File Under: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

A recent “simple” project that unintentionally became more complex and costly than originally planned.

Christopher on left; Philip on right

Christopher and I set out to remove pungy (aged soft wood no longer holds paint properly) stops from the bottom of several windows.  

Christopher on left; Philip on right

By the time we finished, five of six windows were cracked — just the tiniest bit of excess pressure on the glass and: CRACK.  

The windows are still water tight, but the vacuum seals are destroyed, meaning the windows will fog up in cold weather.

Installing wood filler

So now, instead of just replacing bottom stops to improve the existing windows, we are replacing glass in five windows and all of the stops — getting the stops out to insert the new glass installed often results in cracked and broken stops.

Patricia’s office windows after extensive scraping, wood filling, sanding

New oak stops, primed and awaiting installation

Windows restored and awaiting new glass

- Philip