(no subject)

[which_chick]

I've said this before, but apparently it bears repeating. If you take nothing else from as a lesson from my life, please remember this: you do not fix old, wooden windows with silicone caulk. Old, wooden windows are fixed with wee metal bits (called "points") and gloopy grey play-doh-like putty (called "glazing compound").



1. Remove window from frame. If it's a really old house, there's trim holding the window in place. Remove the trim using your flat prybar and hammer. Pry gently, starting at one end, and try not to break anything. Set the trim aside and remove the window.

2. Remove the old, dried putty using a utility knife to cut it away. If the window is busted, you can be rougher with the ute knife because you're not going to break anything that isn't already broken. Also take out the old wee metal bits. You can flick them out with the ute knife or with a putty knife if you have one.

3. Now, spend some time cleaning up the place where the glass goes. Clean off the flat wood that the glass will rest against. Clean the opening all the way around, removing the bits of crud and putty and whatnot that you skipped over the first time.

4. Flip the frame and tap it a couple of times to get all the bits out.

5. Measure the glass opening. Make sure your new piece will fit in there. Glass does not smush into place. Glass is very solid and only bad things happen when you try to force it where it will not fit.

6. Go to the hardware store. Get a piece of glass cut to fit your window opening. Get points and glazing compound. If you don't own one, buy a putty knife too. The total you should be spending here should be under thirty bucks. (This is A WHOLE LOT cheaper than a replacement window for either vinyl aftermarket windows or Andersen or whatever).

7. Take the glass and put it gently in the frame. With any luck, it will fit. (If it does not, remeasure and go get another piece of glass.) Using your putty knife against the point and a hammer to tap the butt end of the putty knife, tap the points into the frame so that they hold the glass in place. Do two points per side for an average sized window.

8. Once the points are all set, you are ready to putty the window. Open the glazing compound. Using your putty knife, cut out a golf-ball sized hunk of the stuff. Work it in your hands until it is soft and uniform without any lumps. Roll it into a snake that's slightly bigger than a pencil but probably not any bigger than a Sharpie marker. Take the snake and put it at the joint between the window and the frame. Start at a corner. Use your fingers to mash it in, sort of. Repeat with more snakes until you have one side of the frame done that far.

9. Take the putty knife and hold it so that it makes about a 45 degree angle between the window and the frame. Press down and draw the putty knife towards you so that it will scrape off the extra putty from the joint and leave you with a beautiful and flat diagonal joint between the window and the frame. (If it is really cold out, like, say, early December in Pennsylvania, the putty will get too cold and break apart on you. This is not your fault.) If you have really fucked up, you can take the putty out and re-roll it and try again.

10. Repeat 8 and 9 for the other three sides of the window.

11. Put the window back in the frame, reset trim piece to hold window in place.

Huzzah!!

Observant readers will note that there was not so much as a whiff of silicone caulk around this repair how-to. Silicone caulk IS NOT INDICATED FOR THIS REPAIR. Ever. For any reason. If any one of you EVER silicone caulks an old style window, I will bring down the wrath of heaven upon you and your peoples, unto the seventh generation.

You've been warned.

Comments

[ladyivy.livejournal.com]

Why am I getting the very distinct impression you had to deal with an old style window yesterday that someone had used silicone caulk on?

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

Nah, yesterday at work I put in a water heater. I got to do a lot of problem solving.

Problem: Water heater is leaking orange rust colored water all over the floor.

Solution: Get new water heater from hardware. Hardware guy loads it on the truck with me.

Problem: Water heater does not have any easy way to unhook from existing plumbing.

Solution: Pipe cutter

Problem: Water heater is full of water and very heavy. (Thirty gallons of water at eight pounds a gallon is 240 lbs. plus weight of water heater itself.)

Solution: Hose attached to drain, run outside onto the ground.

Problem: Water not draining from water heater.

Solution: Blow really hard on the cut pipe to force water out. (This is actually what I did and it actually worked. Once it starts to run, it's fine and will empty itself out.)

Problem: Water shut off valves don't.

Solution: Put a bucket under the drippy valve. Interrupt remaining work for eight or nine spells of bucket emptying. Accept that slightly damp is a good place to be. Further accept that sweating the supply line together at the end is not going to fly. (You can not solder wet pipes.) Compression fittings and sharkbite fittings will work when pipes can't be sweated, so all was not lost or anything.

Problem: Water heater will not fit out of closet door opening.

Solution: Remove door from hinges.

Problem: New water heater needs to get from truck bed to ground without being dropped or laid hard on its side (both actions will break it) and old (heavier) water heater needs to get from ground to truck bed.

Solution: Back truck up to hill. Dolly water heater off of truck onto hill, a controlled drop of about 4". Dolly old water heater to truck and shove on. (it's okay if I 'break' it because it's already dead.) Unbox new water heater and dolly it into place.

Problem: New water heater is different height than old water heater. Pipe fittings also will not come off of old water heater.

Solution: Pipe cutter. Equipment to sweat pipes together. Extra pipe and fittings.

Problem: Nipple for water heater is half an inch too long b/c vertical height will not match existing install and I'm out of other places to fix the problem.

Solution: Buy new, shorter nipple at hardware store.

Problem: Cannot find pipe wrench.

Solution: Tear truck apart. Pipe wrench is located in truck tool box, hiding underneath toilet snake. It looks smug.

Problem: Joint compound has separated into gross yellow liquid and solid gray ick. It looks manky.

Solution: Teflon tape.

Problem: When sweating the pipe to the 3/4 female threaded fitting that goes on the nipple, solder runs down INSIDE THE FITTING and fucks up the threads to where they will not screw onto the nipple.

Solution: Heat up fitting, carefully wipe off solder with dry rag. Lather, rinse, repeat. Threads all better.

Problem: When sweating said threaded 3/4 fitting to a small piece of straight pipe to an elbow (so, two joints that needed to be done, right beside each other), one side was done so I turned it upside down to do the other side. The first side FELL THE FUCK OFF.

Solution: Swear a lot. Bang head against wall. Clean up fitting and pipe. Redo in proper order, ensuring nothing is turned upside down before it's set up.

Problem: Hot pipe fittings look just like cold pipe fittings.

Solution: Burn fingers.

Problem: Old water heater needs to get from bed of pickup truck to over the side of a 6' drop box. There is a height differential of about three feet between the truck bed and the lip of the drop box. I cannot lift the water heater above waist height, which is not going to do it.

Solution: Lift water heater to rail of truck bed. Lift water heater to top of truck toolbox. Lift water heater remaining two feet or so to lip of drop box. Huzzah!

It was a problem-solving kind of day, it was. There was a window earlier this week, though.

[cousinsue.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, we've had this issue at the Squiffer's house.