Window sill material

What is a window sill typically made of? I'm more interested in standard construction rather than custom endangered species rainforest wood or something like that.

I'm just about ready to start replacing my windows and I'm looking at the window sill and framing material - 3/4" plywood. Seems pretty damn chintzy to me, especially around something that will in all likelyhood get damp or wet at some point. I'm personally not going to replace it with plywood, but I wanted to level set my thinking here and make sure I'm not being overly harsh on the contractor who built the place. 1960 is the build date for this house.

Reply to
Eigenvector
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Who cares what it's made of? No matter what, you will paint or otherwise coat it as if it was a piece of balsa wood lashed to the mast of a sailboat about to go around the world eight time. You'll use the best paint you can find in your town, or marine grade polyurethane, because as you said, that wood's going to be exposed to moisture. And, as you did not say, it'll be exposed to sunlight.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Well maybe I used the wrong terminology here. I mean the framing on the INSIDE of the window, the window box material. Guess I'm not totally sure what to call it. It isn't automatically painted, the front window of my house has a piece of cedar for a sill.

Reply to
Eigenvector

I usually use clear douglas fir or pine if it is to be painted.

Reply to
Eric9822

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| > >> I'm just about ready to start replacing my windows and I'm looking at the | > >> window sill and framing material - 3/4" plywood. Seems pretty damn | > >> chintzy to me, especially around something that will in all likelyhood | > >> get damp or wet at some point. I'm personally not going to replace it | > >> with plywood, but I wanted to level set my thinking here and make sure | > >> I'm not being overly harsh on the contractor who built the place.

1960 | > >> is the build date for this house. | >

| > > Who cares what it's made of? No matter what, you will paint or otherwise | > > coat it as if it was a piece of balsa wood lashed to the mast of a | > > sailboat about to go around the world eight time. You'll use the best | > > paint you can find in your town, or marine grade polyurethane, because as | > > you said, that wood's going to be exposed to moisture. And, as you did not | > > say, it'll be exposed to sunlight. | >

| > Well maybe I used the wrong terminology here. I mean the framing on the | > INSIDE of the window, the window box material. Guess I'm not totally sure | > what to call it. It isn't automatically painted, the front window of my | > house has a piece of cedar for a sill.- Hide quoted text - | >

| > - Show quoted text - | | I usually use clear douglas fir or pine if it is to be painted.

just to add my 2 cents............ because I can. spanish cedar, fir, yellow pine, mahogany, spruce are all used for window sils. heck, I've even seen pressure treated used also.

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Reply to
3G

Pressure treated is only a good idea if humans, especially kids will never come into contact with it. This is regardless of any safety claims the manufacturers might make for the newest products.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

For that value of "come into contact" that means "eat".

Reply to
Goedjn

You're saying treated lumber was always safe for people to handle without protection? Especially kids?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

For any reasonable definition of "handle", yes.

I am saying that PT lumber is not a significant environmental hazard. Even if it's not maintained, you're more likely to break or leg or stab yourself when it fails than poison yourself. Don't burn it, don't chew on it, and don't use it in a vegetable garden and you'll be fine. Even if you're using copper arsenate. Even if you're using creosote.

--Goedjn

Reply to
Goedjn

What if kids touch it, and put their hands in their mouths?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Won't hurt them a bit.

Reply to
Goedjn

That's the stupidest thing I've heard since a Bush press conference two weeks ago. Congratulations.

Who told you to say that? I need links to research. Now.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

And the truth is probably in between. How much of the PT chemical will you pick up on your had if you touch it? Once dried for a time, I'd say very little. Are there cases of poisonings from just touching? Do you have any links to research?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Apparently, concerns were enough to rebuild quite a few playground, removing all the PT lumber.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

By the way, the chemicals we're dealing with in PT cannot be properly tested for safety. The real reason for avoiding it is that some of us prefer not to have our kids used as laboratory rats.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

That is not conclusive of anything. People often panic about chemicals for no sane reason. About a year ago, it was discovered that a school here in CT has asbestos ceilings. The school was evacuated. Yes, EVACUATED when this was found out. Not even closed at the end of the day. The school is

75 years old and has been continuously used all those years. Does that make sense?
Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

There is one, and only one definition for testing chemicals that people will be exposed to. It involves exposing the people to the chemical in question, under controlled conditions. We (theoretically) do this with medicines. It cannot be done with things like wood treatments, pesticides, etc. Therefore, the only safe option, especially when kids are involved, is to avoid contact.

Incidentally, we *do* know a bit about arsenic.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

There is, in fact, at least one case that APPEARS to be from straight contact, poisoning. Of course, that was a set of lumber that turned out to have an order of magnitude more CCA than the industry standard. The lumber in question was described as "oozing".

Generally, to have a noticable health effect from treated lumber, you have to eat it, burn it, or use power tools on it without a breath-mask in a closed environment. The worst predictable effect from skin contact is dermatitis.

I s'pose its possible that the stuff in more dangerous than I think it is, but if so, you'd think that the web-sites of people pushing the meme would point to better evidence than they do. When you have to hunt all over the planet for horror stories, it's kind of hard to take the threat seriously.

--Goedjn

Reply to
Goedjn

| >>> Won't hurt them a bit. | >>>

| >>

| >> That's the stupidest thing I've heard since a Bush press conference two | >> weeks ago. Congratulations. | >>

| >> Who told you to say that? I need links to research. Now. | >>

| >

| > And the truth is probably in between. How much of the PT chemical will you | > pick up on your had if you touch it? Once dried for a time, I'd say very | > little. Are there cases of poisonings from just touching? Do you have | > any links to research? | | | By the way, the chemicals we're dealing with in PT cannot be properly tested | for safety.

The real reason for avoiding it is that some of us prefer not to | have our kids used as laboratory rats.

thats the doctors job take your medicine.

todays PT is arsenic free would't you know that................ if you are so concerned | |

Reply to
3G

It doesn't really matter. Whatever is in it is designed to stop "life" that would eat the wood. Do you know what's in it now?

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

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