Lord Herbert wrote on Feb 23
rd, 2014 at 12:07pm:
Annie Anthrax wrote on Feb 23
rd, 2014 at 11:35am:
I have two very well equipped toolboxes that were gifts from my husband. One is for general tools, one is for electrical tools like those special screwdrivers that don't carry voltage and a multimetre. I can rewire light switches and powerponts etc. I also rewired the thingy that the internet cables and telephone cords go into. I can change taps, door hinges and have recently gyprock'd a wall. All in all, I think I can handle most basic home maintenance.
I'm impressed.
If you were living here I would ask you to re-rope the sash-window cords every time one of them broke.
The idiots who designed the old fashioned sash windows forgot that the cords would occasionally need replacing. It's been a hell of a job getting access to the broken cord and the piece of lead that they're attached to. You have to virtually smash your way into the channel on the side where the lead goes up and down.
Some idiot in charge of the sash-window factory back then in the 50's and before, said ~
"No Worries! Just seal up the channel and start doing the next one". Over the years a lot of people have gone to their graves unpunished.
lmao.
Everything is hard until you know how.
Replacing sash cords is a job alright, but you basically remove the beading running vertically up the inside of your window, tap in with a wide chisel until you crack the paint seal, then gently lever off.
This leaves the internal sahes hanging on their cords(or not if they've broken), so you can pull the whole sash out of the way. Then you have the "Parting Bead", that is the little bit that sits between the sahes at the front, and back, that they slide against, and this should never be nailed in, it is a pressure fit, that gets stuck up with paint, so you run a knife or sharp chisel down each side to break the seal, or tap with a sharp chisel, until the paint cracks, then you lever it out gently, don't break it.
After that, it's pretty easy, you've got the little panel near the bottom that now the parting bead is out, levers out easily, top first, as the bottom is angled.
Then get weights out, remove old cords from sahes, then cut new cords a little long, feed a lead weight on a string over the cord roller in the window frame, tie the new cord to the string, then pull back over the roller.
Now just nail cord into grooves in the sahes, making sure they are the right length. Repeat for all broken ones, and reassemble window.
If you are neat, you rarely need to even touch up the paint.
It is not an easy job, but that is how it's done.
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