When Joe Hayes purchased a 1916 fixer-upper home in the Longfellow neighborhood of south Minneapolis, he knew it would require extensive work. “It had dated electrical and HVAC, but one of the biggest pain points for me was the windows,” he says.
The wood windows were original to the home – which meant they needed a lot of TLC. There were no storm windows, the sash cords were gone, and much of the glazing putty that seals the glass into the wood had deteriorated. “The house was on a bus line, and every time a bus would go by, the windows would literally rattle. And, the house was really cold.”
Growing up in a household where his father believed in fixing rather than replacing, Joe wanted to emulate that philosophy, especially when it came to restoring historic pieces. “I taught myself how to glaze windows and how to paint them properly to maintain a smooth operation,” he says. “I found out you can reattach a new sash cord to a hidden weight, and so much more. Since I lived in the house, I could see what worked well and what didn't, and figure out how to do it better.”
Fortunately, as a Montessori elementary school teacher, he had summers off, and used that time to dive deeper and deeper into projects on the house. “I was really passionate about what I was doing,” says Joe. “I loved working with my hands and in my house, so after a decade of teaching, I started to look for opportunities to transition from education into a residential trade.”
In 2017, he founded Hayes Window Restoration to share his knowledge with other homeowners who wanted to restore and refresh their own historic homes. Since the demand was so great, he also hired a team that could work alongside him. Today, he leads a group of 25 talented men and women who are dedicated to the art of restoration.
“I’m so grateful for my team,” says Joe. “We are all very like-minded and we see what we do as a big educational opportunity because there's a lot about old windows that people just don't know or understand."
“Things like explaining that the glass can be repaired fairly straightforwardly, and/or that there’s a lot we can do to tighten up windows from a weather stripping perspective. Having come from an educational background, it's been fun to carry that forward into a new career.”
One of the company's main values is believing that restoration is for everyone. “When we see a more modest house in southwest Minneapolis or right in our backyard on Longfellow, we see it as just as historic as something that's on Lake of the Isles or Summit Avenue. We take a lot of pride in working on a full spectrum of housing types in the Twin Cities, and we're striking a chord with folks who have smaller houses.”
Of course, Joe and his team are happy to take on larger projects too. “We're just finishing up one of what is probably our biggest residential projects yet. It's for the city of Chaska, and they have a historic house that's made of Chaska brick.”
Owned by the town, the house has been moved several times, and its current location is a block off of Chaska’s main Street. “After having been split up into offices, it's being converted back into a single-family home,” he says. “The key challenge was to restore all the original windows – even the ones that had already been discarded and replaced a decade ago. We were able to reproduce them, which was exciting.”
From minor fixes to major overalls, “we really do it all,” says Joe. “The clients who reach out to us see themselves as stewards of their home's original character and are looking for a partner to keep that integrity intact. We always prefer to restore because a lot of older windows are made with old growth wood, which can last forever if treated properly.”
Over the last two years, Hayes Window Restoration has also introduced manufacturing into their repertoire. They now offer a wood storm window option with interchangeable glass and screen panels that can be swapped out from the interior, eliminating the need to climb a ladder on the outside of the house. It’s much easier and safer, while still maintaining that historic aesthetic.
“We're happy to come in and take care of issues for homeowners that are, in some cases, relatively simple to solve, but that really give them a new appreciation for their houses,” says Joe. “And don’t worry, we work in the winter months and can accommodate a client’s schedule.”
To learn more, visit HayesWindows.com.