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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how to open this window?

41 replies

solania · 20/12/2021 10:29

We want to ventilate our small office but nobody knows how to open the window!

Can anyone help us please??

To ask how to open this window?
To ask how to open this window?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:30

Photos should be attached

To ask how to open this window?
To ask how to open this window?
OP posts:
Sunshineandrainbow · 20/12/2021 10:31

Is the handle stuck solid and doesn't lift?

SteelLucy · 20/12/2021 10:31

You just turn the handle round clockwise? Grin

MissCruellaDeVil · 20/12/2021 10:31

Does nothing happen if you press the button once the first bolt is removed? It's possible the window is jammed if it has been shut for a long time, give it some force.

Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:32

It won’t lift more than a few mm but the window/frame wobble slightly. I don’t know if it's stuck closed or if I’m just doing sth wrong!

OP posts:
Sunshineandrainbow · 20/12/2021 10:34

Do you know when it was last open?

Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:34

@SteelLucy

You just turn the handle round clockwise? Grin
Grin sadly it only turns 3mm or so!
OP posts:
Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:36

@MissCruellaDeVil

Does nothing happen if you press the button once the first bolt is removed? It's possible the window is jammed if it has been shut for a long time, give it some force.
Good idea, just tried but it doesn’t seem to be a button. I’ve given it some welly but I’m worried about breaking it!
OP posts:
Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:37

@Sunshineandrainbow

Do you know when it was last open?
Not the foggiest, we're both new Confused
OP posts:
DropYourSword · 20/12/2021 10:38

Looks like there should be a keyhole where that silver ‘button’ is. Maybe this has been modified so it can’t be opened.

Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:42

@DropYourSword

Looks like there should be a keyhole where that silver ‘button’ is. Maybe this has been modified so it can’t be opened.
I will have to ask someone who’s been here longer than me. Nobody senior is around atm unfortunately!
OP posts:
DropYourSword · 20/12/2021 10:45

I’m positive you’ll already have tried this but... are there no other identical windows there you can compare with.

MagpiePi · 20/12/2021 10:45

I don't think its a button, just the end of the rod that the handle rotates round? I imagine that something inside has become misaligned and is jamming the handle. Have you tried waggling it towards and away from the window?

Or, prise off the rectangular covers and I bet that the screws holding it to the frame are under there so you can take the whole thing off Grin

Brusca · 20/12/2021 10:47

It should just turn, maybe squirt some WD40 in the gap to loosen it.

Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 10:48

@MagpiePi

I don't think its a button, just the end of the rod that the handle rotates round? I imagine that something inside has become misaligned and is jamming the handle. Have you tried waggling it towards and away from the window?

Or, prise off the rectangular covers and I bet that the screws holding it to the frame are under there so you can take the whole thing off Grin

😂 I could just knock the whole thing out, but I think I’d be fired!

There’s two windows in my frame and neither opens (or more accurately, I cannot get either to open) so I don’t think it's one stuck window, I think I’m doing sth wrong.

I can’t work out what the screw is for? It was lying on the windowsill so I assumed it unlocked the window, but I can only tighten it and then it stops moving and the window still won’t open.

I’m not usually stumped by a window but I can safely say I am this time!

OP posts:
Soberfutures · 20/12/2021 11:02

The rod should unlock the internal mechanism so the handle will lift. Maybe jammed if not used for a long time. If you have oil or even washing up liquid give it a squirt and try again.

MagpiePi · 20/12/2021 11:07

This would bug me to death and I would spend the rest of the day trying to fix it and not get any work done! I guess the screw thing is to lock the handle shut.

I would try some kind of lubrication* and give it a tap with something, preferrably a hammer, but you might have to improvise!

*a large G&T will take your mind off it nicely, and would also be right on trend if you say it is a business meeting Grin

Optimist1 · 20/12/2021 11:12

You say you can tighten the screw when it's in place - turning it anticlockwise to loosen it might be the way to go. You may have to turn it quite a few times before the handle can be moved to open it.

SturminsterNewton · 20/12/2021 11:13

You've probably done it already, but have you lifted the handle while holding in the button at the same time?

heldinadream · 20/12/2021 11:13

Is there a building maintenance person? Stoopid question; I'm sure if there was you'd have used them! But if you want ventilation, can you leave a/the door open and another window in the corridor/outside the room open? Cause that don't look like it's shifting!

HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule · 20/12/2021 11:14

Yes surely it’ll be something to do with the screw - clockwise to tighten, anti-clockwise to release. Keep turning until you can rotate the handle.

That’s my best bet, anyway.

RustyBear · 20/12/2021 11:20

It looks like some of our windows - the rod is a key, which you turn to unlock the window. With our windows, the key is removable, not sure it yours are. In our case, some of them turn clockwise to lock & some of them anti-clockwise. But the screw hole can get worn, and so can the key, and then the key doesn't work properly - we have windows which will only open with one of the various keys we have, even though they look the same. If the key is removable, and you have another window the same, try the other key.

To ask how to open this window?
Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 11:22

The logic of loosening the screw is irrefutable. Unfortunately it was already loosened to the point of being on the windowsill before I started trying to open the window!

I do have a door open but I have people wandering into the office maskless (and not putting them on even when asked) so I wanted belt and braces. Office colleague is masked but we are being careful with it being so close to Christmas 🙈

Right, I shall liberate some G&T from the Christmas hamper and try that. Apply internally, that’s right isn’t it, @MagpiePi? GrinGin

OP posts:
Original poster
solania · 20/12/2021 11:23

@RustyBear

It looks like some of our windows - the rod is a key, which you turn to unlock the window. With our windows, the key is removable, not sure it yours are. In our case, some of them turn clockwise to lock & some of them anti-clockwise. But the screw hole can get worn, and so can the key, and then the key doesn't work properly - we have windows which will only open with one of the various keys we have, even though they look the same. If the key is removable, and you have another window the same, try the other key.
This seems very similar. I’ve used window screws (is that the technical term??) before but this one doesn’t seem to do anything 🤷‍♀️
OP posts:
DropYourSword · 20/12/2021 11:24

Why am I so invested in someone opening a window!