Exterior Woodwork

[wobs]

Some friends of ours have just purchased a rather nice house near us that has double glazed wood frames throughout. Most are painted, and I would guess all gloss.

However, the back has a new French doors/ large bay wind type arrangement on the back of the kitchen leading to the garden. All very nice, with double glazing etc, although it looks like soft wood, and appears to be varnished.

The corner of the sill on the oustide shows the early signs of rot, which isn't a suprise under the circumstances.

After a brief look at it I explained that it needs urgent attention to stop it from geting worse, but as they have just moved in, they could just patch it up for the time being. I explained that gloss on the other windows were an issue, but right now, they should tackle the rot first.

I suggested some linseed oil and filler as a start, but would check what would be the best material to apply to frames that have a varnished appearance. After they have sanded down the effected areas (and removed said varnish), what would be the best stuff to apply to allow the wood to breath?

 

[middi]

As a short term and temporary measure the best thing they could do is to apply some hard, sandable, wood resin and cover it with the same colour varnish/stain, untill a proper replacement ( or repair) could be made.

Partly rotted windows don't do " breatheable", it is a waste of ( long term) time.

Middi

 

[Penners]

As Middi says, their best plan is a replacement sill. They should find that the sill is a separate component from the window-frame, so should be replaceable without renewing the entire frame.

 

[wobs]

Thanks for this.
What sort of covering would you recommend for the frame once repaired/ sill replace?

 

[88v8]

Varnishes ain't wot they used to be. Compared to paint, they lack durability out-doors. If they wish to maintain the varnished look, a visit to your local marine chandler would yield the best of a bad bunch.
However, I think it better to gloss the whole frame with Sikkens AZ Rubbol, which in my experience is the best outdoor paint since the much-lamented disappearance of lead. I've also seen Holkham's linseed recommended, but never used it. I suspect drying time might be an issue in this non-summer.

In the past I've repaired rotted wood with two-part resin filler made by Ronseal, and also used their antifungal tablets embedded in augured holes in the wood, to prevent further rot. I so treated the sill of the 1921 front window in our last house, and it was still sound the next time I painted the window thirty years later. Yes, 30 years, well I did use lead paint.....

Ivor