Window Repair Seminar

It was a chilly morning when I set off for work but not so chilly that I couldn't have ridden my bicycle. That's something I'm going to have to start considering more and more as a viable option to driving the car. It's becoming expensive. $4.00 a gallon is the price where I have to reconsider all my driving. Today I paid $3.79.9. At that price, it's costs me ten dollars to go 45 miles. That is very close to the distance I drive to work every day.I got my windows replaced last night. I was happy with the results once I had glass that was the proper dimensions.

Pictured above is the bay window in the dining room. The large middle pane was the one I had to replace. The plexiglas fit badly into the space and was seriously effecting that value of the house. It was easy to remove and I got it out in one piece. That will make it valuable for uses in other places yet to be named...or discovered.
I am concerned about the caliber of the wood on parts of this sill. It has had a very rough fight with Mother Nature and the wood is not winning. The picture below shows how badly it is peeling and cracking. Since we are in the scraping period of painting this side of the house, I'm going to try and give this window some special attention. That attention will of course be chronicled here.
Now it's time for the seminar portion of the Blog. Here is how I do my glazing. I've never been taught the proper method and so I was forced to develope the Stan method. And this is how it goes.
Let's start with points. Points and the little metal keepers that hold the glass pane in place. I use them liberally, generally three per side.

Next I trowel out large blobs of glazing compound and press it into a section of the window. I don't know if it's better to start on one particlular edge over another so I pick the one that feels most natural. The one you would go to first. It will be different for everyone and that is part of the zen beauty of window glazing.

Anyway, I get the blob in place and try to squeeze it into the corner of the sill and glass as tight as possible.

I like to use a wide width putty knife. I squish the glazing compound into the sill and pull the excess compound off the blade. As I squish and remove, squish and remove, I add the excess putty to the line I am working. I continue until I reach the end of the line or run out of putty. Repeat!

Finally, I use the wide putty knife to smooth the glazing into place, giving it a nice smooth finish. Dipping the knife in some water and keeping it clean of putty is helpful.