Stacia wrote:
On Dec 6, 9:29 pm, aemeijers wrote:

Nah, sounds like a typical builder-grade window with a single-track
storm window on the outside. I'll bet the top inner window USED to slide
down, but with the cheapo fixed storm window in front of it, nobody has
bothered for the last 2 or 3 repaints, and it is just stuck in place.
I'm assuming a wood-frame window on the inside part, of course. There
were all sorts of weird metal-frame windows installed back before people
realized how much cold they brought into the room.

It's sadly a metal frame window. It is a cheap unit, and they
aren't made any more. Probably because they suck. We're running into
big costs replacing a missing screen on the front window so we wanted
to replace the glass in this side window ourselves. It's all one
unit, not a regular window plus separate storm window. The window
does have 2 top panes, one inside and one out, but they don't move and
were not intended to move at any time.

Stacia



I'm still suspecting some missing parts- it would be Very Weird to have
double panes with an airspace in part of the window, and only a pane+
screen on the other part. If nothing else, maybe there was a pane to
replace the screen with in winter. Have you checked the attic and
crawlspace, and anyplace else previous owner may have stashed them? Is
there any space in the window where another sliding panel could fit?
Some pictures from inside and outside would help a bunch. There has to
be some way to field-replace the pane- the part that actually holds the
glass pretty much has to be separate from the part that screws to the
wall, so it has some adjustability during installation.

A house we briefly lived in when I was a kid had aluminum horizontal
sliders with double panes, 2 layers of sliders plus a screen, with the
screen holding one of the outer panes from sliding when it was in place.
The windows sealed okay when they were new, but didn't have any thermal
breaks, and the inner frames got cold as hell in winter, with the usual
condensation problems. I haven't seen the house in several years, but
whoever owns it now is gonna have a fun time finding replacement
windows, which I am sure it needs by now. They were all huge, and
oddball sizes, so I'm sure replacements will have to be custom made.

--
aem sends...