I've got an outside window sill to repair. It has a couple of cracks
that need to be filled. Do I just need to open them out and fill with
cement? How would the surface then need to be prepared for painting?

Dave

"David" wrote in message
...

I've got an outside window sill to repair. It has a couple of cracks
that need to be filled. Do I just need to open them out and fill with
cement? How would the surface then need to be prepared for painting?

If the cracks are big you need to rip-saw off and refix a new (reclaimed)
sill length.

Otherwise, hack out well wide of the damage, fill with putty, after 2-3 days
prime twice (doing any neccessary sanding down) the finish with u/coat
(preferably twice) and top coat.

In article ,
(David) writes:

I've got an outside window sill to repair. It has a couple of cracks
that need to be filled. Do I just need to open them out and fill with
cement? How would the surface then need to be prepared for painting?

What is the sill made of, and what is the age of the house and
construction of the walls?

If this is a concrete or brick (rendered or exposed) sill, then the
crack is probably a point where movement will continue, so cement
(or rather mortar) will just fail again. I used a non-setting filler
from a gun which was suitable for overpainting, and squeezed it in
the crack under high pressure. It's been OK for about 6 years since
then. One which got left for many years without being filled resulted
in a large chunk of the render coming off after water ingress and
frost damage.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
Roger Cain wrote:
I've got an outside window sill to repair. It has a couple of cracks
that need to be filled. Do I just need to open them out and fill with
cement? How would the surface then need to be prepared for painting?

If the cracks are big you need to rip-saw off and refix a new
(reclaimed) sill length.

Otherwise, hack out well wide of the damage, fill with putty, after 2-3
days prime twice (doing any neccessary sanding down) the finish with
u/coat (preferably twice) and top coat.

Sounds like it's a stone sill?

--
*If all is not lost, where the hell is it?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 13 Aug 2006 18:36:13 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
(David) writes:

I've got an outside window sill to repair. It has a couple of cracks
that need to be filled. Do I just need to open them out and fill with
cement? How would the surface then need to be prepared for painting?

What is the sill made of, and what is the age of the house and
construction of the walls?

If this is a concrete or brick (rendered or exposed) sill, then the
crack is probably a point where movement will continue, so cement
(or rather mortar) will just fail again. I used a non-setting filler
from a gun which was suitable for overpainting, and squeezed it in
the crack under high pressure. It's been OK for about 6 years since
then. One which got left for many years without being filled resulted
in a large chunk of the render coming off after water ingress and
frost damage.


It's a concrete sill, 1890's house with brick walls.
The sill currently has what I thought was a sheet of slate on the top,
but must be something softer as pieces can easily be broken off. This
is coming away from the sill and the cracks are underneath it. This
will be removed and the cracks filled then painted.
I see the point about movement, so the filler option is a good idea.


Dave