It doesn't have to be new windows.
Renovated with care, old wooden windows serve their purpose for a long time.
Old wooden windows, mostly still built by hand from selected woods, can still be found in many houses today. A lack of care and too rare a coat of paint have often taken a toll on the material. With a little effort and the use of modern materials, however, they can often be saved. This not only saves money, it also helps, to preserve the character of a house in its original form. A simple renovation coat of paint is not enough, when the wood substance has been attacked and the glass cement has become brittle. A refurbishment is essential.
To do this, all old paint should be removed as far as possible and the paintwork should be completely rebuilt. Old paint can be scraped off mechanically, grinding or by thermal treatment (hot air) soften and push off.
If the putty, intended to seal and hold the glass in the rebate, has dried up, it must be completely removed with a chisel or scraper and then replaced.
Basic rules of window renewal
■ Beim Abweichen alter Anstriche mit Heißluft entstehen Dämpfe, that can damage health. Therefore, work outdoors or in well-ventilated rooms.
■ Holzteile, used as repair items, treat beforehand with wood preservative.
Remove old hardened putty: Carefully remove the putty from the rebate with the chisel, without the glass pins, holding the disc, to bend or loosen.
Burning off old layers of paint with hot air. The wide glass protection nozzle prevents, that the pane shatters from the heat. Use a spatula with a long handle.
Coarse grain gets rid of a lot of old paint. You can work particularly thoroughly with an electronically adjustable angle grinder and self-adhesive sandpaper.
Multi-blade scrapers work well for removing paint, here the circular knife scraping out the half-round profiles on an old window.
The sanding sponge is a practical tool for finishing the cleaned surfaces. You can also wrap a piece of cork with sandpaper.
renew discs
The general overhaul of old wooden windows is a good opportunity, replace the discs. Is the fold deep enough? (min. 20 mm, or deepen with a router), you should use double panes. They have a much better insulating value than simple glass, thus save energy costs, and they only fog up under extreme temperature differences. The double panes cannot simply be cut to size, they must be made to measure. In modern windows, they are used with glazing beads and profile seals, with old windows one uses the proven window putty.
This is how you use the simple discs. Is the existing glass still scratch-free and without cracks?, it can be used again. However, plain window glass is not expensive. You can have the new panes cut by the glazier, with many small dimensions it can also be worthwhile, make the cuts yourself.
First, the old putty is carefully removed, and the existing layers of paint are sanded off or deviated. Before inserting the glass, the raw wooden surfaces must be treated with a protective primer.
Are the discs then inserted?, it's time for the new coat of paint. After priming, you can either use a special paint system with water-soluble Vor- and main coat on an acrylic basis or with conventional Vor- and main paint based on synthetic resin with solvent. We have chosen a special open-pored synthetic resin paint for windows, which maintains the breathability of the wood and still reliably protects the surface. This paint, only available in white, dries so quickly, that the required three coats of paint can be done in one day. Should the last coat be colored?, you can mix normal synthetic resin paint with an additive and thus keep this paint matching the paint system with a silky gloss and open pores. Used with regular acrylic- or synthetic resin paint worked, the last coat can also be done with the appropriate type of paint in the desired color in glossy or satin gloss.
Remove and replace old wood
■ Verfaultes Fensterholz kann durch Zweikomponenten-Reparatur-spachtel ersetzt werden. Important: Carefully remove all infested wood beforehand. You can see this water shank, which was sawn through for demonstration purposes, how deep the damage can go into the wood.
How to glaze correctly
Putty and old paint are carefully removed and all surfaces and the glazing rebate are sanded clean. Then treat the wood generously with wood protection primer.
A thin layer of putty is placed in the rebate as a base for the pane. Insert the glass and press it down, that the putty fits seamlessly all around.
Glass pins are nail rods, which are kinked at specified points and hammered into the folded side. Bending the nail breaks it off.
Press a round putty sausage into the fold corner and bevel and smooth with a putty knife. Press well, to remove air pockets. Allow the putty to dry until a skin forms, then treat like the wood to be painted. Neatly limit the paint to the window or mask off with crepe.
Window frames and fixed sashes are treated in the same way as window sashes. Touch up wood damage before painting.