June 9, 2022
Hi there,
I have a casement window that's no longer closing properly, and I'm hoping you can help me sort out the right part(s) to fix it. There's a part near the crank at the bottom where something is visibly off, though it's not clear what the cause was (for all I know, a bear might have climbed onto the window and pulled it off the track). I'd be interested in your advice on what to replace for the part that's clearly broken, and if your experience tells you that something else is off, it would be great to know that, too.
It's a 24" x 68" casement window by Marvin, installed around the year 2000. The first two photos show the same part, with one close-up photo with the problem circled, and one zoomed-out photo to show the context. The problem is when the window cranks open, the little black piece pulls off the track because the metal clip on the end is bent and doesn't stay in the track. Then when we go to close the window, I guess the metal piece doesn't go back into the track, and the left side of the hinge arm ends up digging into the wood frame on the left as you try to close the window all the way. You can kind of see that in the third photo, which shows the crank mechanism with a tape measure to help give a sense of scale. (The third photo also shows the manufacturer info on the window glass, which says "ICA Integrity/Marvin".)
That left bottom part of the window gets pushed out toward the outside when the window closes far enough to lock, so the window doesn't seal fully unless you push on it from the outside. There's no visible damage anywhere else on the window, and I can't see any warping or broken parts on the hardware at the top, but I have very little experience working with casement windows, so I may be missing something. Photos 4 and 5 show the hardware at the top, in case it's helpful to see.
I wish I could find a pro to fix this, but we're out in the middle of nowhere, and nobody seems interested in such a small job, so I guess this means I'm going to have to learn how to fix it. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on the part(s) I'd need to repair the issue at the bottom, and anything else that jumps out at you.
Thanks so much!
Cael
