Before I begin the disassembly, restoration, and reassembly of a window I follow the HUD and EPA lead protocols. If there is any furniture near the window I will move it. If the furniture or items within the room can’t be moved I cover it in plastic. From this point I tape down plastic on the floor in front of the window to collect any lead chips or dust.

Moving forward, I begin the disassembly of the window. I first remove the trim on both sides of the window, if paint is present I will score in order make enough space to pry lightly with a spackle tool. From here, If the sash cord is in good working order, I’ll remove the cord from the side of the sash and hold it in place up near the pulley with a vise grip. I can then remove the lower sash (window) from the frame. Now, if the upper sash is painted, I will place plastic on the outside of the window to catch any lead paint chips. I score the sides of the upper sash in preparation for its movement downwards, often times the upper sash hasn’t moved in decades. I then use a hand scraper to remove any paint from the blind stop which the upper sash moves up and down in. Once the upper sash is lowered, I can then remove the parting bead. If the parting bead is in good condition and unpainted I like to keep the windows and its components as original as possible. If the parting bead is painted or in poor condition, I make new ones with clear grain vertical fir. Once the parting bead is removed, I can then remove the upper sash.

With the windows removed, I now attend to friction spots and other needs before they are reassembled. Once I feel confident that I’ve dealt with the windows friction spots and that they will operate smoothly, I know attend to the weights. If the window posses a pocket cover for the weights I simply remove them and re-tie the weights through the pulley’s. If a pocket cover is not present I make one. Once I have made the pocket cover and retied the weights I use 5 minute epoxy to secure the new pocket cover in place.

Now, I can reassemble the windows starting with the upper sash. once the upper sash is in place I can then reinstall the old or new parting bead. The lower sash is now reinstalled and I like to double check that the sash locks line up correctly and lock effectively. The trim is reinstalled and BOOM. A window that glides smoothly, locks in place and will last another 80 years.