WINDOW SASH CLINC
A Labor of Love
When I was 18, I spent a summer stripping painted glazing putty from hundreds of windows in what is now the Tudor Arms Hotel, built in Cleveland in 1933. After soaking the windows for hours in paint stripper, I’d then chip away any remaining putty. Sometimes it would come right out, sometimes it would stick. Occasionally, the glass would break. At times the stripper would do so much damage to the wood that it warped, nearly ruining the sash. If any putty was left, I would warm it with a heat gun and chip it out—also at risk to the precious glass. Now that I’m restoring my own windows, one of my goals is to save as many of the original panes of 130-year-old glass as possible.
“An exterior storm window has two functions: to increase efficiency and to protect your main window sash from the elements. If you are going to remove wood windows during restoration, put a storm window in the opening.”
—CHAD LUEKEN, ADAMS ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK
Our sash windows are common to 1880s-era houses, and to houses built about 50 years in either direction. This
