Plastic weatherstrip for 70s doublehungs
I have wood double-hung windows from the late 1970s that I’m repainting. I hope you can help with a weatherstripping problem.
The upper sash has a thin plastic (vinyl?) weatherstrip at the meeting rail, visible inside the house when the window is open. The previous owner unfortunately painted this strip off-white, and friction with the lower sash’s dark-colored exterior caused a lot of discoloration and sticking.
So, I can usually remove the weatherstrip, which is attached by a small barbed shank inserted into a narrow kerf in the meeting rail. Even if the somewhat brittle plastic comes out in one piece, removing the old paint is a time-consuming task that sometimes cracks the plastic anyway.
My questions are:
1) I’ve been using steel wool and paint thinner to scrub the paint off the weatherstripping, which is very slow. Is there anything else that would be faster, yet not dissolve the plastic? I’ve got a housefull of windows to do.
2) I’d prefer to replace the weatherstripping with the same stuff, but can’t find a supplier. I don’t want to use metal V-channel, because the plastic’s natural off-white color matches the sash better. And the popular foam weatherstrips seem too bulky for this application between meeting rails. I’ve tried web searches and talked to local window people with no luck, so if anyone here can point me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it.
Replies
If you can identify the window manufacturer, and they are a major one like Andersen, they will probably be able to provide you with replacement strips.
I guess I never thought of locating the manufacturer because they look like some kind of generic, not-very-high-end windows. They have those bright metal tracks on the jambs for friction, rather than weights and pulleys. Is there a standard place on the window to look for a manufacturer's name or model?
Russ, if there's insulated glass in the sash, you might find some writing between the panes on the metal division that might initial or name window manufacturer. If not, here's a place that might have what you want.
http://www.blainewindow.com/Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Look for a name pressed into metal tracks, or on the latch. Plus, as someone mentioned, the spacer in insulated glass.
Russ,
Try RCT at http://www.conservationtechnology.com/ for the weatherstripping. Gotta get the catalog.
Try some acetone to remove the paint.
KK
I always go to my local glass shop with a piece of the weatherstrip and have them track it down. Has always worked so far. Find a good place and work with them.
Hope this helps. Rich.