To avoid confusion. Two oak stained LR double hung windows, one sash with cracked glass, both taken apart to replace broken sash cords. Two painted over oak windows, one sash with cracked glass and both with major hardware issues.
I had that issue with broken glass. So I took them to Beisswenger's , a local hardware store. They fixed them. I paid an extra $10 each to get them in a few days. The problem is that the oak stained windows were hard to disassemble and I did not take notes on the order. I broke the parting stop/bead (1/2 in by 3/4 in) (a common occurrence with old windows) so I needed to buy that, pine, and stain it (I left the stain on too long).
I have a problem on the order of putting in the stops, the metal flashing, etc. I have no skills in that area. You have to pivot the sashes to get them in place but they must slide up over metal flashing with ridges so maybe only have one small nail but then how to reach the other nail hole after you slide the sash in etc. I took both LR windows apart to replace the broken sash cords. In the LR the sash cord access doors are under the flashing, unlike other such windows (I could not even find them) and form part of the parting bead recess to make things difficult.
I also took apart two painted over windows, one cracked. One has NO sash cords and no way to keep them in place or a way to allow them to slide. The other is similar.
So, I decided to replace both painted over windows with pocket/insert windows after wasting time and money fixing and painting the windows. I had done 6 already to replace rotted windows years ago, custom sized. BUT now custom sized cost much more and would take until December.
So, yesterday, after carefully measuring, I went to home depot (I prefer menards) and bought two stock sized series 50 single hung American craftsman windows for $150 each. Stock series 70 double hung might cost $220 as I recall, and they have wider trim and look more like old windows.
One window is about 2 inches too narrow so I need to put spacer boards on either side AND make sure I extend the stops to keep them from falling out during installation. Normally you just push the pocket window in until it hits the stops. The other window is about 2 inches too short, so I need to put spacer boards along the top, an easier issue. One window is almost an exact fit in height but I have to tilt them in. If that is too high I will have to slide them in from the outside after removing the stops.
