Spring time

Another warm day, perhaps spring is here. It's a mixed bag, I can open the windows and do all those dust and vapor producing house renovation tasks but then there are all those outside projects to do. Ahh springtime...
Saturday, my Passat wagon once again became a pick up truck.

I am always amazed how much yard waste this small lot (small half-of-a-lot) can generate. I have a compost bin but each spring or fall I load 2-3 car loads of leaves and garden waste and haul it out of here. My town has a compost site where grass, brush, and leaves can be taken. There is no curbside pickup.

My little flower garden, below. The tulips, crocuses, and daffodils are making their way up. The rain barrel is hooked up but the second one still needs to be connected. I need to install a length of gutter as well.


I was told that the landscape fabric I put down to clear this section of weedy lawn would not do the job so I added a layer of black plastic. This morning it was raining and I saw little ponds forming on top of the plastic. Ideal mosquito spawning pools so I went out with a pitch fork and poked holes to let the water drain through in the low spots.

Windows

I worked on this set of windows this weekend. This is the south end of the sewing studio. Before: They don't look bad but most of the glazing has deteriorated on the outside.

I used a utility knife to score the paint between the stop and the side trim. My windows have interlocking weather stripping all around but that was easy to pull off as it was attached with only a small nail at the top and bottom. Once that was removed I could slide one side of the lower sash out and remove it after I pulled off the sash rope. I pulled out the parting bead (it came out in one piece!), and then I was able to remove the upper sash easily as well.

In the picture above you can see the little hole on the right that give me access to the sash weights for that side of the window. I also took out the center trim piece in order to access the cavity shared by both windows. I took this opportunity to put a piece of foam insulation in this space. There is enough room in there that this will not interfere with the movement of the weights. Here is a view at the top of the cavity.

I stripped the paint on the sides and bottom. The storm windows will keep out unwanted guests until the sashes are put back in place.

I then spent hours scraping out the old glazing compound. Fourteen pieces of glass remove without one breaking. I marked their specific locations on a piece of painters tape indicating the space it came from. Each piece was cut to fit its individual spot. R is for right window and an arrow for up.

I made this little thing to protect the glass when using heat to soften the old glazing for easier removal. It is a piece of sheet metal and thick cardboard sandwiched together and held together with foil tape. The metal reflects the heat and the cardboard insulates the glass. I made it the same size as the smaller panes of glass. It worked great, no cracked glass!!









Here is an upper sash, all the glass removed. This is the interior side.

Here is the exterior side with the white paint taken off. Here is the original color of these windows. I stripped all the paint, the green has stained the wood, or maybe it was a stain.

Now here is the problem. Below is a picture of a lower sash. I stripped the paint off of this because it had been overpainted and because it was easy. What I have is a perfectly nice wood window.

The problem? This whole room has painted white trim and I do not want to strip the paint in this room, at least not in the next couple of years. I just want to get these windows reglazed and protect the exterior wood and them get them installed again. I have a whole house full of painted wood on the lower level that I am working on.

My options-
1. Don't strip the old paint on the interior, just sand it lightly and repaint.
2. Do a full restoration, strip the old paint, restain and or shellac to bring the windows back to their original condition. Leave the surrounding trim white until I can refinish it at a later date. After all, with windows are out and accessible, might as well go all the way.
3. Strip the old paint and prime and repaint it white to match the rest of the room. I am not happy with this option because I HATE when people paint over the original finish of wood.

I think I am going to go with number 1. By not stripping the wood now, it will be easier to strip it later as there is that easy melt layer of shellac still there. By repainting now, I may not get the crisp detail I want, but it will be ok. Any thoughts?