Windows in Columbus take a freeze, a fast thaw, and a humid summer, often with wind-driven rain in between. Older wood on the brick streets streams in the morning and swells shut when the air turns wet. Builder vinyl farther out fogs when the seal fails and stays cloudy after noon. A storm panel that only rattles is not doing the work. If the room is cold and the heat is alive, suspect the opening.
Plaster returns and brick openings show a sloppy fit at once. An insert in a soft sill leaves the rot. Full-frame work earns the mess when the stool is mush and wastes it when the wood is sound. Many older fronts still have ropes or balances that have quit. Say what the sill feels like under pressure. If the paint is chalking, keep that dust out of the room.
West faces take the sun and the storms. North faces stay cold and collect condensation that the inland thaw never quite dries. A window over a porch roof rots first because splash keeps the sill wet. Ask how the frame is flashed and what fills the gap. Interior stops and an outside cap are part of done, not a courtesy. Fog in one builder unit is a clue about that age of window, not an order to count the whole house as failed.
Hardware can be saved when the frame is solid and the glass is clear. Forcing a painted sash cracks the rail. Say the floor and whether the draft is on the street side or the backyard. Older lots are tighter than the new subdivisions, so access changes the work. A cold snap here is real, but it is not a months-long lake bury, and the sash should be described for the weather it actually sees.
Say which rooms leak air on a thaw morning, and whether the frames are old wood on a brick street or vinyl farther out. A sill over a porch rots here from splash and melt, not from a months-long bury of snow. Call the number on this page.