I have been renovating ( dismantle , clean , sand down , record , re weight
in some cases, paint , reassemble . more paint ) the sash windows in my
1909 house for some time now.

The job goes on , because it is dirty , inconvenient and requires care.
However I think it is worth the effort.
This means therefore that my advice below is based upon ,you , at least to
some extent , taking the window apart at its component level. You may not
wish to go this far .
If that is the case then I think that you are reduced to prising / jammming
rubber or foam
draught excluder into any gaps you can find. This will only be a temporary
fix (for the winter probably ) and will either come out when you open the
window or will serve to jam the window shut.
I will be interested to know if anybody elese has a cleverer answer for
those who who cannot face a dismantle.

From a dismantle siituation the proper solution (however I have no
experience ) is to buy weathstripping products from such as

www.mightonproducts.com . However these seem to involved router cutting the
sashes with a groove to carry the stripping. So far this has been a step too
far for me.

The cycle I have found is that you srat with a painted shut window which is
also rattle and draught free.
You dismantle, clean, sand, etc . On reassembly you have a nice working
sash window but with terrible rattles and draughts. (and the family say
"what did dad do that for").

I have experimented sucessfully with fixing self adhesive, E Profile Draught
Excluder to the inside of the staff bead before refitting. Sorry about the
jargon but it is necessary to get into this. The staff bead is the wood
strip which goes around the inside of the window , usually mitred at each
coener , which holds in the lower (inside) sash. In a sense the staff beads
hold every thing in , they are what you remove first in the dismantle
process ( starting with the verticle side pieces , because you have the
lenth / flexibility to prize them away from the mitre in the top and bottom
corners). Going from inner to outer the anatomy is staff bead / inner
(lower) sash / parting bead ( vertical only , each side) / outer (upper )
sash.

The size of rubber strip draught excluder that I have used is 1- 3 mm. But
what you need may depend on the potential room/ gaps in your windows once
assembled. I find that this strip substancialy "stiffens" the movement of
the lower sash but it does move and rattle / draughts are eliminated . Its
a compromise and you may have to experinent with strip sizes to find the
right balance. Obviously too tight a fit will either render the sash
immovable or the strip will be ripped off on opening.
For the outer sash I have used the same size EPDM fixed to the parting bead
on the side of the bead that meets the outer ( upper ) sash. Come to think
of it you do this first as the reassembly process is of course outer
towards inner. This is leaves the draught excluder on the bottom part of the
parting bead exposed to the weather when the sash is closed. remains to be
seen how this will weather. Also make sure you choosed white excluder
assuming that windows are painted white.

You may get away without the excluder on the parting bead / outer sash. I
have not used it on one window by way of experiment. It may be that draught
/rattle is mainly a problem with the inner sash.
I have also fitted P Profile weatherstrip to the bottom edge of the strip of
the inner sash and the top edge of the outer sash to form a pressure seal
when the sashes are closed.

I am also experimenting with P profile on one of the bottom rails to
provided draughtproofing where the bottoms of sashes meet in the closed
position. Experimenting , because unless you get the positioning just right
the seal will rip off as the rails run against each other.

regards

Richard



wrote in message
oups.com...
I live an old house with sash windows. Is there a cheap and easy way
of stopping wind coming through the space where the top part slides
over the the bottom one? It would also help if the solution was such
that it stops the two parts banging into each other when it is windy
outside.
I was wondering whether insulating strips could be attached - but am
worried that they will be very difficult to fit and will stop the
windows sliding properly.
Many thanks for any help.
Chris