Windows

When we first acquired this apartment, standing from anywhere in the house, it sounded as if all of the windows were open. Air and noise (and ugly) flowed freely. We have replaced every window in the apartment (12 in all) with white vinyl replacement windows, re-insulated around them and I have painstakingly stripped, sanded, filled, caulked, and re-painted the trim, which had approximately a million layers, and 91 years, of bad chipping and peeling paint. Before, the trim was painted the same color as the walls, a flat gritty grayish white.


BEFORE:


AFTER:


Also, the trees got green!

By my calculations, the cost of replacing all the windows in the apartment is not justifiable by the amount of income (rent raised) that it brings in, but in my opinion, it is really necessary for several reasons:

1) energy efficiency- There's no way you can reasonably heat and cool a house with that amount of air flowing through the windows.
2) comfort- same thing. My front living room was unusable for comfort reasons in the coldest part of the year until I replaced the window. Not fun to sit by a drafty window.
3) aesthetic- crisp, clean, and white. They just look cleaner and nicer from the inside and the outside. Particularly if the outside has been fitted with aluminum screens and storm windows. Removing that old gray bit from the outside really makes it pop. The exception to this point is when you have original wood unpainted windows. This is what is in my own house now and it is sad to remove the original when they are still beautiful.
4) value- Units with new windows will rent for higher amounts than if they didn't have new windows. Like I said above, the cost, unlike most improvements, is not quite justifiable by this amount only though. However, I believe that the value it adds to the property overall (realized when selling or refinancing) makes it perfectly justifiable.
5) cleaning- the sashes on these new windows unlatch and fold in towards the living space to almost horizontal, making them a breeze to clean. No climbing around outside the house. No pulling out layers of flimsy storm windows and then trying to get them back in correctly. Screens pop out easily too for cleaning.

Because there are a few extra hoops to jump through for government tax credits on new energy-efficient windows, I don't pursue this. The other advantages are enough for me to keep it simple.