Sash Wood Repairs

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Manalto
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Sash Wood Repairs

Post by Manalto »

Some of my windows have lost all of their exterior paint and the wood, particularly the bottom rails, are showing some checking. Sanding alone won't resolve this issue. What is the recommended filler for this?

heartwood
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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by heartwood »

if by checking you mean the dry wood split leaving open fissures, this is how I handle the issue: remove paint; apply blopentine to the entire sash or, if not stripping the entire sash, just the areas of bare wood; let sit overnight; apply oil based primer; fill checks with sarco putty (now that you have some!) and smooth out with a putty knife dipped in turps or mineral spirits; allow putty to set up over a few days; apply finish paint...

and there you have it...
...jade

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Manalto
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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by Manalto »

Yowza! I thought I heard you say that but I wanted to be sure, since there are all these recommendations out there for labor-intensive epoxy repairs. How nice to be able to use putty for that. Sorry to make you repeat!

heartwood
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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by heartwood »

years back I used abatron's liquidwood and woodepox for repairs...these days I prefer a more 'natural fix' so repairs are done using wood Dutchman...of course this takes some experience and the right tools...as homeowners, abatron or other epoxy repairs may be a better choice...minwax products are of a low grade and really stink which means they have some toxic ingredients...abatron is available at a lot of stores now....

yup, sarco putty, applied properly, is a good choice for filling the grooves left by old dried wood....

...jade

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Vala
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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by Vala »

Yea never use wood putty because it will start cracking out within a few months.. I learned that the hard way on one of the first windows I worked on. Wood putty is generally only good for something the size of a nail hole.

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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by heartwood »

many window restorers I know use epoxy on a fairly regular basis...I don't think what they are doing is unacceptable or cheap, it's just not my choice...
...jade

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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by phil »

there's different kinds of epoxy too, the stuff you get in a stick and kneed isnt' bad for filing cracks or missing chips,, then there is liquid, like the 5 minute stuff that comes in a double syringe. they have their place but if you get epoxy on wood that you intend to put a clear finish on it can be problematic as the wood becomes non porous so it shows similar to a sloppy glue up.
and fillers, there is the stinky kind that dries or the water based stuff, the water based is no good outside. I wouldn't use it on windows.

I've got a porch railing where some PO cut the railing half way through with a circular saw by accident,, so thats a pretty big gap. I'd use the epoxy putty, the kind that you kneed there.. or a slice of wood and liquid epoxy maybe.

the checking problem isn't necessarily a structural issue , wood can still be strong and not rotten and have checking, or it may be rotten as well.. so maybe there is some difference between filling checks with filler or sarco , this isn't a structural repair, just cosmetic, well plus maybe you help preserve it by keeping the water out of the cracks.. or trying to repair loose joints by impregnating rotten wood with liquid epoxy.. agree the dutchman is usually nicer. you can dry stuff out and vacuum bag it with epoxy but usually you can just replace the wood parts instead. Vacuum bagging with epoxy might work on an ornate corbel that had dry rot for example.

the best repair for a rotten board is a not rotten board ;-)

I've got some front stairs that are solid fir they see full rain and sun so they are opening up a bit. I'd like to try the sarco for that. Its not structural, but I can't get sarco here ,, how about filling the cracks with PL glue instead? would that be ok? I don't want to paint them so I need something that looks like wood. since those parts see full rain I think the epoxy might sort of reject istelf from the wood. I'd use it on the railing. That is under cover.

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Re: Sash Wood Repairs

Post by awomanwithahammer »

How goes the window restoration?
Bonnie

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