I am repairing a sash window, and the previous discussions don't quite answer my concerns.
The window is 80+ years old, in pretty good condition except for rot in the cill with a failed repair, and a warped front to the counterweight box.
I've dug out the failed repair, and there is a fairly massive pit. I plan to drill through the bottom of the pit to give venillation, and have cut a piece of oak to fit the hole. Not being highly skilled, the wood I have cut does not fit exactly: I guess the maximum crack will be perhaps 1mm wide: certainly not more than 2mm. How do I fix the wood in place?
I'm reluctant to screw (although I do have some stainless steel screws). I believe there are some good flexible glues that set to a sort of rubber, and my instinct is that I should tap the repair in place with a liberal coat of such a glue to fill the cracks. Any suggestions as to a suitable glue?
I intend repainting with linseed oil paint. I see that Hockam reccomend putty as a filler, but I am not happy. In my experience putty as a filler between two bits of wood tends to crack and let in the rain. And anyhow, I do need something to give at least some mechanical support to my repair.
My second problem is that the wooden face to the counterweight box has warped, so that it leaves a crack between this face and the back of the channel down which the sash window slides. This is slightly protected from the weather, and was filled with a flexible rubbery filler that was, I expect, doing the job perfectly well. In an excess of enthusiasm, and because I thought that an earlier repair to the bottom of the channel had been wrongly sized, I cut out this flexible filler, and I now understand why it was put in there in the first place. Should I just replace it? If so, can anyone recommend a filler? I can push the warped board back into place, but I don't see how to keep it there. I could screw it, but I'm afraid the screws will cause the warped woood to split. I wondered if a compromise might be to stuff a rubbery filler that has tensile strength into the crack, cramp the crack closed, and screw it in place, removing the cramps once the filler is set.
Any advice? Any recommendations as to filler?
Nigel martin
PS. Another thought. I don't know what wood the window is made of, but I guess it might be pitch pine. I've used oak to fill it, for want of any better idea. Am I making a mistke in using a so much harder wood for the repair?
The window is 80+ years old, in pretty good condition except for rot in the cill with a failed repair, and a warped front to the counterweight box.
I've dug out the failed repair, and there is a fairly massive pit. I plan to drill through the bottom of the pit to give venillation, and have cut a piece of oak to fit the hole. Not being highly skilled, the wood I have cut does not fit exactly: I guess the maximum crack will be perhaps 1mm wide: certainly not more than 2mm. How do I fix the wood in place?
I'm reluctant to screw (although I do have some stainless steel screws). I believe there are some good flexible glues that set to a sort of rubber, and my instinct is that I should tap the repair in place with a liberal coat of such a glue to fill the cracks. Any suggestions as to a suitable glue?
I intend repainting with linseed oil paint. I see that Hockam reccomend putty as a filler, but I am not happy. In my experience putty as a filler between two bits of wood tends to crack and let in the rain. And anyhow, I do need something to give at least some mechanical support to my repair.
My second problem is that the wooden face to the counterweight box has warped, so that it leaves a crack between this face and the back of the channel down which the sash window slides. This is slightly protected from the weather, and was filled with a flexible rubbery filler that was, I expect, doing the job perfectly well. In an excess of enthusiasm, and because I thought that an earlier repair to the bottom of the channel had been wrongly sized, I cut out this flexible filler, and I now understand why it was put in there in the first place. Should I just replace it? If so, can anyone recommend a filler? I can push the warped board back into place, but I don't see how to keep it there. I could screw it, but I'm afraid the screws will cause the warped woood to split. I wondered if a compromise might be to stuff a rubbery filler that has tensile strength into the crack, cramp the crack closed, and screw it in place, removing the cramps once the filler is set.
Any advice? Any recommendations as to filler?
Nigel martin
PS. Another thought. I don't know what wood the window is made of, but I guess it might be pitch pine. I've used oak to fill it, for want of any better idea. Am I making a mistke in using a so much harder wood for the repair?
