It’s A Home Run… Right Through Your Window!

Among the most common repair jobs to be done around the homestead will be replacing broken window panes. Broken windows can diminish both the looks and value of your home, so it’s best to repair these things as soon as possible after the damage has been done.

Cutting and Setting Glass
Eventually someone or something is going to send a rock or baseball or falling limb through your window. If you know a few tricks of reglazing you’ll be able to easily replace shattered panes. In fact, using these same basic techniques you might even decide to refit your old single-pane windows with insulted, double-paned or reflective glass to make your home more energy efficient.

Single-glazed glass panels can be purchased already cut to size at the local hardware store, but if you are as much of a salvage pack-rat as I am, you have lots of old windows and sheets of glass stacked neatly under the shed which can be cut to size for any window.

Tools for working with glass will be a glass cutter – a carbide scoring wheel) and a pair of wide-nose glass pliers. To install a pane of glass in a wooden sash, you will need wedge-shaped fasteners called to hold the pane in place, linseed oil to soften old putty and coat the inside of the frame (uncoated wood draws oil from the new glazing compound and makes it brittle) to cushion the glass in the frame and make a watertight seal. These easily fit into a pocket of your homestead tool bucket.

Before you cut a windowpane yourself, practice on scrap glass to get a feel for the amount of pressure needed to score the glass for a clean cut. Too much pressure will crack the glass, too little will not score it. A rasping sound as you draw the cutter across the glass indicates that the pressure you are exerting is just right.

To cut the new pane, lay your sheet of glass on a pad of old carpet or thin foam rubber on a workbench or table. Brush linseed oil on the area to be scored and set a straight edge along the cut line. Slanting the cutter toward you and holding it between your first and second fingers, pull it along the straight edge, starting about 1/16 inch from the edge of the glass, to score in one smooth motion. Don’t go back over the score line – a double score will cause the glass to break with an uneven edge.

Tilt one side of the glass up off the pad and tap the underside of the score line with the ball on the handle end of the glass cutter. The blows will deepen the score. Place a thin rod or dowel at least as long as the score line on the work surface and position the glass on top of it with the score line right over the rod. Press down firmly on both sides of the score; the glass should snap cleanly at the score line. Use 240 grit silicon-carbide sandpaper or an emery stone to smooth the glass edge.

Cleaning Out the Sash
Remove the broken glass from the window carefully, from the outside if possible. Wear leather gloves to protect your hands and safety goggles because the glass is likely to shatter further. Hold the pieces firmly and work back and forth to free them from the old glazing, and be sure to dispose of these shards carefully. You don’t want to end up with stitches next time you take a load to the dump!

When you’ve removed the glass shards of the broken pane, remove the old glazing compound. Brush it liberally with linseed oil and let it soak in for about half an hour (while you’re cutting the new pane or having lunch). Scrape off the soften compound with a wood chisel. If the oil doesn’t soften the compound enough, run the tip of a heated soldering iron lightly back and forth along the compound or heat the compound with a heat gun, then scrape. Don’t touch the soldering iron to the sash, and don’t ever use a blow torch to soften old glazing. If you value your house, that is.

Installing the Pane
Pull out all old glazier’s points from the window frame with long-nosed pliers and remove loose glass fragments and glazing compound with a wire brush. Sand the channel smooth and brush it with linseed oil. Roll glazing compound between your palms into strips about 1/4 inch thick and press into the channels in which the pane of glass will rest. Add more compound until you have completely filled the channels.

Press the pane of glass firmly into the glazing compound and scrape off excess with a utility or putty knife. Then fasten the pane securely into place with glazier’s points pushed into the frame with a putty knife. Use two points on each edge for a frame up to 10 inches square, one point every 4 inches for a larger frame.

When the new pane is firmly in place, roll more glazing compound and press around the frame. Smooth this compound with a putty knife into a neat beveled edge that runs from the face of the sash onto the glass. As you work, dip the knife in water from time to time to prevent it from sticking to the compound. When the compound has hardened (this takes 5-7 days), paint it to match the frame, extending the coat of paint 1/16 inch onto the glass for a weathertight seal.

Your window looks good as new! There are different techniques for metal sash windows, which use spring clips instead of glazier’s points, and rubber gaskets instead of putty channels. Many of these windows also feature snap-out plastic moldings that make them easy to replace after a glass panel has been installed. New plastic moldings are available at most hardware stores too, if replacing them along with the glass is warranted.

Next installment will look at how to replace and repair screens for windows and storm doors. These may not seem so important to modern houses in the modern age, when heading and air conditioning render working windows and screen doors fairly pointless. Yet a conscientious homeowner or a conscious homesteader will want to keep their screens in good repair because they keep bugs out while allowing air in.

Well-ventilated houses suffer far less from interior air pollution and/or radon gas buildup than closed up, sealed tight houses do. Making the best of great weather – not too hot, not too cold – is also a plus for a family’s general health and energy conservation efforts.

Links:

How to replace a broken window pane

How to Fix Broken Glass in a Window

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