I've seen several posters saying that thinner glass was used in the past. Is that really so? What kind of period are we talking about? I live in an early Victorian building with plenty of original glass, and it seems to be more or less the same thickness as today.
Incidentally, I never have the trouble that is being discussed - rather the much worse problem of sash windows that won't open, presumably because the wood has expanded in some way.
Is it not possible that decades upon decades of paint being applied to the window - without stripping old off - could lead to a similar mismatch in weight?
Either the sashes are now heavier than when new (double glazing?) or the weights have been replaced with incorrect ones.
Friction helps *slightly* but unless the apparent sash weights (as seen through the pulley system) are close to the weight of the sash then the sash will move up or down on its own. Balanced correctly you can move them with light finger pressure.
As for having lighter comparative sash weights for the bottom than the top, someone ought to have a read of Newton's Principia Mathematica.
Someone has simply put in another sheet of glass on the 'inside' of the window. It does't work very well as their puttying leaves a lot to be desired and the putty between the sheets obviously can't be trimmed off. I'm not sure about reducing noise, as the first thing we did when we moved in was to unstick a couple of the windows, which had all been sealed up with paint, so any noise reduction was nullified by there being a way through for hte noise.
Yup, I've opened up the gubbins on one that does stay up, and the weights look original and untouched. I've yet to open up some others as they're sealed up with paint for the mo.
As per other thread, not really DG, but someone bodged in extra panes of glass, c1970s. It's a house which has had to have a lot of de-bodging, including turning it back into a house after being a few bedsits, And the bathroom had a dark blue ceiling, 1970s country style tiles, and a green bath, sink fitted into a kitchen worktop......
Only slight difference say about 10% required. Friction does the rest. The weight difference means that they wont open (when not fastened) under their own steam when disturbed e.g. by vibration - passing vehicles etc. A well set up and free moving small light-weight sash will need closer to same weight to deter spontaneous movement, as compared to a large sash where inertia helps.
Most Victorian glass was about 1/8" ,(3mm).
Modern float glass used for glazing is a minimum 4mm.
You can get glass down to 2mm - picture framers use it. For sashes use horticultural glass sold as "dutch lights" which is usually about 3mm and has a ripple a bit like old glass. Sometimes too flawed however. Small panes victorian or georgian often down to 2mm. Immense variations
- crown glass can vary from chunky 4/5 mm down to 1mm in one small pane.
A bloke I used to work with used picture glass in Georgian multi-pane sashes because he reckoned it was a closer match than regular glazing glass.
Best replacement of Georgian glass IMO is P1 from Tatra Glass of Loughborough. It is real mouth blown cylinder glass made in the traditional way in Poland. It's about 3mm thick and has exactly the same appearance as glass made 200 years ago. Costs about =A380 per square metre, ie about four times as much as 4mm float. 3mm float can be more expensive than 4mm because of economies of scale, I am told. Horticultural glass is cheap, machine made drawn or rolled glass, mostly from Poland and Russia. The occasional wobbles make it more interesting than float but not as nice as real cylinder glass.
Did you read the thread?
The OP was asking about Victorian sash windows, not f*cking picture frames.
If you are replacing like with like you might need 2mm glass in old small paned sashes
Not only did he read it, but he apparently understood it better than you did too.
They just puttied in a sheet of glass on the inside???? ! That explains the problem, then!
How do you fix if rope is broken
You need to open up the side pocket to get to the weight & fit a new cord. Remove frame bead so you can take the sliding sash out first. Replace the full set of cords, or one of the others will soon break, and it looks odd with mismatched cords.
NT
Mend the rope? How old is this one? Brian
Back in my youf, we had these in Wandsworth. No matter what you did the damn things stuck when it was damp and gradually closed or opened by themselves otherwise. Too complicated for me. Brian
open the pulley stiles replace the sash cords both sides
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