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EXT

wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:11:15 -0500, "EXT"
wrote:

ransley wrote:
On Nov 16, 8:58 pm, Peter H wrote:
I hope that someone from the excellent group can help me with
this one.

We've bought a 22 year-old house in the greater Toronto area.
The window frames on the western side of the house are
beginning to rot out. We had a home inspection done and the
inspector suggested that the windows should be replaced next
year or the year after at the very latest.

I'm wondering if there isn't some way to save the windows, or at
least delay the work. The windows are thermapane (sp?) and the
seals are all still good.

Could we not have the frames injected with a resin or something
and then seal them. It seems such a waste to trash the whole
set of windows because of this problem... not to mention the
expense.

Thanks for all replies.

Peter H

Why did they rot, the west side has enough sun to dry things out,
is it the whole frame. First dig out whats loose and kill the rot
with bleach. Minwax has a liqued hardener to be used on soft
wood, you drill holes and inject the liqued. I think a syringe
would be best. For holes ive used Bondo as that is the cheapest.
A few other products mentioned might cost you 2-5x as much and do
no more. Covering it all in aluminum will only hide the problem
and cure nothing. But a question remains, what caused them to rot?

What caused them to rot. That is a good question. I have a similar
problem on south facing windows. It appears that the window company
used a very susceptible piece of wood. The wood next to it and
touching it is fine. The windows are aluminum clad at the factory.
There is nothing on the outside to paint, however, aluminum
venetian blinds on the inside can cause considerable condensation
in winter. This soaks into seams and swells the wood which causes
the paint to crack allowing more water to penetrate. The bad piece
of wood over the years retains the water for months and has started
to rot in spots after 25 years. I have soaked in epoxy penetrant
and used epoxy putty to level the lower frame and it is still quite
sturdy and useable. The window next to this one, made by the same
manufacturer, facing east is fine. Sometimes a bad piece of wood is
used when making the frame. It looks OK when new, but just does not
hold up over time.
Out of interest, what manufacturer??

They are made by "Feldmann", built somewhere near London, Ontario. Very good
windows, except for some poor wood in them, however the company folded
during the last recession in the late '80s or early '90s.