Best material for window sills?
 

Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

Cheers,
Mark.

"mark" wrote
| I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat.

With plastic? ;-)

| The old window sills are some sort of horrible red colour
| ceramic tiles.

I remember them.

| Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
| material or is there something better for window sills?

Wood, which can be sanded and repainted. Window sills seem to take a lot of
abuse, at least they did when I had any, as they were often the only free
horizontal space, being kept clear by curtains every night.

Owain

mark typed:

Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

Cheers,
Mark.

Wood be it pine or MDF, go to your local timber merchants and they should
stock ready finished and almost cut to size lengths.

--
A.N.O. Mark

Stone and concrete are surely the best. Stone is kinda pricey. With
concrete, pay attention to edges and corners, ensure theyre finished
ok.

Wood is fine too, but not as good as crete.


NT

mark wrote:

I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Are you talking about inside (= window board I think) or outside (=
window sill I think)? - responses so far suggest people are interpreting
your question differently.

David

In article ,
mark writes:
Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

When I had my windows replaced, I hadn't decided what to do with
the window sills, so I just plastered them with the rest of the
window surround until I made my mind up. Of course, they've been
like that ever since;-) and it's a solid enough foundation to lay
pretty much any finish onto when I finally get round to it.

In the kitchen and bathroom where I laid ceramic floor tiles, I
intend to use the same tiles on the window sills. If you have a
timber floor anywhere, I would imagine using the same timber on
the sills would also match it well. Probably not a good idea in
the case of a shagpile carpet though...

--
Andrew Gabriel

mark wrote:

Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

Cheers,
Mark.

I assume inside the house?

Wood, natural stone, tiles - it all works.

Depends on what its for. Decorative - use natural wood, but beware water
stains from vases and flower pots etc.

In bathrooms etc I lean torwads tiles - often over a ply base to get an
overhang..

IUve eben used melamine cip, glued down with bidy fller. Good and
practical, if ugly.

Worst of all worlds is painted softwood. Always warps :-)

Probably not a good idea in the case of a shagpile carpet though...

I've seen it done. :-(

Christian.

Lobster wrote:
mark wrote:

I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.


Are you talking about inside (= window board I think) or outside (=
window sill I think)? - responses so far suggest people are interpreting
your question differently.

David

Yes, I mean inside the house :)

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
mark wrote:

Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

Cheers,
Mark.


I assume inside the house?

Yup.


Wood, natural stone, tiles - it all works.

Depends on what its for. Decorative - use natural wood, but beware water
stains from vases and flower pots etc.

In bathrooms etc I lean torwads tiles - often over a ply base to get an
overhang..

IUve eben used melamine cip, glued down with bidy fller. Good and
practical, if ugly.

Worst of all worlds is painted softwood. Always warps :-)

Hmm, many of the other posts seem to recommend wood.
Maybe some kind of hardwood wouldn't warp?

I'm guessing in the bathroom that I'd need something more
durable cos of all the shampoo bottles etc that get left
there.

Cheers,
Mark.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:

Stone and concrete are surely the best. Stone is kinda pricey. With
concrete, pay attention to edges and corners, ensure theyre finished
ok.

Wood is fine too, but not as good as crete.


MDF infinitely better than wood, if to be painted. No warps.

NT


Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

Cheers,
Mark.

mark wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

mark wrote:

Hi
I'm about to get the windows replaced in my flat. The old window
sills are some sort of horrible red colour ceramic tiles.

Just wondering whether I should replace with the same kind of
material or is there something better for window sills?

Cheers,
Mark.



I assume inside the house?


Yup.


Wood, natural stone, tiles - it all works.

Depends on what its for. Decorative - use natural wood, but beware
water stains from vases and flower pots etc.

In bathrooms etc I lean torwads tiles - often over a ply base to get
an overhang..

IUve eben used melamine cip, glued down with bidy fller. Good and
practical, if ugly.

Worst of all worlds is painted softwood. Always warps :-)


Hmm, many of the other posts seem to recommend wood.
Maybe some kind of hardwood wouldn't warp?

I'm guessing in the bathroom that I'd need something more
durable cos of all the shampoo bottles etc that get left
there.

Cheers,
Mark.



Bathroom = Tiles No (or little) contest.

mark wrote in
:



Are you talking about inside (= window board I think) or outside (=
window sill I think)?

I'm also surprised the group has let us get away with spelling it "sill".

I asked a question when I was new hear and got reprimanded for not writing
"cill" ;-)

mike

mike ring wrote:

I'm also surprised the group has let us get away with spelling it "sill".

I asked a question when I was new hear and got reprimanded for not writing
"cill" ;-)

Hear hear! :-)

mark wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

wrote:

Stone and concrete are surely the best. Stone is kinda pricey. With
concrete, pay attention to edges and corners, ensure theyre finished
ok.

Wood is fine too, but not as good as crete.


MDF infinitely better than wood, if to be painted. No warps.

NT


Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?


MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It does
shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you may get
a shrinkage crack but never a warp.

Cheers,
Mark.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
mark wrote:

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It does
shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you may get
a shrinkage crack but never a warp.

But it's definitely susceptible to permamant damage like chipboard, on
exposure to water - it swells up in the same way. (I have a window
which leaked over time, resulting in a bump in the middle of the MDF
windowboard - although it was painted, the water penetrated underneath)

David

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

MDF infinitely better than wood, if to be painted. No warps.

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It does
shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you may get
a shrinkage crack but never a warp.

Yeah - but it looks crap. Get a good hardwood and stain it properly and it
will last fifty to hundred years.

The message . 4
from mike ring contains these words:

I'm also surprised the group has let us get away with spelling it "sill".

I asked a question when I was new hear and got reprimanded for not writing
"cill" ;-)

Can't be so many builders around these days. :-)

FWIW my dictionary defines cill as "a variant spelling (used in the
building industry) for sill".

--
Roger

Mike wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

MDF infinitely better than wood, if to be painted. No warps.

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It does
shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you may get
a shrinkage crack but never a warp.


Yeah - but it looks crap. Get a good hardwood and stain it properly and it
will last fifty to hundred years.


Oh - no doubt about that. Good hardwood cut quarter grain will look far
better and be fairly warp free.

Trouble is you get the best grain pattern on non quarter grain cut...:-(

Lobster wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

mark wrote:

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It
does shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you
may get a shrinkage crack but never a warp.


But it's definitely susceptible to permamant damage like chipboard, on
exposure to water - it swells up in the same way. (I have a window
which leaked over time, resulting in a bump in the middle of the MDF
windowboard - although it was painted, the water penetrated underneath)

Yes. That is totally true as well.

But you ca sand it, fill it and paint it again :-)

Painte softwaood will blister teh paint in similar situations. Been
there, done that.




David

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Lobster wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

mark wrote:

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It
does shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you
may get a shrinkage crack but never a warp.

But it's definitely susceptible to permamant damage like chipboard, on
exposure to water - it swells up in the same way. (I have a window
which leaked over time, resulting in a bump in the middle of the MDF
windowboard - although it was painted, the water penetrated underneath)


Yes. That is totally true as well.

But you ca sand it, fill it and paint it again :-)

Been there, done that too!

Painte softwaood will blister teh paint in similar situations. Been
there, done that.

Lobster wrote in
:


I asked a question when I was new hear and got reprimanded for not
writing "cill" ;-)

Hear hear! :-)

Ouch! I think that must have been a Freudian clip :-)

mike

On 17 Jan 2005 10:35:20 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In the kitchen and bathroom where I laid ceramic floor tiles, I
intend to use the same tiles on the window sills. If you have a
timber floor anywhere, I would imagine using the same timber on
the sills would also match it well. Probably not a good idea in
the case of a shagpile carpet though...

Just about to do that with the timber floor offcuts. Lying a piece on
there looks very good.

The only fiddle will be getting a similar finish on the end, when I've
planed the tongue off, as the manufacturers finish on the top.
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk

(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 08:12:36 -0000, "Mike" wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
t...

MDF infinitely better than wood, if to be painted. No warps.

Isn't mdf basically a kind of chipboard? I thought that stuff would
warp like a bannana with a bit of moisture? :)

Or are we talking something else more solid?

MDF once painted is dimensionally stable since it has no grain. It does
shrink and expand a little, but it seems to be uniform - so you may get
a shrinkage crack but never a warp.

Yeah - but it looks crap. Get a good hardwood and stain it properly and it
will last fifty to hundred years.

Sadly it would seem that the next makeover TV show is now the
criterion as to how a "home improvement" should last.

--
Frank Erskine
Sunderland