wrote:
I agree with much of what you say, but its all minor in comparison
to
the real point, which is that linseed lasts many times as long as any
of those alternatives. Thats what counts, and thats why a 100 year old
house done with silicone would have more rot than one done with
linseed. MTTF (mean time to failure) is all important.

Linseed does not let rain in, not until its reached end of life. Nor is
it diffcult to apply IME. I last applied it hanging out of a window
semi- upside down, and had no difficulty doing so.


Silicone is untried for time because its relatively new in the market.

nearly all my puttied windows have tiny gaps between the hard putty and
the glass and this lets the rain down the glass to the wood. Its the
same everywhere I look.

you are probably handy at putting on putty but its tricky for a layman
and most dont even know how to soften it. then its terrible to get off
your hands and stinks.
If you had to reputty your own window surely that proves that the putty
wasnt up to the job you are saying it is.