I live in a loft above an old store in Houston, Tx. The building dates back to 1918. The windows are completley painted shut. Does anyone have any advice on how to make the windows operational again, without tearing them up. Any advice would be greatfully appreciated.
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This worked in my previous house which was over 100 years old: trace around the entire frame with a utility knife, then lay a 2 x 4 flush along the frame, one edge at a time, and tap away with a hammer. That should break the seal.
You can try cutting the paint seal with a utility knife, or a box-cutter with its blade extended as far as it can. In some hardware stores or paint stores, you can also find a tool specifically made for this job. It looks like a small hand saw with an offset handle, and very little set to the teeth. You lay the blade flat on the sash and slide the teeth into the gap between the sash and the frame --- or in your case, the gap which should be there, but which has been filled with paint. If this fails, you might need to dissassemble the window. Fortunately, old wood windows were built back in the days before fancy technology, so they dissassemble pretty easily. You can take them apart, repair them, and put them back together so they work just like new.
Are we assuming wood double hungs here?
Or are they steel frame casements?
or aluminum awning or louvers?
If really painted shut, disassembly is probably the way to go. First one will take all day. After that, a couple of hours per - unless there is a good reason they were painted shut....
Excellence is its own reward!
Piffen --
I did assume wood double-hungs. The original poster did mention that the building was built in 1918, so...
Jamie
Edited 5/15/2003 8:50:03 PM ET by JAMIE_BUXTON
I wood only suggest that if you are palning to refinish these windows. Iwould be careful not to gouge them. When you arescoring. If the are very important you could always use an environmentally friendly stripper. Or a heat gun. take of the layers and it willmake it a lot easier to score.
Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
watch out for lead paint with something this old... safty first
Brian,
Depends how painted shut they are, but I've found that they can usually be opened by laying a 3" putty knife flat against the frame of the sash (between the sash and stopping) and tapping on the handle with a hammer to break/cut the seal. Work your way around the sash. Do the inside and outside...........and between the bottom and top sash if double hungs.