COMMERCIAL CASE STUDY

Saint Edward Seminary Wood and Steel Window Rehabilitation

Nearly 19,000 square feet of historic steel and wood window assemblies in a 1931 landmark — documented, stripped, repaired, and returned to their original openings.
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206-565-3113 (Washington)
office@chosenwwm.com
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A large historic stone church complex with arched windows and a tall square bell tower stands under a clear blue sky. A lawn fills the foreground, and construction barriers and equipment sit along the walkway.
Challenge: Restore historic steel and wood window assemblies while retaining original 1931 material, preserving historic profiles, complying with the regulations for asbestos-containing glazing putty, and supporting long-term durability.

Saint Edward Seminary

As part of the 2019–2020 restoration of the 1931 Saint Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington, overlooking Lake Washington, Chosen Wood Window Maintenance implemented a preservation-driven rehabilitation process for the building’s historic steel and wood window assemblies. The project included nearly 19,000 square feet of historic window assemblies and emphasized material retention, regulatory compliance, and long-term durability.
Primary objective. Retain as much original 1931 window material as possible.
Secondary objective. Preserve historic profiles while supporting long-term durability.
The project required a systematic process that included documentation, controlled removal, regulated transport, shop restoration, repair, reglazing, finishing, and final reinstallation for both historic wood and steel window assemblies.

The Project in Four Numbers

The window scope at Saint Edward Seminary ran across the whole building, in two materials. This is its shape.
19,000
Square feet of historic window assemblies, restored and kept in service.
438
Total window units restored or fabricated.
909
Historic sashes rehabilitated.
2,462
Total lites restored or fabricated.
Across 34 or more distinct window configurations, in historic wood and steel.

Quick Facts

Building Facts

Location:
Kenmore, Washington
Setting:
Overlooking Lake Washington
Built:
1931
Architect:
John Graham Sr.
Building size:
75,000 square feet
Listed:
National Register of Historic Places; Washington Heritage Register
Before restoration:
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Most Endangered list
Restoration:
2019–2020
Historic window assemblies:
Nearly 19,000 square feet
Restoration shop:
Oregon City, Oregon

Window Facts

Window materials:
Historic wood and steel
Total window units:
438 restored or fabricated
Wood windows:
414 — 405 restored, 9 newly fabricated
Steel windows:
24 — 18 restored, 6 fabricated to match and installed
Historic sashes rehabilitated:
909
Total lites:
2,462 restored or fabricated
Window configurations:
34 or more distinct configurations
Building and window facts as recorded for the Saint Edward Seminary window rehabilitation, Kenmore, Washington.
Low-angle view of a red-brick building facade with arched windows, pale stone columns and capitals, decorative blue-and-white panels, and carved relief figures along the roofline and gables.
Saint Edward Seminary, Kenmore, Washington — brickwork and arched window openings on the original 1931 elevation

Saint Edward Seminary, Built 1931

Saint Edward Seminary opened in 1931 on a bluff above Lake Washington in Kenmore, Washington. Its windows are original to it — historic assemblies in two materials, wood and steel, across a building whose elevations were designed around them.
The 2019–2020 restoration of the building put nearly 19,000 square feet of those assemblies back into service: eight months on site, January to August 2019, 4,450 field hours, with the new steel units following in 2020. Chosen Wood Window Maintenance implemented a preservation-driven rehabilitation process for all of them, wood and steel alike.
The approach was set by what the building is. Material retention came first, regulatory compliance ran through every phase, and the finishing systems were chosen for long-term durability rather than for speed.

What Saint Edward Seminary Needed

The building’s architectural integrity depended on the windows staying in it. Six requirements shaped the restoration strategy.
Retain original 1931 window material wherever possible.
Prioritize repair over replacement.
Preserve accurate historic window profiles.
Comply with the regulations for asbestos-containing glazing putty.
Support long-term durability through surface preparation and coating systems.
Restore nearly 19,000 square feet of historic window assemblies.

No window specification existed for the project. Chosen wrote the restoration plan: a step-by-step sequence of activities for the wood windows and a separate one for the steel, naming every product, containment procedure, and reinstallation step. Lydig Construction submitted it as the project standard, and the work was built to it.
Low-angle view of a multi-story brick building facade with a grid of glass windows. The window frames show heavy rust and oxidation on metal bars, with horizontal stone bands running across the exterior.

Who Was at the Table

The windows were one part of a much larger restoration of the building. Five parties shaped the project around them.

Washington State Parks

The owner. The seminary sits in Saint Edward State Park, and the building had to come back into use still looking like the landmark the state had taken on.

Daniels Real Estate

The developer, who took the building on and carried the restoration through to a working hotel.

Ron Wright & Associates

The project architect, responsible for how the restored building went back together around its original openings.

Lydig Construction

The general contractor. Lydig submitted Chosen’s restoration plan as the project standard and coordinated the window scope with every other trade on site.

Chosen Wood Window Maintenance

The window restoration contractor. Chosen wrote the restoration plan the project was built to, restored the steel in place and the sash in its Oregon City shop, and returned every unit to its own opening.

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REPAIR OVER REPLACEMENT

Original 1931 Material, Kept in the Building

Chosen Wood Window Maintenance used a structured process for both historic steel and wood windows, beginning with documentation and controlled removal before moving into shop restoration, repair, reglazing, finishing, and reinstallation.

Historic Wood

405 historic wood windows were restored and 9 new custom wood windows were fabricated, for a total of 414 wood windows.

Historic Steel

18 historic steel windows were restored and 6 new steel windows fabricated to match and installed, for a total of 24 steel windows.
Repair came before replacement. Components were replaced only where they were beyond repair.
Historic profiles were preserved. Sarco glazing compound was applied and tooled to match the historic profiles.
Durability was built into the finish. Corrosion-inhibiting primer systems on steel, primed interior and exterior wood surfaces, and integrated weatherstripping.

What Was Installed

The products that went back into the openings, by material.
The wood sash were glazed with 1/4″ clear annealed glass, bedded in Sarco Dual compound and tooled to match the historic profiles.
Wood repairs used Abatron epoxy, with vertical-grain fir for the Dutchman work.
Intek weatherstripping went into the wood sash, and the existing hardware and sash cord were reused or replaced. Top sash are fixed, bottom sash operable.
The steel sash took 1/8″ clear annealed glass to ASTM C1036, held with CR Laurence glazing clips and glazed with Sarco Dual.
Steel was repaired with steel-filled structural epoxy under a corrosion-inhibiting primer system.
The original bronze hardware was cleaned and reused.

A Preservation-Driven Restoration Process

View of a multi-story brick building facade with rows of windows. Several windows are boarded with plywood, while others have dark frames and glass. A clock-like arched cornice tops the upper story under a clear blue sky.
The window assemblies came out documented, protected, and ready for regulated transport and restoration.
PHASE 01

On-Site Documentation and Controlled Removal

Each window assembly was documented before removal so the work could be tracked and returned to the correct location. Steel windows were cataloged and tagged, and wood sash were labeled for precise reinstallation.
Cataloged and tagged the steel sash prior to removal.
Photographed and inspected steel frames for corrosion, glazing deterioration, and structural deficiencies.
Cataloged and labeled 88-year-old wood sash.
Evaluated balance systems and documented sash cord, millwork, and sill conditions.
Used containment protocols, labeled asbestos-rated transport bags, documentation, tracking, and DEQ compliance procedures.
Every window was tagged with the general contractor’s floor-plan number before removal and photographed from the interior with the number visible. Each sash was stamped in a concealed spot on the stile, bagged and cataloged by number, and after restoration matched to its mate and staged by number for the return trip.
John Graham's original 1931 west-elevation drawing for Saint Edward Seminary, with every window opening keyed by letter to a window schedule listing its size, material, glass and type.
In an under-construction brick-walled room, a worker in white protective suit and green hood stands behind metal scaffolding. A bright green sign reads “WARNING LEAD WORK AREA,” and red tape marks the restricted zone.
Decades of coatings came off — the steel frames in the opening, the sash in the shop — and the original steel profiles and wood joinery came through preserved.
PHASE 02

Shop Intake and Stripping

The steel frames never left the building. Only the operating steel sash and the wood sash travelled to Oregon City, where they went through intake inspection, documentation, hardware removal, and dip-tank stripping to remove old coatings, paint, putty, and glass.
The steel frames stayed in the opening and were wire-wheeled to bare metal under the scaffold.
Only the operating steel sash were removed, and those were shipped to Oregon City.
Each sash that shipped was inspected on intake, photographed, and stripped of its hardware.
Coating, putty and glass came off by dip-tank immersion.
Hazardous material was handled by certified crews inside contained stripping rooms, and stripping waste was disposed of through regulated procedures.
Stripping was done only by asbestos-certified employees in a contained stripping room, with sash immersed 24 hours in a 1,500-gallon dip tank. Washington and Oregon DEQ were notified before every transport, sash moved in sealed asbestos-labeled bags in a closed vehicle, and Waste Management took custody of the stripping waste with a written receipt.
A worker in full protective suit, respirator mask, and gloves sandblasts or sprays a surface using a hose and nozzle inside an industrial enclosure. Blue-framed equipment and wooden boards are visible in the background.
PHASE 03

Repair and Structural Rehabilitation

After stripping, the assemblies were repaired and stabilized using methods appropriate to the material and condition of each unit — the steel frames in place under the scaffold, the sash in the shop.
Steel frames were repaired in the opening with steel-filled structural epoxy, worked from the scaffold.
Weakened steel sections were reinforced without taking the frame out of the wall.
Localized deterioration in the wood was cut out and patched with Dutchman repairs, and the mortise and tenon joints were tightened.
Wood was consolidated with epoxy where that was required, and the sash were kerfed for integrated weatherstripping.
Components were replaced only where they were beyond repair.
Historic steel and wood assemblies were stabilized, with repair and material retention taking priority over replacement.
Two construction workers in orange vests install or align large window frames at a brick building. One man reaches up with his hand against the frame while wearing a hard hat and sunglasses; another holds tools nearby in the workshop area.
PHASE 04

Priming, Reglazing, Finishing, and Reinstallation

The final phase included priming, reglazing, weatherstripping, finishing, and returning the sash to their original openings.
The steel frames were given a corrosion-inhibiting primer and reglazed in the opening.
Steel sash took 1/8″ clear annealed monolithic glass to ASTM C1036, and wood sash took 1/4″ clear annealed.
Sarco glazing compound was applied and tooled to match the historic profiles.
Wood was primed on the interior and exterior surfaces, and weatherstripping systems were added.
Sash stops and hardware were reattached, and the assemblies were adjusted, lubricated, sealed and reinstalled.
The restored sash came back to site, went into their original openings, and were adjusted for operation and sealed at the parting beads.

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The Outcome

What Success Looked Like

Nearly 19,000 square feet of historic window assemblies went back into service, and the architectural integrity of Saint Edward Seminary was preserved.
Three arched windows set in a stone wall, each with dark leaded crosshatch lines forming geometric patterns. Daylight filters through the textured blue-tinted glass, with small metal latch hardware visible on two panes.

Original material stayed in the building.

The restoration strategy emphasized maximum retention of original 1931 material and repair over replacement.

The historic profiles were preserved.

Glazing was tooled to match the historic profiles, and replacement components were used only where the original was beyond repair.

909 sashes went through the shop.

Chosen restored or fabricated 438 total window units, rehabilitated 909 historic sashes, and restored or fabricated 2,462 total lites across 34 or more distinct window configurations.
The methodology allowed nearly 19,000 square feet of historic window assemblies to remain in service while preserving the architectural integrity of Saint Edward Seminary.
Historic window assemblies kept in service — Saint Edward Seminary, 2019–2020
Regulated End to End
Certified handling, every phase.
Containment protocols, labeled asbestos-rated transport bags, certified hazardous material handling in contained stripping rooms, and DEQ compliance procedures ran through the work from removal to reinstallation.

Project Gallery

The restored wood and steel windows back in the building at Saint Edward Seminary.

Long brick elevation of Saint Edward Seminary under a clear sky, with rows of restored double-hung windows receding down the facade.
Close view of a large restored multi-lite steel window set in the seminary's patterned brick wall with a cast-stone surround.
Restored double-hung windows beside a ground-floor entrance of the brick seminary building, seen along the facade.
Upward view of the seminary's brick facade with restored windows on every floor and the arched stone entrance below.
Restored double-hung windows above and beside a stair entrance on the seminary's patterned brick wall.
Looking up at restored arched windows over carved stone panels on the seminary's brick facade.
A pair of restored arched windows with slender stone columns above pierced carved grilles.
The seminary courtyard, with rows of restored double-hung windows along both brick wings.
Saint Edward Seminary and its bell tower seen across the front lawn.
Two tall arched steel windows seen from inside a seminary room, daylight falling across the floor.
Interior corridor of the seminary lined with tall arched windows, with daylight falling in bands across the floor.
Three arched leaded-glass windows with diamond cames set in a thick interior wall.
Close view of an arched leaded-glass window with diamond cames, set deep in its stone reveal.
The seminary's long brick wing during restoration, with materials staged on the ground in front.
Curved steel arch sash frames stacked in the shop, waiting for restoration.
Two workers in respirators and leather aprons lifting a large window sash in the shop.
A worker in a protective suit and respirator spray-finishing window sashes in the shop.
Chosen crew in hard hats setting a multi-lite window frame into an opening inside the brick building.
Two workers wearing respirators, helmets, and protective clothing operate a heavy metal cutting or fabrication station. An overhead chain hoist holds a tool or component above the work. Another worker stands behind in the workshop, with.

Why Work with Chosen

We restore rather than replace, on buildings where the original is worth keeping. That has been the work since 1998 — from a single sash to landmark buildings — out of Oregon City and Seattle.
Restoring wood and steel windows since 1998 — more than 25 years of it, across the Pacific Northwest.
Award-winning preservation work — the Restore Oregon DeMuro Award, Historic Seattle awards, and many more.
Accredited and affiliated — the Better Business Bureau, Historic Seattle, Restore Oregon, and the Association for Preservation Technology.
Safe on older buildings — we work to EPA Lead RRP and OSHA standards, with full lead and asbestos containment.

25+ Years of Happy Customers

“They did an absolutely AMAZING job on our 80 year old bay windows and front door, far exceeding our expectations. Hunter and Caleb were prompt, meticulous, perfectly professional and very helpful. They both clearly take great joy in their work The level of craftsmanship on display is exemplary. We will be using them again (there is always more to be done in an old house…) and recommend them with the highest level of confidence. Chose Chosen and it will get done right.”

Scott Poehlmann

“Our lovely home in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle was built in 1926. It was important to us that we could find craftspeople capable of restoring, not just replacing, our beautiful leaded glass windows, their frames and sashes. Unlike other companies who send estimators who do not actually do the work, Will discussed the specific details of our job and how he and the window restorers would proceed.  I thought the pricing of the quote was quite fair.

The windows were removed and sent to Portland to be restored. When they returned we were amazed at how nice they looked. I recommend Chosen Wood Window Maintenance to my friends and neighbors and will use them again on any future projects.  Nice work team!” 

Allen Goldstein

“Chosen Wood Windows is an unbelievable resource.  They really are wood window experts. It’s been great working with them and learning about all of the resources they have available. I like that wood windows can be restored – it’s a sustainable and smart way to take something old and make it new again. And they can make windows more energy efficient than the originals. Their capabilities are impressive.” 

Kim Pendarvis

“I couldn’t be happier with the work that was performed. We had one window with a broken glass pane that they replaced, one with two broken cords that now functions perfectly and one that rattled when the wind blew that is now weatherproof. The crew was wonderful. They arrived on time and got right to work. They were efficient and left absolutely no mess. They were so polite, professional and kind. I will not hesitate to use them again when we can have our other windows taken care of.” 

Marsha Parsons

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