RE-Glazing Laundry Window

[ptrott]

I stripped the paint off my Laundry window and am ready to re-glaze it. It was previously puttied in but the glass was seated in silicon, which made it impossible to remove the glass without breaking it.
I was thinking of seating the glass in a bead of Sellys Butyl Mastic and fixing with Jarrah beading. Is this a legitimate method or should I use silicon again?
(not a fan of silicon) I have used oil based urethane varnish on the frame.
As I have the frame out and on the bench, do I need to use the little star nails to hold the glass in place? I have allowed a 2.5mm gap from glass edge to frame.
Thanks in advance.
Phill

[silentC]

Don't see any reason why you couldn't use mastic. We used to come across windows glazed that way from time to time. Silicone is just a bit less messy and you can trim off any squeeze out after it dries without smearing it all over the place.

If you are going to use a timber bead, you wont need the star nails. The mastic or silicone is sticky enough to hold the glass in place while you fix the bead.

[TrevorOwen]

Phill

I think that a person that uses silicon on a window does so because they don't know how to work putty. I see absolutely nothing wrong with putty. At least if you do need to replace it after 25 years or so you can without breaking the glass, so long as you use care.

Regards from Adelaide
Trevor

[ptrott]

I want to have the option of removing the glass intact down the track, but I don't have the experience to do a good job with Putty, hence the mastic idea. It should behave something like putty over time I imagine, and it should be reasonably easy to apply and clean up if I make a mess. The main reasons I don't like silicon are that it is permanent, and cleaning it off to get paint to stick again is nigh on impossible. Nothing seems to adhere where silicon once was. Wife brought the glass home today. It is textured on one side. I imagine the flat side is the side I should set in against the fixed beading with the sealer???

Thanks for the tips so far.
Phill.

[Wood Butcher]

Wife brought the glass home today. It is textured on one side. I imagine the flat side is the side I should set in against the fixed beading with the sealer???

All of the windows in my house have textured glass and the flat side goes to the beading. Also before I bought this house I always had aluminium sliding windows whereas thease windows are all timber frame. When the first break occurred I repaired it myself even though it took about 2 hours to put the putty in. The best part is that it gets easier every time and it is a breeze to clean out when you need to replace the glass.

[silentC]

I think that a person that uses silicon on a window does so because they don't know how to work putty.

Or they're a glazier who can do either but prefers to get the job done. When windows have a timber bead, and I would hazard a guess that most timber windows manufactured these days do, then it is standard practice to use silicone as the sealant. I can see no reason why you would want to use putty in this situation.

Being able to get the glass out intact is not really a concern - why would you want to remove unbroken glass? The silicone will outlast the putty indefinitely so I can't see that you would ever need to replace it. Removing glass from a frame to strip and paint the frame is not something your average householder is going to want to do.

Putty is rotten stuff. Getting it out of a frame without damage is difficult at best. It either dries out and separates from the glass, or it sticks like concrete. It cracks and falls out. The glass rattles. It's fiddly to put in. I've seen some very ordinary jobs done with it. Unless you are going for that look, I can't for life of me see why anyone would want to use it.

Yes, I hate putty.

[ptrott]

Thanks gents. I completed it tonight with Butyl Mastic and it went really well. The cleanup was pretty easy using Turps. I put the flat side inwards cos the missus wants to try some pretend leadlight and stain glass on it. Not sure how that will look on textured glass though. The only concern I have is that water is going to sit in the texture between the glass and the removable beading. I did give it 2 coats of varnish with Penetrol added. Hope it does not rot out too quickly.
Phill.