Jobs involving windows , repairs and renovations
This bay required extensive refurbishment. Cutting out of most of the bottom 20% , new windows, removal and repair of all the leaded glass before re-fitting.
and the introduction of secondary glazing into the leaded windows – the lead came had perished. New cills.
Was it worth it? well an 8 light timber bay made to measure worked out at over £12.000 this project came to under £7.000
This was a challenging project. The leaded windows had extensive rot to the bottom rail and both the left and right hand stiles. New windows were made.
Because of the long term exposure to high moisture laden timber frames the lead cames around the edge of the glass had deteriorated and fell apart when they were removed. New edge came had to be soldered and each piece of glass recemented as these were leaking.
On top of that the bottom 20% of the actual frames and all the cills were very rotten.
I did at one point question if I had taken on too much! 10 days later I stood back and felt pleased with the outcome. All in all this still worked out cheaper than replacement.
So this character property in Bitterne – Southampton built in 1912 managed to keep its original windows.
An inevitable problem when removing leaded glass from a rotten window is that the solder can break at the joints and/or the edge came breaks away. Generally the longer the glass has been in place the more likely this will be the case. Repairing and in some cases replacing sections is a time consuming job.
Once the glass is out repairs can commence.
Edge came that has broken
Step1. is to remove all the old putty from the lead with the glass laid flat on a board which has two pieces of wood screwed down. One so that the base or top of the glass can be laid tight against it and the other piece of wood along one of the edges.
Breaks in solder joints
Step 2.is to inspect each joint and to arrow these so that I know which joints need to be re-soldered
Wire brush the solder joint and the adjacent lead
Step 3.is to wire brush the solder joint and the adjacent lead clean of all dirt so that the lead is shiny this allows the solder to fuse with the lead.
Step 4. If required I need to hold tight the glass against the screwed down wood by either tapping in some hoarse shoe nails or by screwing down further battens. This is so that the whole piece remains static during soldering.
Soldering now commences.
Step 5. Soldering now commences.
Edges now need to be inspected and re-puttied
Step 6. All the joints along the edges now need to be inspected and re-puttied using a special putty cement and chalk dust.
Brushing and darkening the new solder with grate polish
Step7. Involves brushing in the putty and darkening the new solder with grate polish.
The whole process then needs to be repeated on the other side of the unit.
With replacement of lead came along the edges the above takes place once the old lead has been removed and the joints prepared to accept the new came.
There are numerous sizes of came so I have to measure carefully the width and profile, profiles are usually rounded or flat to match the original.
Often it is the case that the mitre joint on a cill opens up. This happens a result of shrinkage usually after a prolonged spell of dry weather. The joint will remain open and this will allow moisture to penetrate over the winter months. Wet rot will follow.
A simple cost effective remedy is to insert Oak Slips. In this case 3.5mm thickness, Oak being a superb weather resistant material will remain in place without rotting for many years to come. By doing this the mitre joint always a weak spot will remain intact preventing wet rot to get a hold. 
A opportunity arose for me to undertake some circular work. The window in question had been re-glazed approximately 10years ago.
Unfortunately the glazier did not measure the bend correctly and had to fit the glass ‘off centre of the bend’. This resulted in the glass having to be forced against the rebate and pinned.In turn this meant that the glass was under pressure to spring back to its original form. There is a certain amount of give in curved glass but it will always want to return, just like a spring.
This pressure to spring back resulted in the glazing bead between the two pieces of glass to break at the joints. I suspect when the glazier formed a mould for the replacement glass he/she took measurements from the inside and did not include the depth of the rebate. The piece was 24mm short on the length, the precise depth of both rebates.
I fashioned a new mould by taking out the second piece of glass which fitted correctly and transferred this shape to a piece of plywood.
The glazing bead between the two pieces was repaired using Oak tenons that were slipped into mortices that I cut out and glued.
Once I had the replacement piece back from the manufactures’ it was a simple case of fitting.
There is always a moment of anxiety when offering up a bend but this one fitted like a glove.
This started as a small area of rot in one of the corners. But once I started It became apparent that the whole cill had perished.
The exterior walls had been rendered and the interior walls plastered after the window had been fitted. It would have meant either a re- rendered exterior wall or a re-plastered interior wall if any attempt was made to remove the window frame, so replacement was not an option.
The property which is a grade 2 is situated 100meters from the beach. All new work was finished in a marine primer and marine grade paint will be used.
About ten years ago these two sash windows had double glazed units fitted after the original glass had been removed. Because the original rebates that the old glass sat in was not deep enough, the contractor machined them so that they became deeper and allowed the thicker units to be fitted. This meant that the joints were reduced and their strength compromised – these sash windows should not have had double glazed units fitted due to their construction; there is just not enough stock to be able to do this. Also the rebates were not painted prior to the glass being fitted which meant that the sealant used did not adhere to the timber. Add to this the inadequate timber beads, the end result was a weakened window at the joints and the opportunity for rot to take hold once water ingressed into the rebate, due to poor adhesion of the sealant. Also there was no throat (a groove that stops capillary action taking place) underneath the bottom rail.
Some sash windows can be successfully retro fitted with slimline double glazed units but not all; it depends very much on the thickness and width of the stiles (side members) and the top rail (meeting rail).
For those windows that are too slim or too narrow, single glazing remains the only option. After all, box sash windows manufactured in the early and mid part of the 20th century or earlier were not designed to accommodate such double glazed units, just like a car built in the 1970s was not designed to accommodate air bags or many other modern features we now take for granted.
This is where secondary glazing comes into its own, with or without brush seals on the parting and staff beads and along the meeting rail. As I have mentioned several times in previous posts, thick curtains will certainly help.
With these two sashes, I managed to replace the bottom rail and glazing bead, along with the bottom 1/3rd of the stiles. The question of weakened joints I have solved by using an adhesive as the sealant between the glass and the frame at the bottom of the rebate – not ideal because if these units need to be replaced once they blow and mist up (and all double glazed units are destined to do this, even if its years down the road) then removal may be a challenge. As you may guess, I am not a fan of double glazed units in timber windows. Normally you can strengthen joints by: 1. inserting a wooden slip, which can be seen in one of the images that accompany this post, 2. inserting a loose Tennon, or 3. inserting two wood screws that secure the stile to the rail, but on this occasion there is not enough stock to undertake any of these options.
An area of wet rot to a 1930s window appears to be the result of either water ingress past the putty or insufficient primer used when painting a previous repair. As you can see I made a cut out of the effected area leaving in the piece that has the interior moulding it may have been a whole new window if the wet rot had eaten away at the moulding.
A new piece was then added and fastened with glue and screws, timber plugs were used to plug the screw holes. Not entirely necessary but a far more professional finish. Once dry the window was re-hung and primed.
The cords had broken on these shutters, and I could not locate the pockets to access the weights in order to re-cord them. I had to refer to a publication by George Ellis titled ‘Modern Practical Joinery’, printed in 1902, for the answer. As you can see, the pockets had been cleverly hidden behind the panel which I found surprising as I could just at a push get my arm into the cavity. Perhaps in those days arms were not so big, or this kind of work was undertaken by an apprentice with slender arms.
What I didn’t want to do was to take off the front panel to access these pockets; it’s been fixed in place since the 1850s. The windows are the original, fitted in 1796, but the balance shutters are a later addition. This was established by the presence of the original skirting board inside the shutter case. Also, the building was once owned by the Church and had a reliable record of works carried out over the last two centuries.
Sometimes the pocket sits near the top of the frame, about 18” down from the pully wheels, which I now understand became the practice during the early part of the 20th Century.
Whilst doing this work it occurred to me what a fantastic way to eliminate drafts, light and noise. Those late Georgian / early Victorian designers really did think of everything, and the skill employed by the carpenters and joiners, with limited rudimentary machinery, I can only admire and take my hat off to.
I am hoping that one day I will get an enquiry asking how can I eliminate drafts, light and noise with box sash windows fitted, as I would relish the opportunity to manufacture and fit a 21stcentury copy of such a practical solution to an age old problem.
There are modern day solutions that can be employed to reduce considerably the draft and noise problem associated with box sash windows, and these are covered in previous work and articles on this web site. I am happy to undertake such work but the elegance of balance or lifting shutters cannot be matched.
The wooden frames to this turn of the 20th century property were in a remarkable condition, the owner had records going back to 1930 showing a schedule of maintenance, the house had been in the family since it was built! however the openers to three frames had rotted and required replacement, they were very keen not to have plastic replacements which incidentally two builders whom had been approached had stated was the ‘only way to go with this’. Here you can see the manufacture and fitting of replacement timber openers, I copied the original mouldings in order for the end product to be an exact copy of the original.
