Originally Posted By: Al
Jod....you are right there is nothing about them I don't like. Did you go through a local supplier to get the sashes??? I assume you only rip out the inside stop??
I helped a friend install sash kits which were the spring-loaded type. I took the measurements then we just ordered them from a local supplier. They were drop-shipped from Loewen right to the house. For those, we removed the front stop and the parting bead (the part that separates the two sashes).
In my own house, I actually kept the original windows. They had about 70 layers of paint and were crooked (and needed to be straightened since we leveled the house). The were held together by metal L-brackets at each corner!
I scraped out the old window glaze, removed the glass (most of which were broken), then disassembled the frames. Stripped all of the paint, glued the frames back together with Gorilla glue, re-glazed the glass, and re-hung the windows using sash chain instead of chord. I shimmed it with felt backing in parts so they'd move freely but not rattle.
I won't kid you, I probably put in 40 hours of work for each window, most of it paint stripping so I could then stain the original wood. But they're clear, old growth vertical grain fir, so it seemed worth it to me at the time. If you don't have a lot of paint on them, or you're OK with them being painted, it's a lot less work.
I'd imagine there's a millwork place in PGH that will sell simple double-hung sashes if one is too far gone or if you're missing one.
This place had really reasonable prices on sashes--you could put the glass in yourself or they could glaze it in. Shipping might be a bit much, but it may be worth checking out.
Storms are easy to build. If you have a router or even just a table saw, you can build the frame and tack in the glass. Otherwise, a local millwork shop can build the frames.
If your house is old enough to have double hung windows, it's probably worth trying to keep the charm intact.
