Sad Vintage 1904 Wood Window Sash Restoration How To

Too many people are pulling out their original wood windows and replacing them with vinyl. I get it, that’s probably easier. But deep down, you know that's like throwing out grandma because she creaks and needs her glasses replaced. She's seen some things. She’s got character. And you? You’re sentimental, possibly slightly unhinged, and ready to test the limits of your patience and dexterity. Let’s bring some historic charm back and save an old wood window sash from last century together.

Step One: Lower Your Standards

One thing I’ve learned working on old houses, and a couple dozen sashes later, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. This stuff is well used and beat up, it might have seen a few break-ins. Most “normal” people would throw it out, but that’s not you (hopefully). However, thinking things will turn out perfect will only lead to disappointment. A good approach is to aim for Perfect, but be happy when you land on Good Enough. This is no excuse to half-ass or cut corners though. You may still find yourself muttering “fricken perfect” before you know it.

Step Two: Remove Glazing and Glass

If any glazing and glass remains, carefully remove. Putty knives and utility blades are useful. Careful with glazing that is hard as a rock and bonded to the glass. There is a good chance you’ll break some glass, it happens, and it will probably happen when you are THAT close to having it out. Or you may accidently kick something into it after leaning it on the wall for storage, so careful with that too. But no worries, there is a store for that stuff, and I don’t mean Home Depot or Lowes. I find their glass too thin.

Step Three: Remove Old Paint

Time to put on a mask. I know you have one laying around somewhere. Between probable lead paint and who knows what toxins from heating up old paint, best to avoid it. Try to get some ventilation moving or pulling it away from you too.

The scraping paint experience can range from an easy stroke, where the barely-hanging-on-alligatored paint chunks come off like pushing crumbs off a table, to paint so thick and stuck you’ll pass out from exhaustion if you were to try and brute force scrape it all off.

Enter the heat gun. Or strange foreign handheld infrared heat lamp if you prefer, which I do. I’ve put many hours on my Speedheater, made in Sweden, so you know it’s good? It also comes with a few specialty shaped scrapers which come in handy in the corners and curvy shaped moldings (mouldings?). And careful not to gouge the wood. And don’t hold the heater in one place too long or risk starting a fire, especially with some of this old wood full of resin. After all your scraping you can sand with around 80-120 grit to knock off the roughness.

Step Four: Repair The Wood

Again, it’s common to have the thought “this thing is too effed to fix.” But it can be done. This step can be the hardest, but also most rewarding. Unless the sash you’re working on is from a museum, there are undoubtedly some dents, gouges, holes, and maybe even some rot to repair. Wood a little soft can be treated with a wood hardener first, if not fully cut out and replaced.

You’re old window may have some hand hold indentions that you aren’t sure what to do with, because surely Bondo isn’t meant for something that big right? Correct, it’s not.

Step Five: Enter the Dutchman

You might be surprised how far a sloppy Dutchman can get you, and I don’t mean a drunk man in the Netherlands offering you a ride on his bike rack. The answer is quite far, on both accounts.

Cut you a little piece of wood, ideally from the same type of wood. Scraps are good for this too, and brings with it the extra rush of endorphins having managed to use something out of the scrap collection! Trace the outline of your repair piece over the hole, easy to just use the chisel for the tracing. Now get to chiseling. Drilling, cutting, and cursing may also be required.

Clean it up, glue it up, and beat it up? Whatever, just hammer it in. If it’s too proud (sticking out too far), knock it down a peg, or throw it under a plane. Which may mean it’s time to buy your first plane. I don’t mean a second hand Cessna either, this is even cheaper. However, some people have some very nice planes. Anyway, if needed, plane it down close enough to then sand smooth. And before you know it, that Dutchman has nearly disappeared into its surroundings like an underground Amsterdam nightclub come sunrise.

Step Six: Primetime

I like oil based primer at this point. Then ready for paint. Just kidding. It’s time for Bondo actually. I prefer to prime before applying Bondo. You may have noticed the gouges that the Dutchman didn’t fix. Not too worried, because Bondo was inevitable for this sad sash.

The main rule with Bondo is to be quick. And don’t use too much at once. And don’t get it on your skin, it burns. After you’ve put your drop of hardener on your dollop of Bondo and mixed it thoroughly, putty knife it in where needed. Try to level it smooth with one swipe to lessen the sanding needed. Any hard ridges can be cut down after a few minutes before the mix hardens too much. Let it fully cure, this can vary depending on the particularly mix.

Now sand, and probably repeat. I’ve gotten up to 220 grit by now with my sandpaper. Use lower as needed to smooth the Bondo down.

And then prime again. I know, it’s tedious and sucks to get the primer back out for such a small job. But you’re so close. There is a chance after the second primer application you may see imperfections that still remain. This is where not letting perfect be the enemy of good can come into play. Sure, it’s not too much trouble to get the Bondo back out and dab some more on. But at some point, you have to accept it as good enough to move on if you expect to finish this one (or the 29 remaining).

Take a moment to appreciate how far things have come.

Step Seven: Glaze of Glory

Because you are such a pro, you can now easily place your original glass panes back into place. But on the off chance you had an oopsie, you can ring your local glass place and have them cut you a pane, or two. If you have deeper pockets you may opt for the old-school wavy glass for extra authenticity, that may cost approximately five times more however.

Secure your panes in with glazing points. Use a putty knife to carefully press the points into the sash wood, being carefully not to press down on the glass too hard.

Now get out your tub of glazing compound you surely keep on the shelf ready for such an event, or go buy you a fresh easy to work with tub from the store. And I mean compound, not caulk.

Some guys can put this stuff on with a putty knife like they’re icing a cake. I am not one of those guys. I am basically a kid playing with play-doh at this point. But I find rolling it in a ball and then a snake helps, then finger-fu..dge it in. I ensure my glazing comes up flush with the wood edge and has a smooth transition to maximize water shedding.

Now set it aside for a few weeks at least. The glazing takes a while to harden up enough to paint over. If you expose it to the sun too soon it will dry too fast and wrinkle like it’s been in the pool too long. It will also eventually mildew if not painted over before weathering. Paint shall be saved for another day, and post.