Storm windows

Have been using the Winmate to do my storm windows. The trays are now falling apart after many years of use. Does anyone know where I can get more trays or are you using another method.? I believe they are not longer manufactured.

Yeah… they are no longer available.
Which is a bummer because the win mate is awesome!!

Can you get some vynal gutter and make new trays… maybe?

It’s funny to me. You all talk about storm windows, I’ve never seen one let alone taken it out. Is this thing a tool to hold them so you can clean them easier?

I would try that for a quick fix. I have seen people use them with good results. I have a Storm Station and have been very happy. It attaches to most ladders and is very rigid and stable.

Storm Station:
https://goo.gl/d8Jybd

1 Like

The last company I worked for had replaced a broken Win-Mate tray with piece of gutter. Seemed to work pretty good.

Here’s a vid of my easel, dead simple:

Don’t bother watching my technique. This was a couple years ago, when my wrist was bothering me pretty bad from cts.

3 Likes

Thanks for the info. I will try it. Tom

I like to clean them on the window sill of the window they came out of. Put a huck towel or Terry cloth towel on the sill. Shut the window on it to hold it in place. Hold the storm window flush against the closed lower sash window with your left thumb. It’s just like you’re cleaning the inside of that lower sash. The outside windows get done while the storms are off the windows inside the house. Plenty of light to see what you’re doing. Much better than an easil in a poorly lit room in my opinion. More efficient as well because the storms do not get carried around the house, back and forth to the storm cleaning station.

PS
That’s how lots of guys in New England do triple track storms. Two pieces of glass and a screen that slide up and down in 3 different tracks. Very popular in my market.

Your storms may be different so the method may not work.

2 Likes

This is my method. Can use any small step ladder. And clamps. Screw clamps to legs and lean storm in that. Sorry the pic is crappy.

2 Likes

Yes, it looks like an easel with a tray attached to it. It has saved me a tremendous amount of time and effort and unfortunately it is no longer manufactured.

Exactly how I do them as well. More often than not the storm window fits only back in that storm window it came out of, so I keep everything there.

I also only take out one storm, the other stays inside the track while cleaning. Then of course I vacuum the inside tracks at the end of the job since most of the panes like to chip apart as well.

Gotta love the beaten up windows here in New England

3 Likes

I used to leave them both in and shuffle them up and down. I also used to argue against taking them both out here on the forum. Then a friend with a large window cleaning company talked me into taking them both out and I never went back to shuffling.

How come you leave “one” in its track? Best of both worlds?

When I go with the taking them both out method the frames get wiped with a damp towel and the tracks get brush with a sill brush. I believe it’s a more thorough job from the customers point of view than the shuffle method. I guess people get the job done faster shuffling the storms so it’s popular.

1 Like

Since it’s just me, I take one storm out of every storm until and place it on the floor with the window (obviously I also take out the screen as well and place it with the window)
Next I’ll go outside and clean the exterior windows, then the exterior of that storm unit, I’ll pull the top storm window down which tells me "this window is completely done on the outside.
Once the outside is done I go back inside, I’ll clean the interior non-storm window, then I’ll clean the storm window that i did not remove first, once cleaned I’ll put the top storm back up to How it was originally.
Next I clean the storm window I removed, on the window sill of the window (I’ll clean both sides) then put it back in the window.
(In the spring I put both storm windows up, I call it “summer mode” and put the screen down so when you open the window the screen lets air in)

Once everything is clean I close everything up and it’s good to go, then onto the next one.

I hope that makes sense the way I typed it, it’s just how I’ve always done it. Obviously some jobs things can’t get removed and have to be done differently. But for the most part I am able to my storm window jobs like this.

It’s also helped when I worked with other guys, because they know how I work and so the exterior “storm up” means the window isn’t done yet outside and “storm down” let’s them know that window is done and can be done on the inside and put back together.

Draining to the corners is genius.

1 Like

This is a great method. I’ll get move it a try on our next storm job.

The storms get stacked against the wall in the correct order and facing the right way once they’re clean.

1 Like

Sounds like you probably clean the outside of the bottom sash before you lower the storm to clean the top sash?

No problems dripping on that lower sash?

Your one storm removal technique eliminates shuffling storms inside the home. I like that.

Yes, I knew I missed a step… once the exterior window is cleaned then I’ll lower the exterior storm and clean it

I always hated the shuffling storms up and down, in some cases I’ve had to. This technique has saved me so much time on storm jobs.

1 Like

How about screen cleaning?

I do them inside the room over a drop cloth with a Damp/wet 10" strip washer and micro towel. Brush them outside the window if they’re super dusty. New England is not as dusty as other parts of the country so it’s almost always done inside. Yes even in hi end homes because it’s not a problem.

1 Like