Almost Ready!

Remember this?

And this?

I'd gotten the lower sash out, but couldn't budge the upper one, so a friend came over and between us we agreed that he would take off the two side sash trims so I could get to the weights as part of what I thought was going to be a detailed rehab of the window.  Over the many decades, all kinds of crud had gathered in the cavities.

If you've followed this saga, you've seen the efforts to remove paint (some successful, some less so) and other little challenges that arose during the process.  And you'll know I've ordered replacement sash inserts for the window, which will leave the existing window structure in place.  I worked all morning and almost have it together.  Almost.

A little Dap'll do you!

Before.

After.  Most of this will be covered by the new 'frame' and by the 'stop' trim that's yet to go on.

Before.

After.  Not pretty, I know, but the new window 'frame' insert will cover these so really, I was only satisfying my own need, and helping keep cold air out.

This will really keep the cold air out!  Two layers of Fiberglas insulation in each side cavity, replacing the weights and wasp nests.

It's this stuff -- and you'll notice it's not pink.  It may be formaldehyde free, but it's still Fiberglas and it's still itchy. Two layers deep should really do the job.

I've used this stuff before and I even read the directions, so I should have known better....

Oops!  I put a tad too much in the two bottom cavities. They were smaller than I thought.  I did this because Tommy, the contractor on This Old House, used it along with the vertical insulation in a 'how-to' video.  I guess using it at the tops and bottoms really seals all the air leaks in those areas better than Fiberglas alone would.

I haven't had the nerve to nail the trim boards back in place yet, but I sanded them down and put them back where they belong.  They're still a tad warped at both top ends, and I may just have to live with that. We'll see.

Here's what it looks like at this very moment.  Dap helped fix many small, old nail holes and other damage to the wood.  There was some really, really stubborn paint (lower left) that just would not come off.  Several applications of Citristrip, lots of sanding, and I just gave up.  It's smooth, and I can only hope anything that determined to stay in place won't decide to come off after I repaint.

So -- it's all back together, sans layers of paint and sans window panes.  The Dap takes 24-48 hours to cure so I can't prime until that's dry and sanded smooth where needed.  No rush, anyway, as the new window parts won't arrive for another week, at least.  Nor do I have a paint color picked out to complete the job, but I am narrowing that down.

We've had lots more rain today, and it's been nice.  Hard rain at times, but I was safely inside and it didn't flood. For those of you who wonder about such things, these storms are the remnants of tropical storm #5 that just moved through the Gulf of Mexico area.  We occasionally get tail-ends of these things, and occasionally even get fringes of hurricanes.  It's humid, but not too hot and the relief from the hot, hot weather is so welcome.  This -- rain and temps -- is far more normal for summer weather around here.  The heat of these past weeks is anything but normal.