Repairing casement windows

[JohnBrown]

I have a casement window that is rotting at the corner where the bottom rail meets the opening stile. Can anyone give me any pointers as to the best way to do this? I have a fair selection of weapons (routers, table saw, chisels etc.) and a moderate level of skill in wielding them.

As an aside, I'm not even sure if they're the orifinal windows. Our house is circa 1894, and a mixture of sash and casement windows, but the casement ones are single panes of glass measuring 71cm by 86cm and the profiles look too sharp, i.e. I'd expect then to be softened by numerous rubbing downs and re-paintings.

 

[RogerS]

John

Do you actually mean the opening window that is rotten or the surrounding frame? If the former then to be honest I'd make a new one. Any hacking around is going to run the risk of the glass cracking and even if you cut out the rot and fill the chances are that it will still continue to rot over time, be weak and increase the chances of the pane cracking.

if it's the frame then assuming that you still have some meat in the wood, it's a question of cutting out the rot. A fein Multlmaster is a brilliant tool for this job and also gives to the opportunity to cut out the rotten frame section cleanly and with a good surface against which you'll scarf a new piece of wood

Roger

 

[JohnBrown]

Yes, I mean the opening part.If I make a new window, I'm not entirely sure how to make the joints. It looks like a mortise and tenon, but how would I scribe the rails to fit the stile profile AND produce a tenon on the rails?
Also, is it worth considering a double glazed panel?

[Edit]Ah! I think I see now, the tenon is cut from the rectangular section of the rail profile.[/Edit]

 

[Chippyjoe]

Hi. if you put a double glazed sealed unit in,you are going to have to play around with the weights,as it will not operate the same.

Mark.

 

[RogerS]

Hi. if you put a double glazed sealed unit in,you are going to have to play around with the weights,as it will not operate the same.

Mark.

Umm...it's a casement window :?

 

[Chippyjoe]

Hi. if you put a double glazed sealed unit in,you are going to have to play around with the weights,as it will not operate the same.

Mark.

Umm...it's a casement window :?

Oops,that will teach me to read the post correctly.

Mark.

 

[Joiner]

You don't actually have to scribe the bars. You can do it the way they used to do it way back and mitre the point on the bar where the joint occurs. It's not easy to describe in words!

Put the moulding all the way along both bar(s). Mark off the width of the moulding diagonally at each corner meeting point and cut a 45 degree on that diagonal to the depth of the moulding only. Cut off the length of the moulding from the end of both bars to the bottom of that 45 degree cut. Make your m & t to that dimension. When you slot the joint together the mouldings will meet.

Wish I could do a drawing for you. If you think it through the principle should become clear to you.

[It's the way it was done on some early 18th century sash windows I worked on last year. The glazing bars were done the same way, which was one of the things that flagged up the age of the windows. There were eight of them and English Heritage confirmed the probable age.]

 

[joesoap]

John
Take your frame / sash profile sizes to your nearest sawmill , wood store and you should get standard run stuff . Take just what you need to the nearest length and that will tell you what to do . Don't patch a rail , stile . astragle . replace it and have glass on hand or access to it if needed . Good luck with it . Oh elastoplast and iodine . Cheers

 

[JohnBrown]

Thanks for all the help, I've finally got my head round the joint. It's similar to the "mason's mitre" used on kitchen worktops, except that the mitre only extends as far as the moulding. I'll get some timber and experiment...