Winter has a way of putting thoughts of window repair into hibernation. After all, when it’s freezing outside, nothing is further from your mind than a window that either won’t open or stay open.
But it’s just about the time of year for airing out the house-kind of hard to do if the windows are stuck shut.
Double-hung sash windows that don’t work usually suffer from one of two maladies: They have been painted shut or the ropes or chains that raise and lower the windows have snapped.
The first problem is easily repaired, requiring a scraper or putty knife, a hammer and a few minutes of breaking the paint seal between the window and the frame.
The second problem requires a bit more attention and can be repaired in a number of ways. Each of the two sashes in double-hung windows is counterbalanced by a weight hidden inside the frame of the window. If the chain or cord from the sash to that weight is broken, the window loses its ability to stay in place. What follows is a guide to the different approaches to mending double-hung windows.
Ropes and chains
Repairing ropes and chains is the least expensive way to fix a sash window but usually requires a few hours of time.
Start by removing the small wooden stops in front of the upper and lower sashes. Gently pry these stops up off the frame about every half-inch or so with a putty knife and a pry bar. The stops should be held down with small finishing nails. Take care because you’ll need to replace the stops later.
Then remove the lower sash by pulling it out of the window frame (if the upper sash needs to be repaired as well, that will require removing a parting bead-the small strip of wood that separates the bottom sash from the top sash).
If one of the two cords or chains is still functioning, carefully remove it from the side of the sash, but hang on tight. Then tie a knot in the cord or place a nail through the chain so it isn’t pulled through the pulley and into the cavity.
On the inside frame-or the channels-of the window will be two small access panels. These may be hidden by metal weatherstripping channels that will have to be removed first and may be obscured by paint. Remove the panels and feel around the cavity inside for the weights that have fallen.
Cut a new length of cord or chain and attach it with clips to the window and then string it through the pulley down to the weight. The cord or chain length should be about three-quarters of the length of the window. The cords, chains and clips are available at hardware stores.
This is where a second set of hands will be beneficial, while you wrestle the sash back in place. Replace the access panel covers and lightly nail the stops back in. Then test the window to make sure it works correctly. Next, secure the stops but not too tightly because they can impede the movement of the window.
Finally, lubricate the side channels with a silicone spray or candle wax to ease the window’s glide path.
Replacement channels
A second and increasingly popular option is to “modernize” sash windows with channel kits, which eliminate the weights and ropes or chains.
In addition, the channel kits add the benefit of weatherstripping for older double-hung windows. “Old sash windows are almost always drafty,” says Steve Kreuz of Fox Home Center in Oak Forest. “The weatherstripping channels can cut out quite a bit of that draft.”
The kits also silence loose windows that rattle when the winds blow or when trucks drive by.
Selling for about $15-plus, depending on window size, the kits provide two new aluminum channels that have tension springs in the center to replace the ropes or chains.
“There are also `take-out’ channel kits, which allow you to swing out the sashes on one side to clean the outside glass,” says Patricia Delaney of Quaker City Manufacturing Co. in Sharon Hill, Pa., which makes channel kits called Window Fixer Replacement Channels.
The one caveat is that the kits only work with windows that are 1 3/8 inches deep and have a 1/2-inch or 3/8-inch parting bead.
If the windows are any thicker or any thinner, they need to be shaved with a router or be built out with furring strips to fit the channels.
To measure the depth of the sash, open the window and measure along the bottom of the lower sash. The top of the sash, also known as the locking rail, is wider than the bottom.
You’ll also need to measure the length of the window, from the top of the upper sash to the bottom of the lower sash, to purchase the correctly sized kit.
The channels are installed by first removing the stops around the window sash as described above.
Then, if the chains or ropes are still attached to the sashes, cut them. Be careful because the chains or rope will rapidly fall into the cavity inside the windows as they are pulled down by the weights. Next, remove the pulleys at the top of the window frame by extracting the screws at the top and bottom of the pulleys.
Next, if there are any metal channels at the sides of the window, remove them. Usually they are nailed down and can be pried up for removal.
Now, remove both the lower sash and pull out the small 1/2-inch or 3/8-inch parting bead. Don’t worry if you break this bead because it will be discarded.
Next, remove the upper sash, which also may be connected to ropes or chains. Then remove the chain or rope where it connects to the upper sides of the sashes.
Then, using a chisel, remove about a half-inch from each end of the parting bead at the top of the inside of the window frame. Also, remove any large blobs of paint that may be on the insides of the frame. Sand the sides of the sash until they’re smooth.
Then place the two new channels against the sides of the upper and lower sashes. “The entire mechanism is then lifted in place back into the window frame,” says Delaney. “Insert the bottom section first until it hits the outside window stop and gently push the top half of the sash into the frame.”
With both sashes in the lower section of the channels, nail or screw the upper channels into the window frame. Test the windows to make sure they raise and lower easily. Then, raise both sashes and nail or screw the lower section of the channels in place.
Finally, apply horizontal weatherstrips to the bottom of the lower sash, the top of the upper sash, and where the two sashes meet in the middle of the window.
Then, replace the stops around the window. “Don’t make the stops too snug or the windows won’t slide back and forth easily,” says Delaney.
If you want to add extra weatherstripping to the window, you can pull back the trim pieces on each side of the window to expose the cavities (again, take care not to crack the wood), remove the weights and chains from inside, and stuff the cavities with insulation.
Replacing pulleys
For windows too thick or thin for the channel kits, another option is to replace the pulleys, weights and chains with spring balances, spring lifts or power lifters.
All of the devices require removal of the lower sash and possibly the upper sash if you wish to repair it as well. Follow the directions above.
Spring balances look like window pulleys but include a metal tape that replaces the cords or chain and weights. The old pulleys are removed, the spring balances are installed in their place. A steel tape from the balance then attaches to the sides of the sash.
Sash spring lifts are metal tubes that are installed into the channels of the window and then attached to the sashes. A spring in the tube creates friction to keep the windows in place.
Power lifters, or block and tackle devices, work on the same principle and also make a window easier to open, especially those in hard-to-reach places such as over a kitchen sink.
