Ive been asked to repair/replace a rotted window sill. The house is probably 80 years old with the old double hung windows, interior stool and apron design. The exterior sill looks like a 2×6 or 2×8 supporting 3 windows, each separated by vertical 1×6 material. The sill is rotten and so are some of the 1x6s. Ive told the homeowner that I cant promise the rot will stop at what is clearly visible. My question is: does everything I see that sits on the sill need to go in order for me to replace the thing? Will I end up re-building all the frames/sashes, etc?
Thanks for any insight.
Pete
Replies
Whether the framing is going bad will have a lot to do with how well they used tarpaper to subflash the wall when it was built.
I have been able, with slow and careful sawsall work, to remove a sill like that and slide a new red cedar one back in but this was with sound upright pieces. Since you have rot in the jamb pieces too, it doesn't sound good. If these are special windows and there is a need to match the other old ones in the house, it may be worth the cost to them to repair all this rot, but as a general rule, it is far more cost-efficient to replace the whole unit.
Excellence is its own reward!
Same story as Piffin. I had to replace a sill not too long ago. The piece was rotted to the point where I could excavate the remains using an awl and (abused) chisel. I machined a replacement using cedar and slipped it in place. But the jambs were clean, no rot. You need to identify what is rotten and either replace the piece, or excavate it out to clean wood (a rotary rasp in a handheld grinder works well.) Minwax has a wood epoxy to fill in the excavations, I've also had good luck using auto body bondo. However you fix it, I'd sand all the pieces down, prime them twice and paint them with another two coats. If it looks like the rot is too much to repair, then it might be time for replacements.
Good Luck.