Bent my window hinge (I think?), and now it neither closes or opens (aka, stuck open)

brampty

Hi everyone.

Today I was letting some air in, and as I closed the window it didn't actually go fully in, and ended up stuck and didn't want to budge. Upon closer inspection I realised that I must have somehow bent the hinge (which shocks me as I'm not exactly a strong person).

I've tried using a screwdriver to hopefully bent it back a bit, enough to actually close it, but all I've managed to do is damage the window plastic without any change to the hinge itself.

I've uploaded a picture of how it looks like: (i've purposely made a space between http and s because as a new user I can't post links, so to view the picture the space has to be deleted)

http s://i.imgur.com/LquvBL1.jpg

Is there anything I can even do anymore? I've tried applying pressure from the inside towards outside, and vice versa, in hopes of either closing it or opening it fully, but the window won't budge.

It's one of those windows which have a lock and open from the bottom towards the outside.

Now it's just stuck in this position. The left side of the window is almost "closed", as in it seems it wouldn't have any problems closing if the right side of this window wouldn't be messed up (the right side of the window, as per the picture, is much more open than the left side).

I have had complained about this particular window (as it was always dodgy) to my landlord numerous times for the last three years, and since nothing ever happened, I've learned to ignore it and never open it. Sadly, I wasn't thinking today so I opened it, and this is what happened. So obviously landlord will rightfully not care about this now (not that she cared for it in the first place anyway). I'm aware it will be a massive cost, I'm just trying to hopefully knock it down if possible

Any suggestions of what I could do myself, if anything? Thanks everyone

Head_The_Ball

Here is a working link to your picture.

Can you try bending the metal with a pair of pliers or needle point pliers?

ic

Replacement friction hinges are cheap, and relatively easy to replace, as long as access from outside isn't an issue. Its a case of buying the right size, opening the window, unscrewing the old hinge - taking the weight - (the windows are heavy!) and replacing with new, before doing the other side. You might be lucky and the new hinge holes line up, but if not, upvc screws are normally self tapping and will create their own holes anyway.

Here's hinges, they're sold in pairs: https://www.screwfix.com/search?search=friction+hinge

brampty

Thank you for the link

I am not capable of grabbing it with regular pliers, as the bent hinge is far too close to the window, and I do not have any smaller pliers. I could try getting some tomorrow, and see what happens. Though from how it felt to me, it's quite hard to move it even a bit, making it even more fascinating how I was able to bend it like this in the first place.

ic wrote: »

Replacement friction hinges are cheap, and relatively easy to replace, as long as access from outside isn't an issue. Its a case of buying the right size, opening the window, unscrewing the old hinge - taking the weight - (the windows are heavy!) and replacing with new, before doing the other side. You might be lucky and the new hinge holes line up, but if not, upvc screws are normally self tapping and will create their own holes anyway.

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I have assumed it can be done like this, it's just the fact that I'm unable to open the window anymore which worries me