Windows in Ohio face whichever winter the town actually gets. Lake wind drives cold through meeting rails and ices the glass for long stretches. Inland sashes more often stream, swell, and then open at the joints when a thaw dries them out. Failed seals fog and stay fogged. A cold room beside working heat is frequently the opening, not the burner. A rattling storm panel is not a seal.
Older wood double-hung units still fill city blocks on the lake and inland. Newer vinyl in outer subdivisions fogs as a group when that vintage of seal dies. An insert in a soft sill leaves the rot in the wall. Full-frame work is the right mess when the stool is mush. Say what a thumbnail does to the wood. Keep chalking paint contained in older houses.
Ask how the sill is flashed and what fills the gap around the frame. Interior trim and an outside cap finish the job. A window over a porch roof stays wet and rots first. West walls take the storms. North walls on the lake stay cold enough to keep condensation from ever really leaving. Painted-shut sashes crack if you force them, and some can be repaired when the frame is sound.
Count the openings that fail, not every window because a street of them looks old. One rotten bath window and a sound front are a common older-house pair. Fog in a single builder unit may mean others of that age are close, yet report only what you see. Say the town, the floor, and whether the complaint is rot, fog, or a draft you feel with the heat on. Lake lots and inland lots do not share the same wind.
Do not sand old paint through the room. Say how many openings hurt and whether the frames are soft. A shore house and an inland house should not be described as the same draft. Call the number on this page.