The yanks house has
wooden sash windows. When we first bought the house most of the windows were
stuck closed while a few were stuck open. Some had all their glass intact
others had broken or missing panes. All had woodworm. A few had rotting timber.
On a positive note all still had their original brass catches but this wasn’t
immediately obvious as they had been painted over.
When we took the first
pair of sash windows home to repair we used paint stripper to take the old
paint off. It was difficult to remove the paint without damaging the wood,
especially the narrow glazing bars. The paint stripper caused the paint to
bubble but it still needed to be scraped away. It took several layers of paint
stripper before the wood started to show through.
Pat working on the windows |
After stripping the
paint from the first pair of sash windows it became apparent that we needed some
other way of doing this. It was difficult to get the paint off the fine glazing
bars without damaging them.
Now I am totally
addicted to home improvement programs on television. My family can bear witness
to this. On one such program I saw doors being taken to a caustic bath for
dipping. This got me thinking – could I set up a dipping bath to clean the old
paint off our windows? To make things even better I discovered this also kills
woodworm.
I was able to purchase caustic
soda in my local hardware store. We set up a shallow dipping tank in the back
garden. We had just enough liquid in it to cover the timber bar of the window.
By rotating the window we could do all four sides. Once the window was dipped
the paint got soft and milky. The window was then removed from the bath and
hosed down with water until it was clean. We then left the windows to dry.
Once dry the windows
were ready for a light sanding and any necessary repairs could be done. If you
want to use caustic soda to remove paint but you don’t want to use a tank you
can paint on the caustic soda diluted in water and it will still dissolve the
paint but it is a bit messy. I should mention here that dipping is only
advisable on soft wood such as pine. Hard timbers should not be dipped as it
can cause the timber to split. This discovery speeded up our work on the
windows and later we dipped doors and shutters also.
In all we had sixteen
windows to remove, repair and refit. This was slow work and continued
throughout our first winter. Pat would bring one or two windows home at a time.
Once these were ready we put them back into the house and he would take home
two more. At the start I helped with the windows but as winter closed in on us
Pat spent many evenings alone in the shed.
First window we repaired |
The first two windows
we fixed were very rewarding. As I previously said we removed the sashes from
their frames and took them home. Meanwhile I worked on the frames anytime we
were at the house — stripping and treating them for woodworm. I then
painted the fames with metallic paint — advice received in my
paint shop. I gave the frames two coats each sanding between applications
followed by two coats of white hard gloss paint. The two sashes got the same
treatment at home.
The pulleys were
rusting and stuck. Pat cleaned and oiled them and got them working again. The
cord was rotten and broken so it had to be replaced with new cord. These first
two windows didn’t need any woodwork repairs — a
reason why we opted to start with them. At last the day arrived when we were
ready to reinstall the windows. It took a bit of time to work out the pulley
system on the first window and in particular the length we needed to leave the
cord. But once we got the balance worked out and the first one installed we did
the second one in half the time.
Satisfied the windows
looked good from the inside and worked well, we skipped down the stairs,
delighted with ourselves and dying to see them from the outside. It was a
bright sunny autumn day and the windows with their wobbly glass sparkled in the
light. Pat looked at me and said ‘We have given this house back her smile’. It
was a lovely way to describe what the house looked like with two freshly
painted clean windows in place. Every time we installed a new window I felt the
same satisfaction. The old sash windows give the house back her sole. They were
full of character and charm that we could never have achieved with new
replacement windows.
3 top windows fixed |
We had found two lovely
restored sash windows at the salvage yard that I just couldn’t leave behind me.
At the time I wasn’t quite sure what we might do with them but later we decided
to use one of these to replace an old steel window that had been installed in
the basement at some stage in the past, while we used the other to replace a smaller
window at the back of the house, also in the basement. This let more light into
an otherwise dark room.
Pat had to make the
openings in the walls bigger so these windows would fit. At the same time he
installed the meter box for the electricity and the necessary trunking. We were
lucky to have Jason, another family connection to help build up the stone and
brick around these two windows. Jason is an excellent stone mason and brickie.
After one weekend these two windows looked like they had always been there.
New window replaced old iron window |
The frames for the
window sashes were fairly good throughout the house until we reached the
basement. Here the damp and wood worm had taken their toll on the timber. Pat
took out one frame and brought it home. He copied this to make new frames for
the remaining basement sashes. Daniel helped make these frames. He has always
had an interest in woodwork and loves working with tools. We had invested in a
chop saw, a plane and a router.
When all the windows
were back in the house we were well satisfied. To onlookers we might appear a
bit mad. We have no double glazing or sophisticated draft exclusion. Our glass
is bubbled and scratched and we have refused to replace glass that has fine
cracks. The timber is anything but perfect and some sashes are loose while
others are stiff and difficult to open. But we have the satisfaction of knowing
we did it all ourselves. These windows would have cost a small fortune to
replace and we believe the character of the house would have been altered
forever. Every year since there has been something that needs attention. We
have now painted our windows three times. Currently one of our windows needs a
new wooden bar. But we will struggle on to keep them because for us they are
worth it.
Wow amazing!
ReplyDeletethanks you. yes it looks well now and smiles in the sun
ReplyDeleteWindows have since been painted green
ReplyDeleteGreat job! The windows look brand new. I’m sure you did an excellent job with painting them green as well. Green is a lovely color to choose, by the way. Painting on glass windows has been gaining popularity recently for home decorating. Because glass surfaces are readily available and functional, painting on them is easy.
ReplyDeleteRolf Matchen
thanks for your lovely coments
DeleteThe windows need constant work but when money is short one has to make do and try to save what we have, sometimes not a bad thing
ReplyDeleteWow! Painting your window with green made it look wonderful! But if I were to choose a color, I’d paint it blue. Anyway, good luck on your renovations!
ReplyDelete-Willene Fagen
Thanks Willene for your welcome message #yankshouse
ReplyDeleteHow are you doing, Catherine? I was browsing for blogs about window repair, and it's a good thing that I got the chance to stumble on your website. Windows are important structure of the house. This allows fresh air to pass inside, and keep pests from entering. Looking at those images, I see that it was a job well done. However, I would suggest you guys to be cautious while repairing or painting a window, especially if it's from high grounds.
ReplyDeleteMaricela Milum
Thanks for your comments - we are lucky because when we need to paint our windows we can take the sashes out and paint them indoors and we can paint the frames then from within - no climbing. Thanks for your comments and hope you enjoyed the blog.
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