Sash Cord Replacement in Wellington
Glass and Window Repair Wellington replaces broken sash cords in double hung timber windows across the city. When a cord snaps the sash drops, jams, or has to be propped open with a book. We open the pocket in the box frame, fit new cord, rebalance the weight to the sash and refit the beads so the window works the way it did when it was built.
- New cord, weights rebalanced, pulleys freed
- Sash holds at any height instead of dropping
- Original glass and joinery kept intact
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Wellington's villa and bungalow stock runs on this system. Thorndon, Mount Victoria, Aro Valley and Newtown are full of Victorian and Edwardian villas, and the 1920s bungalow belt runs through Miramar, Kilbirnie, Island Bay and the Hutt Valley. Cotton sash cord has a working life of decades, not centuries, so a hundred year old house is usually on its second or third set, and plenty are still on their first.
How the mechanism works
Each sash hangs on two cords that run over pulleys at the head of the frame and down into hollow boxes either side, where cast iron weights counterbalance the sash. Balanced properly, the sash stays wherever you leave it with no effort.
When one cord goes, the sash sits crooked and binds. When both go, it drops to the sill and stays there. Nothing else is broken.
What the repair involves
We remove the beads and the sash, open the pocket cover in the frame stile, and retrieve the weights. New cord is fitted, knotted into the sash and cut to the right drop, then the weight is checked against the sash and adjusted if the sash has been reglazed or double glazed since.
While the sash is out we usually free the pulleys, ease any paint bridging the sash to the frame, and check the parting bead. That is the difference between a window that works and one that technically has new cord in it.
Doing it once, properly
We use waxed cotton sash cord rather than nylon, because nylon stretches and creeps and you end up rebalancing it. Where a sash has been retrofitted with double glazing the original weight will be too light, so extra weight goes in at the same time.
What a proper cord replacement includes
Both cords, not just the broken one
Cords are the same age and have had the same wear. Replacing one and leaving its partner means we are back within a year or two, and by then the second failure has usually let the sash drop and crack a pane.
We replace both cords on any sash we open, and where two sashes share a frame we do all four while the beads are off.
What else gets done while the sash is out
Pulleys get freed or replaced, paint bridging the sash to the frame is cut, the parting bead is checked and the staff bead is refitted so the sash runs without rattling.
That is the difference between a window with new cord in it and a window that works. It adds very little time while everything is already apart and it is most of what you actually notice.
Sash Cord Replacement at a glance
- Cord
- Waxed cotton sash cord, sized to the pulley
- Weights
- Original cast iron weights reused, adjusted for sash weight
- Included
- Pulleys freed, paint bridges cut, parting bead checked
- Double glazed sashes
- Additional weight fitted to rebalance
- Typical time
- About an hour a window, less on a run of them
Sash Cord Replacement in Wellington: common questions
My sash window dropped and will not stay up. Is it expensive to fix?
No. It is a snapped cord in almost every case, and the repair takes about an hour a window. Nothing needs replacing.
Can you do it without damaging the paintwork?
We cut the paint line cleanly and refit the beads. On heavily painted windows some touch up is normal and we tell you that before we start.
My windows are painted shut. Same job?
Similar. We cut and ease the sashes free first, then deal with whatever we find underneath, which is often perished cord anyway.
Recent Wellington jobs
Got three quotes for retrofitting the front of the house. Only ones who measured every opening and explained why the north facing rooms needed different glass. Eleven windows over two days, and the road noise dropped more than I expected.
Landlord here. Had four properties assessed for the Healthy Homes ventilation rule and two needed openable sashes freed up rather than new joinery, which saved me a fortune. Straight answers, written report, no upselling.
Ranch slider had been jamming for years and we assumed it needed replacing. Turned out to be rollers and a bent track. Two hours, a fraction of the price we were braced for.
Fogged unit in the lounge, measured on the Tuesday and in by the following Monday. Fair price and they cleaned up after themselves.
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