About traditional sash windows
- Before the Georgian era, most windows were small, fixed and could not be opened for ventilation. Glass was always handmade and an extremely expensive commodity in the Georgian era. Originally developed in Holland in the late part of the 17th Century, sash windows first appeared in the UK in the early 18th Century. They would have been considered a sign of wealth and status. Many Georgian properties had windows removed and bricked up when the government of the day introduced an expensive Window Tax, calculated on the total number of windows in a property.
- Sash windows are common in the United Kingdom, particularly in houses from the Georgian and Victorian period. Typical sash windows from this era consist of two sashes, one on top of the other and each glazed with three panes. This gives the traditional six-pane window look to many Victorian and Georgian era suburban houses.
- A sash window is a frame formed of one or movable, glazed panels. One frame slides over another, horizontally or vertically, allowing the window to open or close. Each frame, or sash, is supported by a weighted, balanced rope on a pulley that holds the sash in place when the window frame is moved. The sashes move along grooves in the outer window frame. This allows householders to open sash windows slightly or to their full extent.
- Older wooden sash windows can suffer from distortion caused by rot and swelling, causing the window to stick in place. Careless painting of sash windows can cause similar problems, although this is easy to remedy by stripping off the badly applied paint. Sash windows can be expensive to replace. Many Georgian properties in the UK are subject to conservation grading, requiring retention of the original windows.
- Sash windows have become popular again, mainly for aesthetic reasons. Modern sash windows are made from uPVC, which eliminates many of the traditional problems associated with wooden sash windows. One of the benefits of sash windows is that the householder can open both the top and bottom of each sash to allow cool air to circulate and displace warm air inside.
