you've restored countless windows and wowed many people with the results of your restoration work.

This week we completed our project at an 1872-built home in Marine on Saint Croix. We restored 17 original windows. The capstone of the project was custom building wood combination storm windows. The wood storm sashes match the proportions of the storms that would have originally been on the home.

These storms feature interchangeable glass and screen panels, so there is no need for separate storm and screen sashes requiring exterior seasonal changing. The panels can be changed from the interior and are only half the size of the window opening, making them easier to handle and store. We're taking orders for custom wood storm windows for 2024. Reach out today though our website if you'd like to learn more about our storm window services.

Our first large order of custom combination wood storm windows is nearly finished! We've put a lot into the design and ex*****on of these storms and I'm feeling really proud of our team. These storms are made of Accoya, a modified wood with a fifty warranty on rot and that feature glass and screen panels that can be changed from the interior. No more exterior seasonal swap outs of large storms and screens from a ladder. Stayed tuned for the installation of these windows next week!