Single Hung Window Repair

Two windows in the house malfunctioned - they could not move up and down freely, and later a metal bar fell from the channels the window sashes slid on. We procrastinated until we had to fix them.

We knew nothing about how the window works. We needed to educate ourselves to talk about the window problems. 

Single hung windows

The followings are what we learnt from online search.

The window has two sashes or panels  the top sash is fixed in place and does not move, but the bottom sash is operable, can move up and then down.

One can remove the movable sash, as outlined here in a YouTube video. 

Tools needed: flathead screw drive, (for safety) gloves and safety glasses.

1. In the channel on both sides of the window, there is one metal clip on either  side. Use the flat head screw driver to prop them open

2. Move the lower sash up until it passes the clips and the "channel balance" - see picture below for an example, will catch the clip

The top and bottom plastic parts are called shoes

3. Push the sash horizontally to one side of the window, the other side will come out of the channel, you can remove the sash (i.e. panel)

4. Check the channel balance for damage, replace it as needed

5. With proper channel balances in place, align the sash with the channel balance on one side, push it into the channel, the other side should be able to move into position. 

The repair

It looks simple to remove the sash and replace the balances. It was not so easy for me.

Challenge 1 - remove sash

The channel balances broke, both had broken strings. So when we moved window up the channel balance fell off. So the sash was not balanced and could not be removed.

To remove the sash, one person has to push the channel balance with the sash, so when the good balance caught the clip, the sash is balanced, and we could push the sash to one side. The sash could then be easily removed.

Challenge 2 - find the replacement part

Our house is old, and the window was the original window from the builder. A friend used a store which sold the builder's replacement parts long time ago, but could not remember the store name. I went to Home Depot window section to ask for information, the sale person knew nothing about places selling the builder's replacement part.

We could not find replacement part. 

We spent a few hours on this already, and decided to ask window company to repair them for us.

Before we were about to make the call, I did one more round of online search, and looking for discontinued window parts. One company's advertisement stood out - SWISCO - the replacement authority. 

We found and bought our replacement part on swisco.com. 

Challenge 3  - repair

The replacement part arrived yesterday afternoon. 

The main challenge was that I didn't have enough strength to do carry the sash by myself for long time, Lily helped me to remove the sash as well as put it back in.

I did not have enough single hand power to install the new channel balance, so I used screw driver to hold the top shoe (the end) and used both hands to push against the spring force from the channel balance to install the new part.

Despite the above and other obstacles along the way, we repaired two windows this morning in one hour, including cleaning the window frames.

It is handyman's work - how hard can it be!

Notes

Just like any problems we solve, we need to know what the problem is,  the principle/mechanism that governs the problem, and see what other has done/how did they solve the problem. With due diligence, most problems are not hard to solve.

For us, solving the household maintenance problems is like others playing games on computer, or doing brain teasers. Solving the problems is our way of getting away from work, and almost always husband/wife working together time. 

 I am very satisfied, every time, when we solved a problem trained handyman/technician can solve with ease. 😀