How do I replace the glass in a wooden double hung window?
Hey guys and gals.. I have wooden double hung windows in my home. The lower window is one peice of glass, single pane, approximately 2.5 feet square. The windows “frame” that slides up and down is rail and stile construction (if that matters..). The glass pane is cracked, and I need to replace it. I can’t tell if glazing putty holds the window in from the outside, or if the window sits in a routed slot in the wooden frame. If it is putty it’s so hard it feels like wood, and has been painted a million times.. Big trouble is this.. It’s still wicked cold out, and exploratory surgery may result in the glass completely cracking, making my home somewhat cool… I need to determine a plan of attack… Is there a way to take apart a window, are all glass panes “glued” in place with putty? Help!
Wildthing
on November 30th, -0001
The old windows use putty. You scrape it out frmo the outside and knock the glass out, then clean it all up again by scraping the reveal clean.. then put the new glazing in and re-putty. In older windows each of those panels are individual panes of glass that are separately puttied into place.
Newer timber windows use timber glazing beads and silicone sealant. You need to carefully remove the glazing bead so you can re-use it, then scrape the glass out of the reveal, which will be stuck there with silicone. You might damage some glazing bead in the process so you may have to buy some and cut it to size. You then fit the new glass, installing a bead of silicone to the reveal and nail in your timber glazing bead.
In newer windows sometimes they “plant on” glazing bead to the face of a sheet of glass to give the effect of individual pane of glass. These glazing beads are litterally stuck to the face of the glass with silicone.
You could wait until summer.. stick some bubble wrap over the whole thing in the interim and tape it all around with some sturdy tape.
With all those little panes… best to get a dude in that does this all the time… quicker… and he gets to stand outside while you make coffee.
owen
on April 12th, 2011
we can supply single vacuum insulated glass,
thickness will be 6.15mm, very good,
vacuum insulated glass
mike norman
on November 19th, 2012
disagree with comments in advice to reglaze timber joinery