Historic HomeWorks Forum

Skuce · Joined: 08 Nov 2009 Posts: 188 Location: Ontario Canada

The top 2" layer of Sarco M absorbs water after about 3-4 months of being stored under water.
It's not a big deal...just take out your lump of putty about an hour before you use it and let it sit on the counter. Most of the water leaves.

johnleeke · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:35 pm Post subject:

If a 2" layer of putty is absorbing water, and most of the water leaves the putty, then some of the water is still in the putty.

I don't know what effect the water might have on the putty's long-term durability (mainly because I've not actually tested this), but I'd hazard a guess that it would not be on the positive side, based on what I do know about the drying oils from my fine arts training and experience.

Hannah · Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 74 Location: Kansas City

I've been buying my putty in small quantities (only as fast as I can use it), vacuum-sealed. That way I don't have to worry about water absorbency. I have an inexpensive hand-pump vacuum sealer that works nicely.

SashGuy · Joined: 10 Sep 2010 Posts: 152 Location: Houston

I'm always in search of the same.... something to speed up the process.
Last month I ran into a tube type compound made by Liquid Nails that claims to be ready to paint in one hour. Well.... I've come against quite a few windows where the home owner has used the other Liquid Nails, so why not try their glazing compound. I popped the seal, loaded up the gun and laid a string, which promptly started oozing down the glass. Well, perhaps it had separated in storage. Pulled out the knife, pulled it back into place and here we go.

One hour later, I came back with my paint brush.... Nope, two hours, nope, three hours, ? perhaps they were referring to spray paint.?

Blew it off, went on to the next job. Two weeks later I came back to paint it and found that the shrinkage was a bit much for me, but it did give a pretty good seal. Back to square one.

I'm not going to toss the remainder, as I'm building a new bath at the lake house. This stuff has the potential to be some fairly good tub and tile caulk.

mattswabb · Joined: 01 Nov 2010 Posts: 145 Location: Elyria, Ohio

Diane D · Joined: 15 Jul 2011 Posts: 4

Hello all. I'm new here. Recently retired, finally have time to begin home restoration. Just had fieldstone retaining wall, steps and walkway constructed (old country stonemasons - super job!) and roofers just left. No one can believe my 40 yr old original roof here in MA lasted that long. Now it's time to think about my windows. I am adamant about keeping my original wood windows, nearly all are 6/6, picuture window is 12/12 and windows next to picture window are 4/4. There are about 230 panes of glass and so much of it needs reglazing.

I read so many of the older posts trying to figure out how to approach this project. So many different opionions, as it was with choosing which roof shingle manufacturer I wanted. I am in MetroWest Mass. and have not been able to find anyone who will do reglazing on site. I have no way to cart all my windows to Worcester to get them reglazed and am also concerned about opening up a can of worms by having the sash removed and then tryfing to reinstall. I also fear this project will quickly become cost prohibitive. I am unable to do the work myself. So.....

1. Does anyone know who in this area I might contact for a quote to reglaze in situ?

2. If I get them reglazed by a relative, does anyone know approximate cost to have them painted? The 6/6's are approx 36 x 28"; the 12/12 is 72 x 36; and the two smaller 4/4's are 36 x 16. 7 of the 6/6's are at ground level and I can reglaze and/or paint those myself.

3. A relative from far away will come for about 7 days to work on reglazing my windows but obviously there won't be time for the glaze to dry sufficiently for him to then prime and paint. If they are reglazed, how long can they sit in situ before needing to be primed and painted?

Thanks for any assistance.

Hannah · Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 74 Location: Kansas City

DianeD: I see your post has gone unanswered for a while. I'm not a pro, nor am I near your area, so I can't tell you much about pricing or availability of window restorers. Are you sure there are no old-timers in your area? Ask around at your local Mom-and Pop hardware stores, not the big box home improvement stores.

There shouldn't be any can of worms by removing your sashes and then reinstalling them (much) later. I can tell you from my project (one down, nine to go!) that half your work is going to be on the window jambs, sills, stops, etc. I had my sashes out for over a month and now that they're back in, they work better than before. As far as leaving the putty unpainted while the sash is in--that would depend on a lot of factors--whether or not you have storm windows and what the weather is like there. Eventually unpainted putty will dry out and crack, but the amount of time this takes is variable with heat, humidity, sunlight, exposure, etc.

I couldn't afford to hire someone, so I'm doing mine myself, piecemeal, by trial, error, and advice from the good folks here. Although I am a beginner myself, my advice to you would be this: Your house is how old? Those windows have been there for a long time and they'll likely hold up a few years longer. You don't have to do them all this minute. Start with the worst one.

Hope this helps!

jeremyjones · Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Milwaukee, WI

Diane,
You can also ask at the hardware stores if they do glazing themselves. The local ace hardware will probably do it for you at a reasonable price, just ask to see some of their work first. But it would be on you to remove/paint/reinstall the sashes.

I would agree with Hannah to just do a portion of the windows at a time. Not only does it make sense financially and timewise, there are also things you may change about the procedure after you see the results. Whether it is products or techniques you would probably regret getting to the end of a such a large project and wishing you would have done something differently.

johnleeke · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:02 am Post subject:

To find tradespeople who can glaze and paint windows ask who is buying the most putty or glazing compound at all the local and regional paint and hardware shops and building material suppliers. Don't take "I don't know" for and answer, just ask that person who, at that shop, does know. Make up some little stickers that say "I need my sash glazed" with your phone number, and stick one on each gallon can of glazing compound. As recommended above, don't bother asking at Home Depot or Lowes, but this could still be a good place for the sticker routine. (But don't get tricked into buying anything at Home Depot or Lowes, give your business to the local shops.)

Always have the person you get (even your volunteer relation) do the intended work on one window complete and judge whether the result is what you want before giving them permission to go on to the rest of the windows.

To find window specialists here at the Forum, leave a message at the Clearinghouse:
http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1215

Also, some are listed in the Trades & Contractors section, with at least a few in Massachusetts:
http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

My book, Save America's Windows, has a directory of window specialists, with several listed in Massachusetts:

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/reports/reports.htm#Windows

Diane D · Joined: 15 Jul 2011 Posts: 4

Thanks you for responses and advice.

Hannah: House is 39 yrs old with storm windows. I live in MA. Windows work fine. Need nothing but reglazing.

Jeremyjones: I can not physically remove windows nor do I have a way to transport them.

Johnleeke: It is not feasible to do one complete window before working on the next.

House apparently well built. Original furnace and roof replaced in the past few months. Perhaps we'll work on the front windows to begin, even repainting (but not around new glaze). New paint will be light cream color so putty contrast shouldn't be too glaring. Then consider priming and painting glaze in the fall when it should be sufficiently dried. Either relative returns to paint or I hire a painter. Do not plan at this point doing the full Monty of removing glass, sanding, etc. Just remove all old glaze and add new, then prime and paint. This is neither a restoration nor a renovation project but rather a repair, save energy one.

I will let you all know how things go.

Thanks again folks.

Diane D · Joined: 15 Jul 2011 Posts: 4

After paying someone to deglaze, prime and reglaze a few windows in place, it appears it would be cheaper to remove the windows and take them to a place that does all that. Then I can prime and paint once the glaze dries sufficiently and reinstall the sashes. However, before I attempt to remove a window, how can I tell whether I have spring loaded or pulley/counterweight windows? I have triple track aluminum storms and the windows themselves slide up and down in an aluminum track. Do I need to pry off one of those aluminum pieces (not an easy task) to see if there is the "secret" place that holds the counterweights? Windows were installed in 1970 if that's any help.

Hannah · Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 74 Location: Kansas City

What John recommended me to do, and I had great success in doing, was to pry off one side piece of interior trim and take a look. The interior trim is what, in most cases, holds in the lower sash, so you can get a better look with it removed. If you had coil springs, you should be able to see those exposed in the jamb track. If you have weight-and-pulley balances, you'd be able to see the pulley up above in the jamb track. From the 1970s? You may have reel-and-cable balances. Is there a metal plate in the middle of the jamb track, at the level of the meeting rail?

Diane D · Joined: 15 Jul 2011 Posts: 4

As I had suspeted, the answer was behind the aluminum storm track strip and I have spring loaded sashes. Latest thinking is I will remove one at a time and totally restore myself, then reinstall. Even if they take over a month to dry, I will be fine with the storms and screens still in place until it gets really cold in November. And yes, there is no reason all windows need to be completed by then. This way I can also do any repairs (like filling nail and screw holes) and restain interior side. Another motivation for not going with vinyl replacement.... I love the natural wood showing on the inside and not that horrible white plastic!

johnleeke · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:46 pm Post subject:

Pheeeew!

I just read and studied through this entire discussion, while writing the painting and glazing section for the revisions of my Save America's Windows book. It took over 3 hours.

It's alarming to note that more than 95,000 people have also read this entire discussion. Let's see 3 x 95,000...that's 285,000 hours.

If you have any further comments or questions about putty, you'd better post them now.

For myself, I have just one question:

How many sash could be glazed in 285,000 hours???????