What Is This Doing in My Wall?
October 17, 2025
Source: Reddit
I was checking out one of those built in shelves that a friend of mine had. Just a little shallow cutout in the wall, white painted, framed like a piece of bookcase. And there they were. Two small metal wheels at the top corners. Just lying there.
I figured they were probably the remains of a botched job of some kind. Someone had tried to hang a curtain pole or something. But no! They were old window pulleys.
If you live in an old house with squeaky floors and strange drafts you have undoubtedly seen these things, although you have perhaps not known what they were.
The Sash Window System
Old houses had double hung sash windows, those tall wooden windows with two sliding panels. They were heavy. Thick glass, thick wood, and no especial concern for convenience.
So to offset the weight, the builders used sash weights and pulleys. It operated on this principle:
- A cord or rope was attached to the window and passed through a pulley at the top.
- On the other end a weight of cast iron hid within the wall.
- As the window pushed up the weight dropped down, offsetting the sash by its own weight.
It was simple and efficient. When it worked, worked well; it not well worked it stayed shut or had to be propped open with a book.
Why Are the Pulleys Still There?
That shelf I told you about? Used to be a window. Somewhere along the line someone bricked it up and converted it to shelving. But the pulleys were left in. And they are not unusual at all. You will find them in closets, behind the trim moulding, or perhaps in what seem to be sealed off walls.
The builders often left the pulley system in rather than tear out the wall. No harm in leaving it.
What’s Behind the Wall?
If the pulleys are still there you can safely assume that the weights still exist within. They are usually narrow cast iron cylinders, sometimes clinging on to a piece of cord. Sometimes the cord has broken and the weight is just lying at the bottom of this cavity.
There was someone who opened his old window trim part way, just to see. Lo and behold the weight was still there, hanging down, nicely balanced.
Take Them Out or Leave Them There?
You can take these out when you are remodeling but it is not necessary to do so unless they are in the way. They are harmless and amusing. I have seen people convert them to decorative purposes, framing them behind glass, or emphasizing them as a little homage to the original idea of the house.
Very much more interesting than a shelf of the mass market.
Small Details – Big Stories
The old window pulleys are more than remnants of hardware. They are reminders of a time when houses were built with balance and the idea of solution to some problem. A pulley, a cord, a counterweight—then a heavy window opened with ease.
When you find a pulley in the wall you do not uncover remnants, but you discover a small part of the original logic and craftsmanship of the house.
So when you see one do not take it out. It has earned its place. It is part of the life of the house. Let it be.