Is the Wooden Storm Window Done Yet?

Completed Storm Window left to dry.

The answer is YES, I finished last coat of paint while writing this.  I have many excuses why it took me so long to finish it. Here are some examples snow storms, planting seeds, house cleaning etc.  The last time I wrote about this project I finished priming the frame, ordered the new glass and planned on glazing the window panes over the weekend of February 24-25.  The glass panes were glazed in on the 25th.  First, I needed to throw out any glazing compound that showed signs it was drying out after that it needed to be knead.  The kneading allows it to soften and become pliable when working with it.   The first thing to do is put a thin layer of glazing on the lip where the glass pane will sit.  Then gently place the glass pane in the frame and press on the glass to obtain a good seal between the wood and glass. You will see some glazing squeeze out along the edge but do not press hard enough to squeeze all of it out. 


This type of glazing point is much easier to push but they also
have a setback.  Their edges are sometime hard to cover with
the glazing compound.

Don't use these they are awful to work with. 
The setup on the right show how I use a putty
knife to push it in. 

Once the window panes are firmly in place, it is time to press in the glazier's points.  I thought I still had some good points at home but all I have were these flat and large triangle points.  I decide to use them since I did not want to run out to the store, this was a mistake.  The triangle points are hard to push in and they need to pushed in a lot further compare to the other designs.  While trying to push in one of the points, my glazing knife slipped under my thumb nail.  Boy, there were a few #### when that happen.  I kept on working until all the points were inside the lip edge.


A completed glazing corner.

I learned a lot about glazing windows from "This Old House" and the book Working Windows by Terry Meany.  I need to re-glaze and weather-proof all my old window in this house.  Years ago when I owned another house I used an one-inch putty knife to do re-glaze all those window.  It was hard try to achieve a constant angle across the frame and it was almost impossible to get the angles to meet at the corners with the putty knife.  I found a glazing knife two years ago while working on the storm window to my back porch door.  The design make glazing so much easier one end of the knife is angled and the other side is flat.  The angled end makes it fairly easy to get a smooth straight angle across frame and the corners come out nice.  The flat side is good for removing the excess glazing compound.  You still will need to practice but it does not take long to archive a good result.  I rolled out long ropes of the compound and pressed them along the window frame and the glass.  After I pressed in the caulk I using the angle end of the knife to cut through the extra compound until there was a smooth angle of glazing compound between the frame and glass.  If there are a few minor flaws I used my fingers get a smooth edge.  Wear plastic gloves when doing this since the compound does not easily wash off your hands.  I cleaned up the area and put the window against the wall for the next week since the compound needs a week to setup.  It took me about 3 hours from start to finish before I had a nice looking window.  The longest time I spend was trying to get those triangle points in the frame.

Putty Knife top.  Glazing Knife is on the bottom.

A  week later I primed the caulk with an oil-based primer from what I read I needed to use an oil-based primer.  If using a water-base primer the glazing compound may fail sooner because the oil migrates out faster.  Last Wednesday was the first day I found time to start applying the exterior paint on the frame.  The hardest part painting a narrow bead of paint along the caulk edge and the glass.  Doing this forms a seal between the glass and glazing.  If you use a scraper on the bead to clean up, there is an chance that the seal been broken and the window will not weather very well.



Primed glazing: You can see how hard is it to keep a steady
hand along the glass and glazing edge.

Unfinished panel on the folding door.

My next unfinished project is shellacking the second panel to my closet door.  I finished half the door awhile ago but never found time to complete the job.  Don't ask how long ago it was; it is embarrassing to think I left it undone so long.