The Three Stages of the Sliding Sash Window

It was a thought that every sliding sash window was the same. Well think again. There are at least three stages of sash, each one designed to do a slightly different job in the fenestration of a property. From modest to massive, the sash is back. Here’s how.

Your starter sash window, the one that every home can afford and every building contractor can install, is the budget level sash. You will sometimes hear the budget sash referred to as insert sashes. That is because budget sashes have been designed to be as convenient and as quick to fit as possible. The insert or budget sliding sash window literally slots into an existing window hole, which means that there is no extra work required at all. The insert sash window simply pops into the whole, where versatile jamb sizing takes up any slack left by the old window.

From the inside, the insert sash typically appears as a thin framed window.

The lines made by the blocking of the panes, and the slender all round frame, make it suitable for farmhouse kitchens, inset windows and the non living room areas of larger houses – or for all window needs in a medium sized house.

Next up in our scale of sashes is the mid range sliding sash window. The mid range sash has a much broader internal jamb, making it the ideal installation for lounge rooms, all downstairs rooms in mid sized houses and all upstairs rooms in larger houses. The mid range sliding sash is available with a variety of external finishes, too – from metal to “wood”.

In all cases, the real finish is a form of treated aluminium cladding – but the appearance varies according to taste and the style of the house. The cladding on the mid range sliding sash window is overlapped to ensure that no moisture, air or sound enters the home through the window edgings. If you order it in the treated milled wood look, no one would ever be able to tell that it was actually a metal fronting.

So there are two stages of the modern sash. What about the third? The third is the daddy of them all – a monster sliding sash that is designed for completely bespoke fittings in larger properties. It is known as the “Magnum”, and it is made either in all natural wood, treated wood, or clad wood. The Magnum sliding sash is built to size, and, as such, has a completely bespoke piece of engineering inside it to operate the up and down action of the sliding sash window itself. Every sash on the Magnum class window is balanced by hand, using coiled spring block and tackle balances to give perfect smooth actions and a consistent rate of travel.

The Magnum sliding sash is perfect for the downstairs windows of large properties – or for all windows in extremely large properties (mansion size, for example). With its hand made quality, attention to detail and insistence on only the finest in materials, the Magnum bespoke sliding sash window is the ideal insert for any top class dwelling or office building.