Windows and Window Frames for DIY Dummies

Anatomy of a sash window

We've seen many times that online freelancers, especially at the old content farms, loved to find a topic and hammer on it for a while. Some would publish their magnum opus in slightly different form at multiple websites (most of which are now dead and gone), while another favorite penny-increasing technique was to pretend expertise by publishing multiple articles about similar topics. eHow.com's Charlie Gaston did both: she published at both Trails.com (a LoveToKnow sister site) and eHow, pretending to be knowledgeable about windows at both. Here's Charlie's HomeSteady article "How to Remove Window Frames"¹ for your amusement.

Removing window frames isn't all that hard. The exact procedure, of course, depends on the type of window. For a single- or double-hung sash window, though, the order of removal goes something like: 1) take out the sashes, 2) take off the storm window, if any, and 3) peel off the interior and exterior molding. Once that's done, you can see to remove the frame itself. On old, wooden windows, the nails holding the frame in place may be behind the parting stop, on more modern windows the nails or screws will be more visible. That's not what Charlie said, though...

The widely-traveled sometime actress with an "international business" degree was clearly out of her depth when she penned this one (back in the days when she was Kimberly-Charlie Gaston), opening by telling her readers to,

"Read more to learn how to remove window frames in less than 30 minutes."

Yeah, sure, Charlie. We're almost certain that it will take more than 30 minutes to get the task done – especially if the poor OQ tried to follow your directions. For instance, Gaston told her readers to,

"Start from inside the home. Remove the storm window."

Forgive us our incredulity, but we happen to know that storm windows are best removed from the outside, because they're usually screwed to the exterior molding. Charlie next tells us to,

"Go outside to remove the window frame. Remove all screws and check for those hidden beneath paint and mold."

Ummm, that's how you remove the storm window, Charlie... and God forbid there should be enough mold on a window to hide a screw – if there is, you have a SERIOUS problem! She follows up with,

"Apply light pressure to the window frame. If frame does not move, use a hammer to gently nudge from its setting. Remove frame from the window."

We aren't even sure what she's talking about here: is this still the storm window? Has she ever removed the glass? Does she have the slightest idea what she's talking about? That last is rhetorical: of course she knows jack about windows! Who else would tell you to,

"Loosen the sash stops. Remove the upper sash, lower sash and window crack [sic] in one smooth motion"?

Unfortunately, this rubbish dates to 2008 (an entire decade of dumbassery!), before Demand Media Studios started demanding references for the contributors' crap. We have no idea what far more authoritative resource Gaston garbled to create this post, although the presence of the term "parting stop" suggests that our Dumbass of the Day at least looked at something useful. The problem, of course, is that Charlie munged the procedure entirely, leaving the Antisocial Network's demolition specialist scratching her head. How could anyone be this stupid? Easy: she didn't care about accuracy, all she cared about was her DMS stipend!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_2337872_remove-window-frames.html

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