40 year old storms

Question

Dear Swisco,
I have a dozen 40-year-old storms. Some of the hardware is hurting. I’m attaching 4 JPEGs with tape measure for sizing purposes. I tried to open up the storm, but it seems riveted and doesn’t come apart easily.

Two questions:
1. Do you have replacement parts for the latches and corner keys?
2. How do I best open up the storm to replace the parts. (I watched your excellent YouTube video, but I think the rivets on this screen might suggest a different procedure. Or are screens and a storms two a different beasts?

Cordially,
Allen

User submitted photos of window hardware.

Dave Sr. · Accepted Answer

Hey, Allen. You picked a difficult screen to repair! I have some experience with these and it's never exactly fun. On some storm sashes, the frame is open on the sides, allowing you to get a flat blade screw driver in and tap out the corner. If you need to only replace the latch, you could try to pry up the frame by putting the screw driver into the groove were the latch slides in, install new latch, then tap the frame back in place with a hammer. It's a little tricky, but I have done it in the past.

If you do need to remove the corner completely, you will have to drill the "punch points" on the frame, remove the screen cloth, then tap the frame apart. Look at the videos we have related on the right side of this page for more context.