Durand, Kirkendall, the north end, Corktown: a lot of Hamilton is brick with wood sashes that have been in place for a century. Those windows were designed to be repaired, one pane at a time, which is why they are still here.
Why the old sashes are worth keeping
- Old growth wood. Tighter grain and more rot resistant than anything you can buy today.
- Slim sightlines. Modern replacements need thicker frames, so you lose glass area and the proportions change.
- Wavy original glass. Once it is gone it is gone. We keep whatever panes are sound.
- Heritage streets. On some Hamilton streets the window profile matters to what you are allowed to do. Repairing the glass avoids that conversation entirely.
How reglazing a wood sash works
- The old putty and glazing points come out. Careful, slow work, especially next to original glass.
- The rebate is scraped back to clean wood and primed, because bare wood pulls the oil out of new putty and it fails early.
- New glass is cut to size with the right clearance and bedded on a thin layer of putty.
- Glazing points hold it, then the outer putty is knifed to the original bevel line.
- It cures, then gets painted with paint lapped slightly onto the glass to seal the edge.
Putty needs curing time before painting, so this is not always a one visit job. That is the trade for keeping the sash.
What we can do and what we do not do
We repair and replace glass, and we do the woodwork the glazing needs, so rebates, putty lines and the small rot repairs around a pane are in scope. What we do not do is sell you replacement windows or new frames. If a sash is beyond repair we will say so plainly.
Sash repairs that come with the glass
- Reputtying panes that are loose but not broken, which is where most draughts come from.
- Rebuilding the glazing rebate where it has softened.
- Cords, weights and hardware so a sash holds where you put it.
- Caulking the frame to the brick, $75 to $150 per window, the cheapest draught fix on an old house.
Storms, and why they beat replacement
An exterior or interior storm pane over a repaired original sash gets you close to double glazing performance without changing a thing you can see from the street. It is the standard approach on century homes and it keeps the original glass in place.
What it costs
| Job | Cost |
|---|---|
| Single pane, reputtied | from $150 installed |
| Larger or thicker single pane | $150 to $350 |
| Rebate and putty repair | quoted on the visit |
| Caulking per window | $75 to $150 |
Costs depend on the size, how many panes in the sash, whether the sash comes out and how much of the rebate needs rebuilding. We quote after seeing photos.
Got a broken pane in an old sash? Send a photo of the whole window and a close up of the putty line, plus the size of the broken pane, and we will tell you what it takes.