New houses have double paned windows that work as an entire unit with air in between that helps insulate your home. If you break on of these types of windows, the unit fails and it needs to be replaced by a professional. It is very costly — just ask me, I had to bring one of these types of windows to the repair shop a few weeks ago after one of my children broke it.

In old homes, however, the windows are single panes of glass that can be easily, and inexpensively, repaired by the home owner.

Step One:

You want to remove the window and lay it down on a flat surface to work.

Step Two:

Remove lose glazing, carefully.

Watch out for the glazing points under the glazing. You might want to try and salvage these. What are glazing points? They hold the glass in place in the frame. You can buy them at your local neighborhood hardware store.

Step Three:

Replace the window into the frame. Use the glazing points to hold the glass in place. You will want to use at least two glazing points per side, space them about 8 inches apart and 2 inches in from the corner.

Place the glazing point flat on the glass with the point facing the frame. Press it into the wood frame with a putty knife or glazing tool.

Step Four:

Buy real window glaze. Don’t attempt to put your windows in place with caulk.

We use DAP33 which is an oil based product. You will want to warm this up in your hands to get it to right temperature so that it is pliable. We have found the best method for doing this is to roll the product in our hands. Or get your kids involved and have them squish it like playdoh.

Roll the glazing compound in your hands to form a 3/8-in.-diameter snake. Lay this down around the perimeter of the glass.

Step Five:

Use a small putty knife to press the compound firmly into place against the frame and the glass.

Step Six:

After the putty is in place, you will want to go back over it with a long even stroke. This will smooth out the glazing and enable you to remove any of the excess.

Step Seven:

Viola!

As a note, it takes a long time for the glazing to dry, as in two weeks or so. You need to know this before you try to move the windows and wrap your fingers around the top and imbed them into the glazing, ruining your hard work. You will also want the glazing to dry if you are planning on painting.

Step Eight:

You can reinstall your windows at anytime. This particular window is in the attic of our home.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 5:57 am and is filed under DIY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.