Weather stripping old windows.

[jade mortimer]

yup, nothing wrong with running the weatherstripping the full height of the window opening...that way you don't have to worry about the bronze snagging on the sash...it's an extra expense but rather minimal for what it offers...

i believe kilian's carries only 3 foot lengths...you can ask for longer lengths as they can probably get them...if not, take a look here http://www.accurateweatherstrip.com/ they sell lengths by the foot...(don't be put off by the curmudgeonly guy who takes your order!)

there's more than one way to skin a cat or, as a vegetarian, there's more than one way to slice a slab of tofu!

...jade

[sahric]

...a couple questions (we are just getting ready to weatherstrip our first restored double-hung sashes too - and its cold---time to get them back in the windows!)...

while we plan on using v-bronze on the sides of the sashes,
and silicone bulb-type stuff on the top, bottom and meeting rail,

we wonder if you can ever not have enough room for the silicone bulbs? i am referring to the kinds mentioned by jade, the ws10, ws32, or ws33.

also, jade, i was wondering why you prefer the ws32 over the ws10 for these applications. i was scanning the specs on the conservation technology site, and they say the former is a cornerseal and the latter a tubeseal. does it matter? does one work better in tighter situations than the other? saw something about the ws10 only being compressible to 4 mm...but as best we can tell we might have 1-2 mm gaps at the bottom of bottom sashes.. the better question might be, what are the minimum gaps required for these silcone seals?

for the v-bronze, we are confused: does this get nailed to the sash or to the jamb? i worry, because if it gets nailed to the jamb, our weight pocket is right there behind a pc a wood that is only 20 mm thick. also, how do you determine the width of v-bronze needed? i see that killians sells a few widths - does it depend on the gap you have to fill?..or sash size? our sashes are about 1 3/8 on the sides (minus the meeting rail, about 1 5/8 otherwise))

finally, we can see light coming through along the jamb (near the parting bead) where our two sashes meet, as shown in these two pics:

IMG_6383.JPG (101.02 KiB) Viewed 11706 times

IMG_6386.JPG (96.66 KiB) Viewed 11708 times

is there a weatherstripping solution for this? all i can come up with is taking a wad of something and plugging it seasonally or something!

thanks alot for your help!!

-s

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

For the parting bead seal, go to this page and view item 217:
http://accuratemw.thomasnet.com/viewite ... &forward=1

it's a piece of thick dense felt with very flexible bronze strip over it. If it gets painted, it's toast.

Casey

[jade mortimer]

i have a few of the #217 felt strips but mine are in steel...i don't use them so i'd be happy to send you a couple to see if you like them before ordering them for the rest of your windows...they can be attached to the parting bead--(predrill first) with nails...you can remove the felt and 'snip' it down to the correct width before installation...

often we will glue a piece of wood to the parting bead cut out on the sash and cut it to a snug fit during installation...we apply oil to the wood where it's been cut...

woo-hoo homeowner window restoration!!

[sahric]

ahh, thank you very much for introducing me to the concept of the meeting rail block, casey. if i understand correctly, it is mounted on the narrow end of the parting bead?

and jade, i like your idea of building up the end of the sash's meeting rail (i think that's where we have what you refer to as 'the parting bead cut out'). although i think i would like to take you up on your offer too. i will try a pm.

i will also have to check our other windows to see if we have this problem everywhere. we only noticed it this afternoon in the study when we were contemplating how to do the v-bronze and silicone weatherstripping! hmmmmm.

-s

[jade mortimer]

regarding silicone bulb weather stripping--typically, a gap at the meeting rail is minimal...the ws32 bulb is 3/16" round so it will fill a gap up to that size...when completely compressed, the bulb is about 1/32" thick so i have never had an issue where it was too thick inhibiting proper closing and locking of the sash....ws33 (and larger)is for windows where the rails can handle a larger bulb with causing problems with sash closure...the ws10 series is ribbed so it is structurally heavier and will hold up better in places like the bottom rail of the bottom sill...

the spring bronze can be nailed to either the jamb or the sash...it's much easier to apply to the jamb...i nail above and below the pocket cover and never into the pocket cover...you will need to nail the 'V' closed at the very top of the bottom sash and at the very bottom of the top sash to avoid having the sash snag on the stip...

i have asked why the 'V' bronze is not sold in wider sizes but noone seems to know why...the widest i have found is 1 1/8" whereas the plain spring bronze can be purchased up to 1 3/4" thick...i have found that the 1 1/8" works just fine on thicker sash...make sure the 'point' of the 'V' is pointing towards the interior...

sarah, i sent you a pm...will mail out your samples tomorrow (monday)...

...jade

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

I'd advise against "building up" the edge of the check rail; odds are the parting beads are not perfectly parallel their entire run, and the check rail will drag at some or all points. The tried & true method is to add something where the check rails park, then there's freedom of motion everywhere else, when they are on the move. There's no reason you couldn't recreate the double-tapered weatherstripping tidbit I linked to out of a sliver of wood, well-burnished with wax, and have it perform about the same; at least closing the gap somewhat.
Casey

[jade mortimer]

casey, i see the realities of your concern regarding parting beads and proper operation of the sash...some of the sash we work on have had the cut out modified so that they are very loose sometimes with a half inch of daylight visible...other times the cut out has been damaged in some way...we only add wood where it is obvious a gap will result...each sash is run up and down to ensure proper operation...

agreed, a piece of wood that matches the jamb or interior finish will work as well (or better) than the 217 and will look better too...

....jade

[Tom]

I just tacked some felt weatherstrip at that parting rail joint on a couple of windows recently. I like these suggestions better. Thanks.

[sahric]

Jade, thanks for explaining the silcone bulb and v-bronze in more detail. Hopefully the ws32 bulb will work fine for our bottom top and meeting rails. For the meeting rail, is it normally applied to the lower sash?

For attaching the v-bronze to the jamb, our pocket covers are about 15" tall (for a 31" tall sash). Will it be ok to have that long a stretch of bronze not nailed down?

And thanks everybody for the feedback on the meeting rail gap. Looks like we will have some experimenting to do there. I will let you know how it works out!

-S