How to Replace Window Channels

Replacing the old loose channel on your home's wood sash windows is one low-cost way to lower heating and cooling bills. Here's the way to do it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Measuring Tapes
• Circular Saws
• Hacksaws
• Hammers
• Hand Planes
• Screwdriver Sets
• Tin Snips
• Tin Snips
• Hammers

Preparing the Window

1. Measure the height of each window to be upgraded and take these measurements to your local home improvement center or lumberyard. The people there can help you find the window channel kits. These are made of either plastic or metal. Most any cutting of the channel material can be done with tip snips or a hacksaw.

2. Remove the wooden channel from both sides of the window with a small flat pry bar and hammer. The sash can now be taken out of the window frame. (If the window system has sash weights as counter balances the ropes will need to be cut and removed.)

3. Insulate further by opening the "sash wells" (by removing the casing on each side of the window), removing the weights and rope, and filling the space with insulation.

4. Reattach the casing and continue with applying the new window channel.

Putting Up the New Channel

5. Cut the window jamb portion of the channel to length according to your measurements. The new channel will fit against the inside wooden channel in the window jamb.

6. Fasten the channel to the jamb according to the manufacturer's directions (some use screws, others nails).

7. Removing some material from each edge of the window sash may be required before fitting the sash portion of the new window channel. The manufacturer's directions should give the exact tolerances needed. This material can be planed or sanded away if small; use a circular saw for larger amounts.

8. Attach the sash portion of the window channel to each side of the sash.

9. Snap the sash into position in the new channel and test its fit by sliding the sash up and down a few times. Most of these replacement channels flex enough to allow you to snap the sash back into place or have slots at the top that allow for insertion and removal.

Tips & Warnings

• You want to stay close to the tolerances recommended by the manufacturer on fit. Too loose and you lose most of the insulating value you are after. Too tight and any swelling of window frames in damp weather can make windows difficult to open.
• Depending on the size of the window sashes, they can be quite heavy - a second pair of hands can be helpful.

on 11/22/2005 If the hole's edges are messy, rout out a bigger hole so the edges are well-defined and square to the surface and prime these new edges. Now cover the hole with a sheet of extra-heavy-duty aluminum and press it against the edges. Run a pounce wheel (a fairly cheap craft tool that looks like a spur on a swivel) over the pattern on the foil. Place the foil with the puncture marks over a replacement piece of plaster or wallboard. Now dust graphite or chalk over the holes left by the pounce wheel. This will transfer the pattern to the patching material. Cut out the patch leaving about a 1 /8 inch gap and prime its edges. Using a suction cup against the patch, position it in the hole so that it is just slightly below flush with the surrounding surface. Split some wooden wedges and use these pieces to hold the patch in place. Now make up some plaster of Paris and fill the gap. In half an hour, the patch will be ready for a finish skim coat with quick set.

on 11/22/2005 Tired of knots, kinks and twists in extension cords? Just slit a foot or so of 2 1/2 inch diameter (or larger) schedule 40 PVC pipe on your table saw and cut it off. Now crosscut 3 inch lengths from this. For each piece, round the corners and remove any burrs. Now take up the slack in that pesky cord and pass the whole works through the slot. You can put the handler near the tool or near the receptacle. For longer cords, 4 inch diameter pipe will work well. Keep the slot narrow enough to prevent the wire from falling out. You don't have to worry about neatly stowing the cord either, just return or pull out as much as you need and take it as it comes. It won't foul itself. These pieces work well as super-cheap edge clamps for veneering and other applications. I've also used them to keep gutter-guards from slipping off the edge of guttering. They might look funny, but your gutters will remain free of debris.

on 11/22/2005 Generally the windows will need reglazing, so remove the old glass first (I use a heat gun) and pull out the sashes. This will keep the mess outside. Cover the opening by nailing the storm window frame back on with several long finish nails (I usually leave the storm windows in the frame). This will allow you to refinish the sashes and do the reglazing in a relaxed fashion. Use a rabbet plane to clean out the old putty. Power sand the sashes using a reciprocating sander for the astragal moldings. Try to inject some PVA glue in the joints of each sash, since over time these can weaken. Test the sash by trying to rack it back and forth and check for squareness. Use a band clamp if necessary to pull all the joints together. Prime and paint and leave for a few days while you strip, prime and paint the frame. If the windows are small enough, you can reglaze before replacing them. Old frames can easily need filling and caulking as well. If the outer bead is gunked up with old paint or in bad shape, it might be quicker to replace it. The same goes for old brick molding. The storm window frame will have to be removed and replaced whenever you work on the wood frame, but I just slip it over the nails (if they're skinny enough). Acrylic paint can take weeks to really hard dry and will stick between the sashes and the replacement jambliners. Sometimes, not painting the outer edges of the sashes at all will reduce the sticking, but I still like to seal the whole works. Spraying the channels with silicone can help movement a lot. Be sure to notch out at least 1/2 inch from the top bead at each end, so the channels will clear it. When the channels are ready to go up, put one on the floor, slip the sashes into it so they're vertical, and slip the other channel on top. Be sure the same amount of channel is projecting from each sash. If the panes were very big, you might want to insert the channels and sashes before reglazing. Now rest the channels on the sill (from the inside) and rotate the whole works outward until the channels contact the outer bead at the top. It would be safest to lower both sashes as much as possible. Now drive 1 tack through each channel at the top and only through the outer track (for the top sash). This will be sufficient to hold the assembly in place. Do the same at other points in the outer track. Now check the outer sash for mobility - generally the new setup will need shimming, and not planing, because the old sashes will have worn during 50-75 years of being raised and lowered. Back off the tacks and do the shimming until the upper sash is moves OK. Now just tack the inner stop in a few places. If the lower sash is too loose, push the stop outward and retake. This will gradually tighten both sashes, since the stainless steel spacer spring between the tracks, which takes the place of the old parting bead, will compress as desired. Tack the inner track and nail or screw the inner bead in its final position, and you're done!

on 11/22/2005 Avoid using large filters and having to pour the contents of paint cans into other containers (which is messy). Take two Solo or Dixie cups and remove the bottoms. Take a piece of filter material (window screen, nylon stocking), sufficient to cover the ends of the cups, and sandwich it between them. Tape the cups together at their upper ends. Let the 2 stacked cups float down into the (dirty) paint and wet your brush with the paint that seeps up through the filter. Hopelessly dirty old paint can produce like-new results without having to buy new paint.