replacing glass in a single hung window

[Stacia]

Hi all. I've been trying to find some instructions online about how to remove a frame from a single hung window and replace the glass in it, but there is pretty much just one set out there and it's not very helpful.

We had a storm this summer and hail broke the outside pane of the window. The window is, I believe, single hung: there are 2 panes on top, one inside and one out, but neither move. The bottom is one sliding glass pane inside, a screen on the outside. It's basically a glorified screen window.

We've replaced glass in old houses before without difficulty. However, we've never dealt with single hung windows and we don't want to accidentally break any mechanisms or whatever is inside these things. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Stacia

[Don Phillipson]

We assume window and frame are both made of wood. If so, this is probably a sash window i.e. slides vertically in a track, its weight counterbalanced by heavy cylindrical weights. A sash cord runs from each top corner of the window over a pulley to the sash weight, which can move up and down a hollow com- partment in the window frame. If you do not see this pulley (a grooved wheel 2 to 3 inches in diameter) in each top corner of the window frame, it is probably not an openable sash window.

Repair of the pulley system can be laborious (e.g. removing layers of old paint) but is simple, see

of the glass is also simple, also documented on the WWW.

[sligoNoSPAMjoe]

I am not sure what you are working with, but my guess is you are looking at thermo pane glass. Two panes of glass with an insulationg sealed air space in between. It is one unit and you don't replace one pane, you replace them as a unit.

A local glass shop should be able to supply you with a replacement.

[aemeijers]

Nah, sounds like a typical builder-grade window with a single-track storm window on the outside. I'll bet the top inner window USED to slide down, but with the cheapo fixed storm window in front of it, nobody has bothered for the last 2 or 3 repaints, and it is just stuck in place. I'm assuming a wood-frame window on the inside part, of course. There were all sorts of weird metal-frame windows installed back before people realized how much cold they brought into the room.

Can't see the window from here, but I bet all he needs is a new storm window. There was probably a second glass pane to close off the screened part, at one point. I had a window here that had similar issues. Took me an hour to get the painted-shut part unstuck.

OP, can you post a picture somewhere, and put a link back here? One picture is worth several thousand words, in this case.

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[hallerb]

there are single moving sash windows, budget type save moving parts for top half.

there are companies that just repair windows on site, the big hassle is getting the sash apart

[Stacia]

It's sadly a metal frame window. It is a cheap unit, and they aren't made any more. Probably because they suck. We're running into big costs replacing a missing screen on the front window so we wanted to replace the glass in this side window ourselves. It's all one unit, not a regular window plus separate storm window. The window does have 2 top panes, one inside and one out, but they don't move and were not intended to move at any time.

Stacia

[aemeijers]

I'm still suspecting some missing parts- it would be Very Weird to have double panes with an airspace in part of the window, and only a pane+ screen on the other part. If nothing else, maybe there was a pane to replace the screen with in winter. Have you checked the attic and crawlspace, and anyplace else previous owner may have stashed them? Is there any space in the window where another sliding panel could fit? Some pictures from inside and outside would help a bunch. There has to be some way to field-replace the pane- the part that actually holds the glass pretty much has to be separate from the part that screws to the wall, so it has some adjustability during installation.

A house we briefly lived in when I was a kid had aluminum horizontal sliders with double panes, 2 layers of sliders plus a screen, with the screen holding one of the outer panes from sliding when it was in place. The windows sealed okay when they were new, but didn't have any thermal breaks, and the inner frames got cold as hell in winter, with the usual condensation problems. I haven't seen the house in several years, but whoever owns it now is gonna have a fun time finding replacement windows, which I am sure it needs by now. They were all huge, and oddball sizes, so I'm sure replacements will have to be custom made.

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