Bathroom window help please

Our bathroom window has stopped shutting properly. Had a quick Google and most answers seem to point to hinge failure or the plastic bits at the top of the hinges not sitting flush in the cups on the frame.

This doesn’t appear to be the case. It looks like the two metal hooks at the top are hitting their equivalents on the frame and the middle hook is catching on the plastic seat on the frame. It will more or less shut at the bottom but there is a substantial gap at the top. Any ideas or advice greatly appreciated. I don’t have any money to get someone in to fix it unfortunately and it is creating quite the draft throughout the house.

Far from an expert…

It’s got to be something to do with the hinge. The mechanism should allow the top of the opening it to tuck into the top part of the frame. Something isn’t pivoting correctly which means the top of the opening bit isn’t sitting where it should.

Guessing you’ve got a hinge like this?

There’s either play in one of the pivots (2,3,4,5,6) or something has seized. I’m guessing if you’ve forced it shut, you might also have something bent.

Try opening the window all the way and pulling the top part down towards you as you close the window (mind your fingers!). If something has seized, this might at least loosen it up or realign any play in the hinge.

My old house had a couple of widows that wouldn’t close properly at the hinge side. I used to have to grab the opening part of the window and yank it pretty had to get the thing to close evenly. Pulling the hinge side into the frame as I closed it.

Thanks! I’ll give this a go when I’m back home

IN the corner, on your second photo (funkmasterp) there’s a black plastic thing, out of focus. You can just see a pointy bit on the hinge, also out of focus. As you close the window, the pointy bit slides into the black bit and pulls the window tight to the frame. When the hinges are worn, the gap is too big.

Need new hinges, top hung, buy from somewhere like handlesandhinges.co.uk and google for how to swap. DiY able.

Still no joy with it so I might have to get the ladders out and take a look from the outside/sides. The hinges look okay but I’m guessing that’s where the issue is. Thanks again for taking the time to send the picture and description.

I had a draughty window, side hung fwiw. I ordered new hinges and changed them myself, a bit awkward but fairly easy.  They cured the draught, allowed the window to shut properly.

I couldn’t tell by looking at the old hinges that there was anything wrong with them. Probably worth a try, they aren’t expensive.

Second it being hinges. You can DIY, but it can be a right pain depending on the size of the opening section, the height off the ground and whether your confident enough to to do it all from the inside.

I’ve done 5 so far that measure 110 x 65cm, all from the inside as access to the back of the house isn’t great and TBH, it’s a right faff. They’re big, awkward, the screws were all different heads, some needed re-drilling as they’d been incorrectly installed (despite all 5 being identical),  I nearly dropped one into the lane which would’ve been a total nightmare as horses, dogs and people use it all day. If I’d not been so broke at the time I would’ve been calling a bod in.

I had to mend one of mine ages ago, tiny wee bit had broken but they only sold complete full length hinges and locks. Went to a local window place to ask advice he said just have a look in the skip outside, the exact very small part was on one of the windows in there, worked a treat.

Take your photos to your local window shop and see what they say

Thanks everyone. It is quite awkward to get at the sides from inside. I’ll have a mess about from the outside tomorrow and Google local window shops if I can’t sort it.

I have had a similar problem and found that a bit of simple lubing will allow the parts to slide and engage properly especially the pointed plastic lug that engages in the vee shaped socket, try a drop of gt85  or silicone spray, it may do the trick

Are the hinges well lubed and not at all stiff to open/close?

Sometimes this can cause the window to sit off the seal which will cause a draught.

GT85 is your friend and try pushing the window against the seal from the outside if that makes sense.

If this doesn’t work, I’m afraid you’ll need new hinges. Get the correct length and pop rivet back into the same position. Upstairs windows are more difficult to replace the hinges for obvious reasons. But having someone on the outside on a ladder will help.

If you were anywhere near Norfolk, I’d gladly sort it out.

I literally fixed three windows in my house last week. Tried the WD40/lithium grease spray, didn’t work.

Ended up getting 3 sets of friction hinges from Screwfix for £8.49 a pair (for the size I wanted). Had to trim a little of the plastic part of the hinge, to get it to sit at the correct height, and now all three windows work properly.

Plenty of YT videos showing what to do, took about an hour to do all three.

A cordless screwdriver with a magnetised tip is essential IME

Edit: Just to make things sound confusing, hinges that are on the left/right of the frame are “top hung”, hinges on the top/bottom of the frame are “side hung”. Mine were top hung, as seen in Bens pics