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

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
Hmmm,
Looked into a cladding possibility?

"Peter H" wrote in message

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.

Yes, I saw something done on This Old House when they were doing some
restoration. It was an epoxy material that dried hard and could be shaped
and sanded to match.

It is also important to find out the cause of the rot and eliminate the
problem. Windows should last much longer with proper care and a coat of
paint.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...058419,00.html

Probably other materials available too.

On Nov 16, 9:38*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
"Peter H" wrote in message

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.

Yes, I saw something done on This Old House when they were doing some
restoration. *It was an epoxy material that dried hard and could be shaped
and sanded to match.

It is also important to find out the cause of the rot and eliminate the
problem. *Windows should last much longer with proper care and a coat of
paint.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...058419,00.html

Probably other materials available too.

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. Also you must find out if something happened to the wood
that made it rot. It might just be a case of the west exposure and
not painting/repainting the wood often enough as some people just
don't realize that painting is a routine chore.

Tony Hwang wrote:
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
Hmmm,
Looked into a cladding possibility?

Cladding is a cosmetic fix only, and often causes rot by trapping water
and condensation behind it. (Field-applied cladding, not the factory
stuff where no wood is exposed to water.) Not a fan. Besides, if the rot
is advanced enough, the window will still fail.

--
aem sends...

On 11/16/2009 6:58 PM Peter H spake thus:

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.

Having had recent experience doing just this, yes, it is possible to
save windows this way. Depends, of course, on the extent of the rot.

The window I rebuilt was a standard double-hung sash (single glazed),
but there's no reason the same technique shouldn't work for your windows.

The stuff you want to use is epoxy made for such purposes. I used
something called PC-Woody, basically epoxy mixed with wood dust to about
the consistency of peanut butter. I also embedded some steel hardware
(all-thread rod and an angle bracket) to restore structural integrity to
the corner that was completely rotted out.

It takes a bit of doing: I ended up making a crude form to mold the
stuff in. But it does work well.


--
Who needs a junta or a dictatorship when you have a Congress
blowing Wall Street, using the media as a condom?

- harvested from Usenet

hr(bob) wrote:
On Nov 16, 9:38 pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
"Peter H" wrote in message

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.

Yes, I saw something done on This Old House when they were doing some
restoration. It was an epoxy material that dried hard and could be
shaped and sanded to match.

It is also important to find out the cause of the rot and eliminate
the problem. Windows should last much longer with proper care and a
coat of paint.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...058419,00.html

Probably other materials available too.

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. Also you must find out if something happened to the wood
that made it rot. It might just be a case of the west exposure and
not painting/repainting the wood often enough as some people just
don't realize that painting is a routine chore.

Git-Rot or some other penetrating epoxy would be a better solution than bondo.

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?

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

I use a belt sander and usualy 80g , cleans it fast

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.

Yes, there are epoxies for that purpose; as mentioned, Git Rot is one.

The success in using them depends on the extent and type of rot; the epoxy
needs to penetrate into the entire rotted area. If the rot is "wet" rot and
superficial they would work IF the wood is completely dried first. If the
rot is deep "dry" rot, you would need to drill numerous holes and fill them
with epoxy...all the fungus causing the rot needs to be encapsulated. In
either case, any missing wood can be replaced with Bondo after the epoxy
sets.

How practical it is to do that is impossible to say without knowning the
extent of the rot. Quite possibly it would be cheaper to replace the
windows considering the amount of work to fix them, prime and paint.
Especially if the rot is also in the overhead member of the frame...try
getting thin epoxy into *that*

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:58:48 -0800 (PST), Peter H
wrote:

-snip-
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
-snip-
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.

first you need to find out why they only lasted 22 years. Once
that's fixed, I love this stuff;
http://www.rotdoctor.com/

It is expensive, and not that easy to use-- but given all the things
that replacing otherwise good windows entails, it is probably a good
idea.

I fixed the bottom of my garage door with it 10[?] years ago & there
is no sign of rot returning.

Jim

"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-
Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available.

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. Put both in water for a while & see how much more
water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. Bondo *does* make a wood repair
product though. I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood Stabilizer."

Jim

On Nov 17, 7:13*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. *

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. *Put both in water for a while & see how much more
water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. *Bondo *does* make *a wood repair
product though. *I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which is
alot cheaper.

wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:24 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Nov 17, 7:13 am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available.

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. Put both in water for a while & see how much
more water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. Bondo *does* make a wood repair
product though. I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood
Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which
is alot cheaper.

Bondo absorbs moisture very easily. It is like a hard, open cell,
sponge. Very porous.

You must be using a different kind of Bondo...mine is talc (absorbs nothing)
bonded together with polyester resin (absorbs nothing), and a small amount
of magnesium carbonate. If it was porous it would make a lousy auto body
filler which is its primary use.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Nov 17, 7:33*am, wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:24 -0800 (PST), ransley





wrote:
On Nov 17, 7:13*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. *

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. *Put both in water for a while & see how much more
water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. *Bondo *does* make *a wood repair
product though. *I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which is
alot cheaper.

Bondo absorbs moisture very easily. It is like a hard, open cell,
sponge. Very porous.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Bondo is solid, hard as a rock with no cells visable, if it absorbed
moisture it would rot your cars steel from holding moisture, you must
be thinking of something else like foam.

"Peter H" wrote in message
...

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 . . .
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.

1. The home inspector could have answered your questions
about repair rather than replacement. Rot signals damage by
moisture, and long-term repair requires eliminating the source
of this damage. Plastic and metal-covered windowframes
are much easier to clean and maintain than (cheaper) wood.

2. You should be aware of the government-subsidized "Eco-
Energy" programme for Ontario, see
http://www.homeperformance.com/energ...ario-bc-canada

This subsidizes ($150) an "energy audit" of your house (cost
$300 to $450) and provides for part payment of upgrades that
improve your energy economy. The federal government
announced in 2008 (as an economic incentive) extra tax
deductions for home improvements, but this has not yet
been enacted for tax year 2009.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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.

On Nov 17, 8:08*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:58:48 -0800 (PST), Peter H

wrote:

-snip-

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
-snip-
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.

first you need to find out why they only lasted 22 years. * Once
that's fixed, I love this stuff;http://www.rotdoctor.com/

It is expensive, and not that easy to use-- but given all the things
that replacing otherwise good windows entails, it is probably a good
idea.

I fixed the bottom of my garage door with it 10[?] years ago & there
is no sign of rot returning. * *

Jim

That stuff is just epoxy thinned and marked up a couple 100%. Get
ordinary epoxy and after mixing it, thin with alcohol. You can add up
to 10% alcohol without affecting the results.

Lowes and Home depot sell brick molding and window sash. It's not
that hard to cut out the bad parts and replace them on most windows.
Unless the rot has gone way in.

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:24 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Nov 17, 7:13Â*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. Â*

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. Â*Put both in water for a while & see how much more
water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. Â*Bondo *does* make Â*a wood repair
product though. Â*I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which is
alot cheaper.
Polyester plastic (which Bondo IS, DOES absorb water. So does Nylon
and some of the Acetates. They will expand when wet, and severe
freeze-thaw cylcles will cause it to disintegrate if wet.
Epoxy, generally, does NOT absorb water.

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:57:11 -0500, "dadiOH"
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:24 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Nov 17, 7:13 am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available.

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. Put both in water for a while & see how much
more water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. Bondo *does* make a wood repair
product though. I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood
Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which
is alot cheaper.

Bondo absorbs moisture very easily. It is like a hard, open cell,
sponge. Very porous.

You must be using a different kind of Bondo...mine is talc (absorbs nothing)
bonded together with polyester resin (absorbs nothing), and a small amount
of magnesium carbonate. If it was porous it would make a lousy auto body
filler which is its primary use.
Unpainted it IS a lousy filler - and it does not work well filling
holes that get wet from behind. It gets wet, and when it freezes, it
"pops" That's why seams need to be well sealed before applying bondo
if you want the job to last - solder or "alumiplex" filler make it
waterproof - as does epoxy.

Cheap fiberglass boats made with polyester resin have a definite
lifespan limitation. Built with epoxy, much longer life span.

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??

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:37:49 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:24 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Nov 17, 7:13*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote:

-snip-

Bondo as used in auto body repair works quite well and is commonly
available. *

Before you do that- take some yellow pine, weigh it, take a chunk of
bondo and weigh it. *Put both in water for a while & see how much more
water the bondo holds than the wood.

Auto-body bondo is not for wood. *Bondo *does* make *a wood repair
product though. *I've never used it- but note that the directions say
"For Rotted Wood Problems, Use After Applying Rotted Wood Stabilizer."

Jim

Bondo doesnt absorbe water its plastic, their 'wood' line is just
bondo, I used it this summer and compared it to regular bondo which is
alot cheaper.
Polyester plastic (which Bondo IS, DOES absorb water. So does Nylon
and some of the Acetates. They will expand when wet, and severe
freeze-thaw cylcles will cause it to disintegrate if wet.
Epoxy, generally, does NOT absorb water.

Well, epoxy absorbs far less water, but it does absorb water. The
other factor is that epoxy usually gets various fillers blended with
it, that may absorb water more easily than the epoxy. The amount of
water absorbed by epoxy can be a factor on the botoom of a boat, but
probably not on a window sash. There is a special epoxy paint used as
a barrier coat to seal fiberglas boat hulls. It has a filler that lays
flat like fish scales to help make the barrier, and requires several
coats to be effective and completely block moisture. unmodified Epoxy
alone will pass moisture.

Even plexiglas has a specification for how much moisture it will
absorb. The number is not ZERO.

Almost all older windows can be repaired, maintained, and made energy
efficient without replacing them.

Learn how to do it yourself:

Historic HomeWorks Forum, windows section:
http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

RetroVideo. Live Video Conferences & Replays, some on window topics:
http://historichomeworks.com/hhw/conf/vidconf.htm

Save America's Windows
http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw...ts.htm#Windows

Workshops & Training:
http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw...n/seminars.htm

In Canada Olgunquin College in Perth is training preservation
tradespeople in their Heritage Carpentry program to do this kind of
work. Get in touch with them (613 267-2859 ?) and find out where their
students are now working to find an outfit that can do the work.

John
by hammer and hand great works do stand
www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

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.

On Nov 17, 1:42*pm, DD_BobK wrote:
On Nov 16, 6:58*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

Peter-

I have done extensive epoxy repair on my 1930's home in SoCal. * A
fair number of the the sills (redwood) *& sash frames (missing glazing
compound) were neglected for quite awhile before I got to them.

The redwood sills were badly weathered & eroded but no rot (clear old
growth heart wood).
Only one sash (both lower corners were "gone") was rotted. *None of
the window framing was rotted.

The suggestions about using epoxy products are good ones. * I used
(1987) Bondo on two window sills (redwood) with VERY POOR results.
A call to Bono's tech support line got the following response *"while
we recommend the use of Bondo for wood repair, we don't recommend its
use on redwood".

I switched towww.abatron.comwood repair products; *LiquidWood &
WoodEpox. * The stuff ain't cheap but it really works & really lasts!
Repairs that I did in 1987 just need to be sanded & repainted. *East
facing sills especially.

I was burned so badly by my Bondo experience and the epoxy I used
preformed so well.
I never gave any Bondo products another shot at exterior wood repair
on any of my work. *Luckily it only screwed up two window sills.

In the latest "go 'round' (2006) * I rebuilt the lower corners of a
rotted window sash. *I embedded SS all thread (www.mcmaster.com) in
the sound wood, jigged up the sash and rebuilt the corners. *Like
icing a cake. * When cured, I shaped & sanded it. *Perfect result.

BUT *if I had had a number of sashes to do, I might have set up & done
a a wood repair or just bought or built new sashes. *For a single sash
it "may" have made sense to do the epoxy repair.

that's all about the repair side....but why do you have the rot?
Paint failure? *Water intrusion? *Bad window material?

My sashes are nearly 80 years old...yellow pine? maybe? *The *only rot
I've experienced is due to my lack of proper maint but SoCal aint
Toronto.

Per other posts.....window / *sill repair via epoxies is a LOT of
work.

I learned my lesson.....keep windows & sills properly painted.
At the first sign of paint film failure, sand them & give them a
another coat.
Paint needs to be sound to protect the wood.

cheers
Bob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'd like to thank all who replied. I'm not sure why the windows
rotted, but suspect that they just didn't keep up the painting.
Eventually the wood weathered and split, letting moistur in. I'm not
in the house yet. We take possession next month and December in the
Greater Toronto Area is not prime time to be up on the side of a house
working on your windows, but I'll be up there in the spring.

Epoxy seems like the way to go. I'll spend some time at Home Depot and
see what they have there.

Peter H