Rendering sash windows

A vertical sliding sash is two sashes that slide past each other, so it is set up differently from a casement: there are no hinges, no handle to place and no “which panel opens”. This guide covers what to pin, what to choose and what to count.

1. 1

   Pin one window at a time

   Give each sash window its own pin, squared over the opening. Where two sash windows sit side by side and you pin them as one, you can still render them: add their panes together at the pane-count step below.

2. 2

   Choose the product

   Pick Windows, then the brand and product. When the product itself says it is a vertical sliding sash (the ECOSlide, for example), Unformed sets the window type for you and does not ask. If the product does not say, you are asked “What type of window is it?”: choose “Vertical sliding sash window”.

3. 3

   Count the panes in both sashes

   At “How many panes of glass?”, count every pane in the upper and the lower sash. A 1-over-1 is 2 panes and a 6-over-6 is 12. If one pin covers a pair of 1-over-1 sash windows, that is 4. Leave it blank if you are not sure and the glazing stays as it is in the photo.

4. 4

   Choose the glazing bars

   Pick the kind of bar, or “No bars — plain glass”. Left blank, no bars are added and any already in the photo stay. Heritage-named products can come back with bars your photo does not have, so choose “No bars” if the windows are plain glass.

5. 5

   What you are not asked

   A sash slides, so Unformed does not ask which side the hinges are on, where the handle is, which panels open, how the panes are arranged or where the window opens. The pane count is read as upper sash over lower sash.

6. 6

   Glass, sizes and price

   Then answer the glass finish, the sizes if you have them, the trickle vent question and the price, as for any window. Sizes and price are optional.

7. 7

   Render and check it

   Generate the render and look at each sash window at full size against the photo: the meeting rail, the number of panes and the frame colour are the things to check. Fine details such as sash horns are small and are not a setting, so the render may not reproduce them.