There was once a time when the wooden sash window fronted pretty much every house in the country. Wherever a person looked, in town and country, the British house was a pleasant aspect, a neat fascia framed using these pretty two paned eyes. The advent of the casement, which was far easier to maintain, however, through the sash into the annals Jupiter architects of history in fairly short order – more and more houses were designed with the new hinged opening windows and those that weren’t, over time, had their own original sashes replaced.
Anyone who likes the design of a well made house will tell you this: when the wooden sash window went what seemed to be the way of the Dodo, the British home lost a small amount of its character. Thankfully, that character, unlike the Dodo, has cast off its bandages and walked again. From the ashes of the past, the window of the future is resurrected: a sash window that looks every inch as good as the old ones, but that is easy to maintain, replace and clean.
The major problem with old sash windows was damp, which got in at the seams and quickly set about rotting the rope that elevated and dropped the sash. The modern wooden sash window is of course double glazed and hermetically sealed, which means no moisture ingress or indeed weather ingress of any sort. Moreover, the modern sash is well treated with anti fungal and weather proofing layers that combine to see off any of the normal effects of wear and tear that one might normally expect a window to evidence.
The sash dropper is no longer made of old rope, but a contemporary and well lubricated nylon: the whole lot neatly hidden inside the frame. The frame is made from milled and treated wood, which can be tarnished or painted to match any design, look and colour scheme: making the modern wooden sash window as ideal for use on older houses as it is in freshly built ones. Wood is a hugely versatile decorative element, answering equally well to plain treating or impressive stain: homes fitted with a wooden sash can be intended to look well in any style required.
The greatest trick of all performed by the new wonder window, though, is its removability. The frame is designed to be installed in existing window holes as well as freshly made ones – a builder can simply repulse the full old window and lever the new one in, in its place. A contemporary wooden sash window can apparently be fitted even in the walls of a room that has been fully emblazoned, without leaving any interior indication that work is being, or has been, done. Furthermore, the wooden sash has completely easily-removed panes – which mean that cleaning is a simple clunk clip operation. A home owner just reaches in for the special catch inside the frame, detaches, and the whole lot comes right out of its socket. It’s ideal – beautiful, versatile and completely modern. Welcome back, wooden sash window.