THE WINDOW CARE METHOD

Moisture - The Cause of Problems  Water ingress into the fibres of the timber causes excess movement, paint film breakdown and eventual decay. Our system is Designed To Keep Water OUT!

Where Does It Enter?  Mainly through open joints and perished putties on the bottom glazing line and to a lesser extent from adjoining masonry, breakdown of paints, knots and peel back on sharp edges.

The Remedy? Develop repair products, methods and specialist tools which address the problems and eradicate excess moisture from the substrate.
This Is Exactly What We At Window Care Have Done!

The Glazing Line  Replace brittle and defective linseed oil based face putties and bedding for beads with Dry Seal Elastic Glazing Sealant. It will not crack or shrink and will take a paint or stain finish. Effectively seals against moisture reaching the rebates and joints. Easy to apply and can be decorated within 48 hours. We usually find that the horizontal line and 50mm to the vertical line is sufficient.

Open Joints  Permanently seal open joints by cutting open hair line (but water absorbent) cracks to a 4mm x 10mm deep slot using our Profi high speed cutter and close it by brushing in Dry Fix (a very thin epoxy resin for firm anchorage) and making good with Dry Flex elastic repair compound. Allow to cure and sand off for a closed joint impermeable to moisture. We call this a Conservation Joint and it takes only a few minutes to complete.

Extra Preservation  For additional protection where (for example) the joint is vulnerable to moisture ingress from adjoining brickwork or masonry cill, spend a few seconds and fit a Dry Pin Preservative Capsule. If moisture does penetrate the area the preservative within the capsule diffuses with the moisture and gives in-situ treatment to the surrounding area (please contact us to for more info on this method)

Knots  A paint finish problem which can be  eradicated by taking a minute or two to cut out the surface area of the knot with our Profi, coat with Dry Fix and make good with Dry Flex. Sand off and forget the knot problem.

Sharp Edges  Often suffering from low paint cover and a cause of peel back. Round off with our special edge cutter to give even paint coverage and overcome the usual paint breakdown in this area.

Decay Repairs
 For the large areas of wood decay where Full Strength Repairs are required cut away the decayed timber with a Profi and replace with new timber Bedded On A Minimum Of 4mm Of Dry Flex or replace with Dry Flex Alone. Either will give you full strength repairs at least equal to a mortice and tenon joint and usually a good deal stronger. The repairs will be faster than traditional splicing and the unique Flexibility of Dry Flex will ensure that the joint stays closed. Where Dry Flex alone is used a cavity of any height and any depth can be repaired in one operation without slumping occurring!

Surface Decay On Hardwood Cills
A common problem on double hung sliding sash windows. Often the decay is no more than a few millimetres deep but effectively resists common surface fillers. Simply remove the surface decay back to sound clean timber using the Profi cutter, apply Dry Fix and Dry Flex and the problem is solved.

Tools and Equipment

We have developed special low priced tools and equipment for the efficient removal of wood decay whilst leaving the sound timber intact. It is even possible to cut around the glass without breakage and it is not necessary to remove aluminium or steel window inserts to effect high quality repairs. See "Set Up Costs".

Glazing Sealant Problems AND SOLUTIONS
This will be a familiar picture to those used to specifying pre-paint repairs. Perished, brittle and non adhesion are symptoms of linseed oil based putty breakdown. The first place to give trouble is often the adhesion to the glass which can go unnoticed for some time and redecoration may take place without any remedial work being done leaving a high moisture area which will almost certainly result in decay by the end of the next decoration cycle. At best, more linseed oil based putty is forced into the cracks leading to even more failure. The first sign will be paint breakdown just below the putty line where moisture has entered the rebate and lifted the decorative finish. The cycle has begun and will end with a decayed window requiring extensive remedial works or disruptive and costly replacement. The problem is even more serious with bead glazing as the moisture ingress will rot the bead and the frame at the same time and may be well entrenched before becoming noticeable. To avoid this serious and costly problem the glazing sealant for both beads and face putties MUST BE FLEXIBLE. Dry Seal Elastic Glazing Sealant, if used correctly, will seal the glazing line against moisture penetration and provide a surface which can be painted or stained within 48 hours. Perished putties must be removed to the horizontal line and at least 50mm to adjacent verticals  and replaced with Dry Seal for lasting conservation. The procedure is simple and economic and can avoid the most common cause of wood decay in external joinery.

The Simple Procedure

This typically damaged linseed oil based putty was causing paint loss and the start of decay in this modern storm proof opening light. The window faced almost directly south and the owner had difficulty in keeping paint on despite "repairing" the putties each time it was decorated. The first step was to remove the offending putties, leaving a clean sound rebate and thoroughly clean the glass. In this case the paint was removed from the whole area as the open joint and slight decay was repaired with Dry Flex. Next, the rebate was sealed with a clear sealer (paint primer would have done equally well) to prevent the oils in the sealant leeching into the timber before curing. Once the sealer or primer is dry and any dust removed the Dry Seal is then applied using a heavy duty hydraulic mastic gun cutting the supplied nozzle to suit the width of the rebate. If over application occurs it can be removed and applied to the next section and no waste need occur. We provide a high quality application gun which will deliver a constant flow to the work point. The Dry Seal Applicator is used to smooth and profile the sealant which when decorated will look just like any other sealant but it's behaviour will be far from common-place. It will take up to 48 hours to fully cure by which time it will have the flexibility of rubber and sealing properties of silicone. The effect is to provide a "rubber" gasket to the lower glazing line where used. Amazingly the cured surface will take most paint coatings and even provides remarkably good adhesion for decorative stains. If future reglazing is necessary Dry Seal can be simply removed using a sharp knife and the rebate and new glass made ready for re-application. See Window Care Repair Methods 9 & 10.