Sash weights

[tulipcocoa]

Just had a number of sash windows repaired and weather stripping installed. However on one of the windows the weights seem to get caught on each other (so that the cords bow out). My repairman says that there is nothing he can do without finding some very long thin lead weights to fit into the box. As he has repaired the other windows okay I assume there must be somethng different with this one. He says the wagtails are all in place (which I think is a thin bit of wood to separate the weights) but I am having some difficulty in understanding why he cannot fix it (as I assume they worked okay when made). Any thoughts appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gervase]

Sounds like, with the repair, he's made the sash cords slightly longer, so when the windows are fully open, the weights rest at the bottom of the channels and the cords are slack so their bottoms rest on the timber and they lean over.
How often do you open your sash all the way down? Just get him to take an inch or so off the cord, and then you should cure the 'leans'.

 

[Lime]

I thought tulipcocoa means that the weights catch as they pass by each other when opening and shutting the window sashes.
If the window has not been altered and the weights are the same and they didn't catch before they shouldn't catch now.
I assume the weights are cast iron.
The length of the sash cords can make quite a difference and might cause a weight to stick if they are very different from before.
Sometimes a knot catches on the wagtail or the other weight if the wagtail is short.
Sometime the weights are rusty or they have protuding writing on their side (their weight) which can catch.
The suggestion of lead allows for a slimmer weight to be made which might get over the problem.

I assume they worked okay when made

...sometimes they didn't and don't.

 

[Nemesis]

There are a number of places which manufacture lead sash weights


http://www.sashweights.co.uk/

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/sashweights

http://www.applegate.co.uk/company/10/06/833.htm

and advice re sash windows and their repair in general:


http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/sash___case_form.pdf

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/replacing_a_sash_cord.htm

http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/sashwindows/sashwindows.htm

http://www.sash-style.co.uk/

However, if the wagtails are in place, I can't see how the weights are getting anywhere near each other. Maybe the weight covers (sash pockets... hmmm) are in need of some modification, possibly the weights are catching?

It may be that this window has been repaired in the past and the weights not the originals?

 

[Lime]

However, I can't understand, if the wagtails are in place, how the weights are getting anywhere near each other.

There is always the possibility that a rope on instalation has slipped around the wagtail as some are not very wide.
Not all wagtails are straight either.

 

[thiambal]

Just a thought, but are you sure that the weights are catching on each other and not catching on something else.

We just has our sashes restored and had a problem which sounded exactly like the weights rubbing against each other on operation. After a great deal of mucking about and looking up the sash pocket with mirrors and torches we found that somebody had driven a screw through the stile for the lower sash, the cut off the heads and filled and painted over the entry point.

We were left with no easily visable mark on the stile but with an inch or so of screw poking into the cavity where the weight runs. When we operated the sash the screw scraped along the weight making a noised exactly like the two weights rubbing on each other.

Unlikely to be the same in your case I admit, but worth a thought.

 

[tulipcocoa]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and the contacts for sash weights. I will see if we can have bespoke weights made up so that they don't hit each other as they pass. Seems to me that the problem should be solvable with a little bit of extra work.

 

[thiambal]

If they are the original weights in the original box frames and they are hung correctly it seem very unlikely that the problem is with the weights or that buying new weights will necessarily solve the problem.

 

[tulipcocoa]

Hmmmm.... good point. I think I will have to sit down with the repairman and get him to show me what the problem is.

Thanks