AT reader Seonna lives in a midcentury era home with glass window vents that need to be repaired and writes in:
Dear AT, my home is surrounded by these wonderful glass window vents that allow me to control the interior temperature throughout the year here in scenic Mt. Washington by opening or closing them accordingly. But one of the window segments is now broken and won't close at all. Where/whom would I contact for a repair? Would a regular window repairman be able to handle this job or is this the job for a specialist considering the age and style of these windows?
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Jalousie windows are easy to repair - all you need to do is remove one of the remaining whole glass panels and take it to a glass shop so that they can cut another panel to match - and replace the panels in your window.
view bepsf's profile
These are jalousie windows. If you google it, you'll get hits for places that sell the hardware (clips, cranks, etc.). It could be difficult to replace those vintage parts, so be careful not to damage the clips when you remove the glass. Remove the broken glass and take it to a glass shop and ask them to cut a replacement piece for you. If you are patient, they can even order the textured glass so it would be the same.
I highly recommend:
Glass On Glass Doors & Windows
65 W Del Mar Blvd
(626) 578-9222
Pasadena, CA
view arroyo's profile
You can also get glass jalousie window slats from Home Depot. I bought one and propped it up behind my new kitchen sink as a "backsplash."
view david's profile
Those are jalousie windows. There's lots of local sources, and online as well.
http://www.pickenswindowparts.com/jalousie.html
They're not modernist, particularly. You see them in 30s houses, and they're more common in what are sometimes called "Florida rooms".
view Palmetto's profile
Excellent info from the AT readership! I admit I blanked out about the name "jalousie windows" after hours of tip of the tongue moments, but knew someone (more than someone...several) on AT would recognize and remember these, so cheers to each of you.
She'll be extremely pleased to find out that the repair might not only be simple and affordable, but also with a local repair location and an online option.
view gregory's profile
We have jalousies that we have had to repair. I found replacement parts at Ace Hardware.
When you say it doesn't close, I assume that means the mechanism is broken, not the glass pane.
It's a basic repair that you can do yourself, so it should be a piece of cake for a window repairman.
When our mechanism broke and wouldn't close, it was because the crank that opens/closes the window had broken inside. We had to replace the crank and the strip of metal that connects the crank to the actual window mechanism. This is packaged as a single item at the hardware store.
The only trouble we ran into was you have to make sure your replacement metal strip is the same length as the original. It's best to unscrew the original broken part and take it with you so you can match it up, or you're going to be drilling new holes into the mechanism to make it fit (which is fine as far as functionality goes... just more work for you!).
view sagekitten85's profile
PS Our jalousie windows are 30 years old, the style of the replacement part was slightly different but not noticeable once installed.
view sagekitten85's profile
FYI, AT reader Susan also emailed the following:
"I was told that Hollywood Glass 323-661-7774 and Economy Glass 310-393-0153 fixes Jalouisie windows like this. I have the same problem and have been doing a lot of research on it."
view gregory's profile
Wow! Thanks for all the helpful advice and info on resources!
view rufftuffcreampuff's profile