CARPENTRY - Threading Sash Weights In Double Bay Window

reedchomsky

I need to know the correct procedure regarding the threading of cord through a sash weight for double bay windows.

can anyone help?

neolitic

Do you have the stop off and
the sash out of the jamb?
And have you found the weight
pocket covers?

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K2

Everyone i've seen is just a single knot through the loop in the weight. Nothing fancy like the boy scouts and sailors do. The rope always breaks before the knot would come loose. .. I generally get to the weight pocket by taking off the inside or outside trim. Not that i ever try to fix those old things but after the windows are replaced that pocket needs to be insulated. It also makes a nice chase for running romex when rewiring an old house.

K2

Of course that was cotton rope they used back then which would bind itself on a single knot. If I was using anything with nylon or other synthetics, i think I'd do a couple of half hitches or a square knot.

neolitic

Oddly enough, sash cord is the best
thing to use to replace...sash cord.

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K2

Well ok Neo, I've never replaced it but i'm guessing the cord of yesteryear was cotton and the new cord is better than just plain cotton... So i guess people actually replace that stuff?? And arn't the weight boxes right behind the trim?? Maybe a little different in other parts of the country. ..

I got to get a picture of how they did brick stove and coal furnace chimneys here a hundred years ago. They generally wood framed a little
angle shelf about 6 ft off the floor and then started laying bricks up from there. Sometimes 2 and 3 stories. Very scarey when you see one of these today and it still has something hooked up to it.

Ok back to sash weights. i want to hear more.

neolitic

Some folks do want them restored to original.
More often I put in a tensioned replacement jamb track.
Anyway, there is a wooden cover near the bottom of
the jamb usually held with a brass screw.
Take it off and there is the weight pocket.
Raise the sash so the weight is near the bottom
and cut the cord.
Yes they still make cotton cord, it's just treated with
some new age coating.

ETA:
If you pull the casing usually it's just plaster
and lands.
You would have to break through.

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K2

Well thanks Neo. I'll have to check that out the next time I run into some old windows. Of course we don't have as much old stuff as you guys. In 1870 the population of Colorado was 2 not counting injuns and we're only at 3 mil now so finding a weighted window is rare but i like old so i'm always on the lookout.

neolitic

Some nice old houses in Denver.
I like those old neighborhoods
with the shingled gable painted
ladies and granite slab side walks.

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Waffle Face

Remove the stops and the parting bead. Remove the weight covers and be careful not to lose them. I usually like to sand the window sash a bit to remove paint build up. Now, here's the thing that is a pain. Sash chord likes to get stuck in the weight chase. If the old rope is still there coming out of the pulley above, I like to tape the new sash chord to the end of this and use it like a fish line. If there is no sash chord in there now, I put tape on the tip of the rope so the fray does not catch as easily going down, I try to curve the rope tip downwards a little and roll it in over the top of the pulley to try to get the rope started aimed downwards as it enters the cavity. Usually it gets stuck somewhere along the way but keep feeding a bunch in there anyway even if it is bundling up inside you can usually hook it with a coat hanger with a little bit of a hook on the end and pull it down. You can remove the casing as well, but that is often times not practical if the wood work is old and has a million coats of paint. It can be difficult to take it off without breaking it.

K2

Ok, I'll ask this. I can buy a perfectly sized retro fit window that fits perfectly into that jamb for 150 bucks and pull the casing off and stuff that weight pocket full of insulation, both of which will seriosly cut down on the giraffs comming through the window. Why would I mess with fixing the old sashes and weights? The new window has about the same profile as the old sash so light and ventilation is the same and the only disadvantage is that they are probably not paintable although I've never persued something that might be paintable.

Now I like old and i like to preserve as much as possible but the old wall hung kitchen sinks go, the old coal furnaces go, and the old sashes go. Of course the rest of the window and the trims stay.

Sometimes I put the old wall hung kitchen sinks in the laundry room or the garage just to keep it with the house. My wife likes to do sweaters in to old sink because it's long, wide, and shallow.

ChrWright

If you've got giraffs coming in your windows, you might want to think about adding some bars and an electrified cattle fence around your house plants.

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K2

Giraffty windows due to high winds and cold temps in Colorado.

ChrWright

A real giraffty window:

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K2

Thank you.

MALCO.New.York

I have a Pet Draft.

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neolitic

Some folks it is a restoration/preservation thing,
some it's the "look"...true divided lights, etc,
retaining the style of fenestration.
For some it's just the least expense short
term. Some just like old things....

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