Feltwell
Member
- Messages
- 6,377
- Location
- Shropshire, England
Chorlton, I'm sorry but I can't resist asking - how are the Wheelies?? :wink: Is Fenella the witch still bouncing up and down and saying "Ffestiniog"??
(With due apologies to those Forum members who didn't grow up and watch kids TV in the 70's. Or for that matter to those that have actually managed to grow up since, unlike myself).
Well done for deciding to keep your sashes. How are your DIY skills? Sashes are really not that difficult to restore yourself - I'm by no means a veteran (just done my first one!) but it wasn't that hard a job, and mine was probably worse than most as I had to machine the badly worn edges off the sliding sashes and splice new timber in, and make lots of adjustments for the window not being that well built originally!
You can get all the bits to do this, including staff and parting beads with modern draft seals built in, from companies like these:-
http://www.reddiseals.com/acatalog/sash_windows.html
http://www.mightonproducts.com/catalog/traditional-sash-window-hardware-c-1.html
My sash now has pulleys with bearings, and the brush type draft seals - the result of which is the sashes glide up and down beautifully, 100 times better than before.
Lots of people on here recommend linseed paint to keep the timber in good order in the future - put it in the search box and you'll find lots of old posts on this. Lovely stuff to work with but takes forever to dry. Main supplier is (but there are others) :-
http://www.holkham.co.uk/linseedpaints/
Re. your glass -the tatra glass is probably too wobbly, and modern horticultural glass is dead flat (I've found - same problem as you, 1899 house in my case). Ask Jon Maine on here, I'm sure he put a post up about a company that imports Eastern European greenhouse glass that is made on old machinery, that is close to the Victorian / Edwardian glass.
Once you've done your window you can seal round the frame with something called burnt sand mastic - again lots of old posts on here if you search for them. Surprisingly simple stuff to use, I tried it for the first time just sticking some B&Q boiled linseed oil in some dried brick paving sand - very easy to make and it worked a treat. Much better than silicone.
(With due apologies to those Forum members who didn't grow up and watch kids TV in the 70's. Or for that matter to those that have actually managed to grow up since, unlike myself).
Well done for deciding to keep your sashes. How are your DIY skills? Sashes are really not that difficult to restore yourself - I'm by no means a veteran (just done my first one!) but it wasn't that hard a job, and mine was probably worse than most as I had to machine the badly worn edges off the sliding sashes and splice new timber in, and make lots of adjustments for the window not being that well built originally!
You can get all the bits to do this, including staff and parting beads with modern draft seals built in, from companies like these:-
http://www.reddiseals.com/acatalog/sash_windows.html
http://www.mightonproducts.com/catalog/traditional-sash-window-hardware-c-1.html
My sash now has pulleys with bearings, and the brush type draft seals - the result of which is the sashes glide up and down beautifully, 100 times better than before.
Lots of people on here recommend linseed paint to keep the timber in good order in the future - put it in the search box and you'll find lots of old posts on this. Lovely stuff to work with but takes forever to dry. Main supplier is (but there are others) :-
http://www.holkham.co.uk/linseedpaints/
Re. your glass -the tatra glass is probably too wobbly, and modern horticultural glass is dead flat (I've found - same problem as you, 1899 house in my case). Ask Jon Maine on here, I'm sure he put a post up about a company that imports Eastern European greenhouse glass that is made on old machinery, that is close to the Victorian / Edwardian glass.
Once you've done your window you can seal round the frame with something called burnt sand mastic - again lots of old posts on here if you search for them. Surprisingly simple stuff to use, I tried it for the first time just sticking some B&Q boiled linseed oil in some dried brick paving sand - very easy to make and it worked a treat. Much better than silicone.
