# Window pane fell out



## heat seeker (Apr 11, 2015)

My old barn has a few small windows, and one pane fell out this winter (about 6X10") because the putty dried out and fell off. The putty is all dried out on all the windows, so I'm going to replace it. Problem is the wood is really dried out. Do I need to paint or treat the wood before puttying the panes back in? What do I use?
Thanks!


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## woodgeek (Apr 11, 2015)

Window putty and points.  

The panes should be held in with little metal triangles too.  Maybe that pane didn't get any?

The bigger question is if the wood is in good shape or not.


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## heat seeker (Apr 11, 2015)

Yeah, I think you mean glaziers points, or something like that? They may have been there at one time, but as likely not. This is a pole barn that looks like it was built by Murphy. The wood is so dried out I'm not even sure the points would stick - but thanks for reminding my about them - I'll try to install some before puttying. The wood seems fairly solid, but very dried out with some of the grain missing. I'd like to save the windows, but if not, will board them over. No animals live in that part of the barn (other than mice, etc.).

Apparently the pane fell into snow, so didn't even break, since the snow was over the rocks under the window.


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## homebrewz (Apr 11, 2015)

I believe the wood will need to be sanded, primed, and painted before replacing the window. At least that's what I recall being on the can of glazing compound. 
It will make it easier to get the putty off again if you ever have to replace the pane. Also, yes.. glazing points to keep the pane in place, and the glazing compound comes in a can or a caulk tube, making it easier to dispense.


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## jharkin (Apr 12, 2015)

First step is to get the right putty.  the latex based stuff you can find at a home center is garbage and wont last, and even Dap 33 is not all that great.  You want a tub of oil based *Sarco Type M.*

http://www.smithrestorationsash.com/glazingputty.html

You also need:

A good clean putty knife
Boiled linseed oil
Turpentine
penetrol (optional)

Exterior oil primer
Latex exterior house paint in whatever sheen and  finish color you want to use.


Now this is the process:

1 Remove the glazing points, take out the glass, and remove all traces of old putty.  It may all chip out but there could be some stubborn spots you need to scrape. If there are really stubborn spots soak in linseed oil  and let it sit a few days to soften.

2. Thoroughly clean the glazing channel. This needs to be down to bare wood.

3. If the glazing is in such bad shape you will probably want to repaint the entire window. Now is the time to remove any failing paint with your favorite method.  Dry scraping, heat, or chemical. If you use chemical I can recommend Fanmar Soy Gel.  they make a version with a lead neutralizer built in that's great for working with old paint safely.

(note that professional window shops will put the entire sash in a steam chest to remove all paint and glazing putty in one shot. These can be DIY'd if you have a lot of windows to fix)

4. Prep.  Mix up the boiled linseed oil and turpentine 50/50 (we call this blopturp), optionally cut with some penetrol. Brush this mix on the glazing channel. This conditions the wood so the putty will bond and not dry too fast.

5. Prime the entire window with exterior oil primer. If you stripped the window to bare wood its recommended to either use 2 coats of primer on the weather side or even better do a linseed oil conidtioning first then oil prime.  Oil primer coats need 24 hours drying time.  *Do not* prime the glass channels you just treated with oil. *Do not* prime the sides of the window that run in the tracks if double hung (these stay unpainted so the wood can breathe)

6. Glaze the window glass.  This is an art that has to be learned with practice. It helps to have a good stiff putty knife that's clean to a mirror finish.  See the video below.

7. Wait 7 days for the putty to set up and skin over.

8. Paint the entire window with exterior latex. the putty would be finish painted directly, no primer! No finish paint on any part of the window that touches the frame.






If you have a lot of windows to work on Id recommend reading John Leeks book "Saving America's Windows"  it describes in much better detail how to do this plus covers repairing common damage.


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## heat seeker (Apr 15, 2015)

Thanks for the good info! I'll be tackling this job soon, since the other windows are in bad shape, too.


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## pma1123 (Apr 15, 2015)

I know this goes against the point of repairing the existing windows, but I'm finding myself in the same position on my 1885 wood barn.  The wooden window frames are toast, and last weekend we had some pretty high gusts that took out a few glass panes on the poorly glazed, dried/shrunk/rotted 22" x 29" frames.  I wound up purchasing these vinyl frame barn windows at Menards on 11% rebate sale.  No more white paint, no more glazing.  I thought the cost wasn't all that terrible. 
*http://tinyurl.com/n6ecmp8*


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## Ashful (Apr 15, 2015)

Jeremy Harkin beat me to it.  However, I call it Blopentine, not blopturp.  [emoji12]


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## jharkin (Apr 17, 2015)

Ashful said:


> Jeremy Harkin beat me to it.  However, I call it Blopentine, not blopturp.  [emoji12]



Wait Ashful??  Oh I get it, sold the Jotuls and bought an Ashford so...



Yes, you got me,,, "blopturp"   "blopentine"    Jade Mortimer  (the window lady on oldhouseweb) used to call it "blopturp" when she had us mixing it 2/2/1  BLO/turpentine/penetrol.   Now they started using the word "blopentine" for just the straight 50/50  BLO/turp mix.  I remember the discussion on  the old house forums about this, the thinking was that the quality of turpentine you get at a home center is not so great (now made chemically from pine bark, vs the old distillation method)  so the penetrol helped stabilize the mix.  I think Jade found some online supplier of very high quality artists turpentine still made the old way and dropped penetrol from the mix.  Im just using plain old hardware store turpentine (Kleen-Strip or Crown) so I use the penetrol.  

I have to say however, the keen strip brand stuff does smell like a pine tree so maybe it is half decent quality?


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