3 grommeted screws in the interior side jambs?

[Lily left the valley]

I first noticed such in the house we're renting a floor within. Almost all the window jambs have this, even though some are replacement windows. At first, I didn't notice the screws that are fairly deep in, and thought the grommetted cavities were a clever way to place tension curtain rods without the rubber ends (possibly before rubber ends) so the wood wouldn't be damaged from the metal bars. I did think, for a fleeting moment, of a show I watched where they found pocket style interior shutters that no one knew were there in the moulding of the deep seated windows. Yet they had a completely different method to pull out the shutters, so I let that notion die almost as soon as it arose.

Then when we went to view 42, I noticed the windows there have them as well.

Since I've been looking at various old window diagrams once we realized 42 has almost all original, I'm now wondering if this is a different sort of access panel to get to the sash cord/weight? You unscrew all three, and then the entire jamb pulls out?

I've not yet stumbled over a diagram or picture with such, but it would make sense to me. It could be that I just don't know the proper term for such, and that's why none of my web searches have yielded anything helpful.

I'm afraid to unscrew one here since it's a rental, as it seems that whomever did the lastest coat of varnish on the stained woodwork didn't prevent/break the seal between the jambs and the front face moulding.

If you have two copper to spare on the matter, please feel free.

[heartwood]

a picture would help if possible...
often, side stops will have washers called bead adjusters...the bead is the trim (side stop) and the cup washer has an oblong hole that allows the stop to be adjusted seasonally...during humid conditions, the sash tends to swell and stick...just loosen the screws a bit and move the stop back and, like magic, the sash slides up and down...in the winter when the sash are mostly closed, pushing the stop up against the bottom sash will help eliminate drafts and rattling...

often you can't see the weight pocket cover or screws when the sash is in place...typically the cover will have zero, one or two screws but not three...someone may have made a repair and added a screw....

hope that helps....
...jade

[Shrimpdip]

It is probably so you can adjust the jams in and out. the brass grommets should be slotted where the screw goes through. Move them tight against the window in the winter to seal off the air and then loosen them in the summer so the window goes up and down. Sounds like what I have on my pocket door jams





Edit.: Jade beat me to it.

[Lily left the valley]

a picture would help if possible...
often, side stops will have washers called bead adjusters...the bead is the trim (side stop) and the cup washer has an oblong hole that allows the stop to be adjusted seasonally...during humid conditions, the sash tends to swell and stick...just loosen the screws a bit and move the stop back and, like magic, the sash slides up and down...in the winter when the sash are mostly closed, pushing the stop up against the bottom sash will help eliminate drafts and rattling...

often you can't see the weight pocket cover or screws when the sash is in place...typically the cover will have zero, one or two screws but not three...someone may have made a repair and added a screw....

hope that helps....
...jade

It is probably so you can adjust the jams in and out. the brass grommets should be slotted where the screw goes through. Move them tight against the window in the winter to seal off the air and then loosen them in the summer so the window goes up and down. Sounds like what I have on my pocket door jams



Edit.: Jade beat me to it.

Thank you both!
I really have to dig out the good camera. What Shrimpdip showed for the pocket doors looks exactly what the ones I'm referring to look like. And they are slotted--I assumed they were screws when I noticed the slot and the grommet was protecting the wood as a finishing detail. I was so off on that.

When I was trying to search for what was going on, I saw hardware that I had no idea what it was (and the pages I checked didn't explain), but it sounds like how you are describing them.

I tried to go back and look at the pictures I have of windows at 42, and there may be 2 instead of 3 on those. But in this house (1918), it's 3 in all windows. I'm pretty sure the windows here are taller than at 42, but I'm not positive. We'll be back at 42 tomorrow, and I am not leaving until I check some things off my list I missed the first time because I was so loony over the built-ins and unanticipated wood floors upstairs.

*wanders off for a moment to get a tape measure*
Inside window measurement: 56"
Top: 7" down
Mid: 27 1/2" down
Bottom: 7" up from the base.

If that's what they do, the geek in me is screaming "THAT IS SO AWESOMELY PRACTICAL !".

EDIT: Found a bathroom window picture at 42. Three of them!

(What might seem shallow diagonal cracks on the lower half of the window is really the clothesline in the backyard.)

[Shrimpdip]

This reminded me that I have a case of these in the basement. I had to go down and dig them out.

[heartwood]

yup, those are called 'bead adjusters'!!

[Gothichome]

Well, bead adjusters eh! Just a little smarter now, I had never heard of such a thing. Good thing we have smart people in the district.

[Lily left the valley]

No kidding, Gothic. I'm learning so much here.