Some POS stole our stained glass windows ):

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by rhondee

Good point- that's what I'm thinking also. I find it too coincidental that the house has been probably sitting there for years intact, and now that it's known that it's changing ownership, the windows are suddenly gone?

Originally Posted by UKyank

Actually that's probably why it was stolen now, lowlife pos's like to target homes that are listed for sale for such things. Just last month a guy I know walked in on another guy ripping out his piping the day before closing...unfortunately they scuffled & the perp got away.
The guy even brought lunch with him as I guess it was going to be a long job.

Makes sense that houses get stripped after going on the market because scum troll the house listings to find vacant properties.

It's not much idifferent from people's homes being burglurized while families are at furnerals.

[ebyrnes]

We settled on our house today, and were finally able to see the damage; it appears as if the POS used a pry bar to break into the kitchen door and the basement door, after breaking the bilco door. In a weird way, I was glad to see that it was some criminal who broke in and not a family member. The security system will be installed tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have no further incidents. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some pretty replacement windows, but I'll check out their provenance before buying them - I don't want to encourage vandalism.

e

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by ebyrnes

We settled on our house today, and were finally able to see the damage; it appears as if the POS used a pry bar to break into the kitchen door and the basement door, after breaking the bilco door. In a weird way, I was glad to see that it was some criminal who broke in and not a family member. The security system will be installed tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have no further incidents. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some pretty replacement windows, but I'll check out their provenance before buying them - I don't want to encourage vandalism.

e

The Union Project (formerly Union Baptist Church) needed all new stained glass windows. They started having classes a few years ago for fixing and creating all new stained glass windows. With the amount of pre war homes in the area, there was a need for the class. All of the students learned by making replacement stained glass for the church. After a few years, the church has all new and refurbished windows. Check them out, they may still offer those classes or point you in the right direction.

The Union project is at the corner of Negley and Stanton Avenues.

[heetseeker]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

I'd do whatever you can to secure your home. Unfortunately copper theft is a big problem in western PA, and you'll have a nightmare on your hands if thieves go in there and start ripping out pipes. On the bright side, it's rare that they target properties that are lived in and/or maintained and checked up on. Also, tell your neighbors to keep an eye on the property. Chances are it was an isolated incident.

Also, even though we're a week out from Halloween, don't rule out a prank either. Damn punk kids.

How do you know that they were kids?

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by ebyrnes

We settled on our house today, and were finally able to see the damage; it appears as if the POS used a pry bar to break into the kitchen door and the basement door, after breaking the bilco door. In a weird way, I was glad to see that it was some criminal who broke in and not a family member. The security system will be installed tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have no further incidents. Maybe we'll get lucky and find some pretty replacement windows, but I'll check out their provenance before buying them - I don't want to encourage vandalism.

e

What a bummer, hope all your bad luck is behind you now. There's a special place in hell for people who do things like that. What sort of windows did you choose as replacements?

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Actually that's probably why it was stolen now, lowlife pos's like to target homes that are listed for sale for such things. Just last month a guy I know walked in on another guy ripping out his piping the day before closing...unfortunately they scuffled & the perp got away.
The guy even brought lunch with him as I guess it was going to be a long job.

Now that the immediate problem of the OP's missing windows has seen some resolution, an anecdote...

I did some work a few years back for a guy. He grew up in East Liberty, and at the time all that area was undergoing "urban renewal".

His father used to, uhh, salvage copper plumbing from the condemned houses, kinda during off hours. (It's a time honored profession, not something new.)

Anyway, the guy told me that his dad used to take him and his brother along to help, and as a reward, when they were done, they got to throw rocks and break windows, stained glass included.

He figured at market prices, when he told me that story, in the mid 90s, he and his brother had probably smashed $20,000 worth of windows...

(Way more than the copper pipe was worth.)

[Jukesgrrl]

I'm sorry about what happened to you. I know it's no consolation, but theft of stained glass windows in Pittsburgh has been a problem off and on for years.

I remember when I lived in the East End in the late 1970s there was a ring of thieves that were stealing windows, especially from the older homes of East Liberty, and selling them in California. That group was broken up and another serial-window-theft person or persons started working in the Northside in the mid-1980s. People in Allegheny West were especially freaked out because the Louis Comfort Tiffany windows in the Calvary Methodist Church on Beech Avenue were the largest and most expensive commissions to Tiffany in the late 19th Century. I lived in the neighborhood at the time and everyone was on edge keeping an eye on Calvary 24/7 because that priceless church interior is truly the pride of the neighborhood.

Now I'm in Arizona and the theft of copper pipes and wire is an epidemic here (kind of ironic considering that most of our country's copper is mined in AZ). Tucson has had pipes dug up and ripped out in the largest city parks, costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore plumbing to public restrooms and swimming pools. There's not much house construction going on here now but what there is is beset by thefts from unfinished homes. One development near me had all the high-end appliances ripped out of model homes.

Unfortunately, this kind of lawlessness is common in times of economic stress. Take safety precautions in your new home. Lots of tips on home security can be found on City-Data. Here's a recent thread from Las Vegas:
Home just got burglarized

All the best to you.