Can you imagine a home without a window? A window allows us to see the scenery from the outside.
It is also is a way for the sunlight to pass through and reach inside our house to make it more alive.
Houses cannot be called a home without windows.
If a house does not have a window, it is like a prison cell for criminals.
A house needs ventilation to breath and a window can provide that.
Since ancient times, houses and building use double hung windows and it is still in the trend until now double hung windows.
Windows just started as a hole in the wall then later on become an essential part of a house.
It is often decorated with colourful curtains and it is placed strategically where we want the sunlight early in the morning to pass through inside our house.
There are many types of windows, the single hung sash window, horizontal sliding slash, casement window and so on.
Then there is the double hung window, which is used widely in the past in United States of America and other countries that were colonized by the United Kingdom.
It has a two sash that go beyond each other and slide up and down within the frame.
Traditionally, these windows used boxes as counterweights and were placed on each side but recently they now use spring balances to hold up the sashes.
In the old times, double hung windows are designed with shutters and are still being followed until today.
In our modern era, double hung windows still look the same with little modifications here and there.
The windows still consist of two sashes, the upper and lower sash that slide perpendicularly in separate channels in the side jambs or in full-width metal weather stripping.
Instead of using boxes to keep it in place, the sashes of these current windows are now using springs, balances or compression weather stripping.
The new parts are the new innovation for these windows, such as the compression weather stripping which can provide three functions; a counterbalance, provide tension and prevents air filtration.
Several hardware for these windows are now used for easy construction and safety of these windows, such as sash lifts which are attached to the base of the rail, and sash locks or fasteners which can be found at the meeting rail and is used to lock the window and compact the sash together for air-tight fit.
Moreover, these windows can be organized into a single unit, double type or in groups of three or more.
Depending on the design of your house, these windows are used to give a window wall effect.
Double hung windows may be an old fashioned window design but its elegance still remains in the houses of modern families.
This goes to show that classic design never goes out of style.
It is created by the craftsmanship of creative individuals that still influence the minds of young architects until today.
The next time you see these windows, you now know the history and some of its parts.