Restoration Primer: Reglazing Wood Windows

Reglazing Wood Windows by Walter Jowers Reglazing windows is one of those humble jobs. It’s not like putting in a marble fireplace surround, or some double-helix walnut-and-titanium flying staircase, where you can step back when it’s done and say, “Voila!” Reglazing is just one of those things that, every so often, has to be done. Just about every old building has window problems that are attributable to worn-out window putty. Once old putty starts to crack, water can get to the window joints, where the wet end-grain expands and pushes the joints apart-and the paint off. If the windows are neglected long enough, the end grain-usually on the bottom rail of the window-starts to rot. Well, you could go and tear out the windows