Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The latch

I chose a latch that looked like the originals, but with a brass finish that would match the screws for the pulleys and the lower sash weatherstripping.  The latch secures the sash meeting rails together and prevents the windows from being opened.
Here are some pictures.



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Painting the Pulleys

The pulleys for the sash weights looked like this.
The original finish was a tan lacquer.  The lower sash pulleys were painted green.  I stripped the green paint off where the sash moves which includes the pulley.  I couldn't match the tan look of the original, so I decided to paint them both with black lacquer spray paint.  I removed them and used fast acting paint remover to clean the paint off the pulleys and a heat gun for the wood.  The screws are being replaced with shiny brass colored ones to match the fixture latches.  I made a holder out of cardboard so I could paint the edges that will show when installed.  The pulleys and the axles were masked off.  Here are some pictures of the process.





Here they are after installation.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Weird Walls

The walls in this room and all of the 2nd story are made of a fiber board nailed over the studs.  I'm going to put up textured wallpaper over the walls.  The old cloth tape and wallpaper that is covering the nails and seams is cracked and bulging out, so I have to tear it off and redo it.
Here is what it looked like before.



 This is what it looked like after the tape was removed.  It shows the original material and the nails.



This is what it looks like after the 'tape and mud'.  Pretty good for a beginner!





Painting the sashes

Before painting, the area must be cleaned of any sawdust, and removed glue or glazing pieces. I use a water spray bottle and some paper towels for the work bench, and a floor vac with a good bag and filter for the floor.

The glazing side (outside) was painted white. the inside was painted a light green color. I used interior semigloss latex for all the paint because water can be used to clean the brushes and stir sticks, semigloss hides brush marks, and interior paint is better for cleaning. I made one color mistake. The bottom edge of the top sash should be white, I painted it green. I don't think anyone will notice it though because its 30 feet up and behind aluminum storm windows.

When I started this project the main goals were to have working windows that didn't leak, rattle, or stick. Satisfying the first two could make the last goal difficult. The best way I saw to prevent sticking, was to not have paint to paint contact. I used painter's tape to mask off about a 1/2 inch of the side rails on both sides of the upper and lower sashes. I also masked off the areas of the channels and parting members on the window casings that would have friction from moving parts, but I'll write about that when I get to the upstairs room work.

I masked off the glass too, even though some people just scrape the excess paint off the glass with a razor blade. I find masking off easier. I used an angle cut brush with fine bristles to reduce brush marks.

You can see in these pictures the sash sides were left as bare wood.


 Notice the screw holes for the latch fixture in the upper sash. Very important!


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Installing Bronze Weatherstripping

Here is a video of me installing a strip of bronze weatherstripping.  This stuff is a pain to install.  I suggest 2 inches between nails.  I used a nail set to get the nail heads flush with the metal strip.
You can see I'm not very good at using a hammer, but I don't think anyone will notice the hammer marks I made in the metal when I missed.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Installing the glass

Now that the sash is primed, it's time to put in the glass. I want a good seal to the glass despite a not so good edge on the sash for the glass to sit. I put glazing under the glass in addition to the normal glazing over the points.
Here is a video of me putting the glazing under the glass.

Don't worry about using too much glazing, because it can easily be trimmed off later. You should make it an even thickness all the way around to reduce the risk of breaking the glass.

You have to be careful when the glass in squeezed down on the glazing. Press the glass into the glazing in small, even amounts around the entire edge. Go around the edges several times until the glass is pushed down into the glazing.

The lower sash is a special problem. The top rail of the lower sash is not a rabbit edge, but a slot. The slot is filled with glazing, then the glass is pressed into it so it makes a complete seal over the glass edge. This step is not fun. The old hard glazing is hard to clean out of the slot. The slot must be the perfect size to allow the glazing to squeeze out when the glass is pressed in. Here's a video of me performing this step.


After the glass is pressed onto the underglazing, the points are installed.
The original points were flat diamond shapes. The replacements I used are the regular glazier points from the hardware store. I don't know how the flat ones were installed, but the new ones have flanges on them to allow a bent putty knife to be used.
Here's a video of me pointing the glass.


Then the outside edge is glazed. This is covered in so many threads and blogs that I'm not going to go over it here. I've seen some pretty bad demos of this step though. One bad one comes to mind is from the home improvement TV show 'Rehab addict'. That lady has no idea how to glaze a window. She just smeared it along the edge with her fingers then claimed to be an expert like everything else she does.
Here's a video of my brother doing it. He's not the fastest, but it looks good.


The glazing will have to dry and set for a loooong time before it can be handled without putting finger marks in it. How long? Well I would wait at least a month then paint over it. Even after several months, if I pick up a sash with my fingers in the glazing, it will dent.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Parting member

I installed the last parting member on the 3 green room windows.
Here's some pictures.


After I paint the faces of the pieces, the weatherstripping for the lower sash can be installed.
Then I can fit the latch and install it.
Then I can put the vertical trim / weight box covers back on.