Metal framed windows - alternative re-installation fixing method?

[deano]

Before anyone asks... Big house, 7 bedrooms, located in Kenton (North West London). Exterior paint-work neglected for many years, now affecting rendered walls and most woodwork both. Interior not much better, having last been decorated some 25 years ago, albeit to a high standard when done.

I have my work cut out, as you can imagine.

One of my tasks was to repair the exterior cill to a metal-framed, stairwell-landing window, to the extent of chiseling the rotten cill back to sound wood and then splicing on a ripped-down length of new cill moulding, recently bought for the purpose. Unfortunately, it turned out that the whole frame was shot, beyond repair, and I have had to remove the whole lot and board-up the bare- brick opening, temporarily, while I source a new frame.

My next problem (and the reason for this post) is that, the heads of the screws fixing the metal frame to the hard-wood frame, are obscured by the glazed, leaded panes of glass, which were only recently renovated! The upshot is that I can't access these screws without removing the glass panes. This I do not want to do!

Removing the window wasn't a problem, as I just mullerred the rotten wood around the metal until it all came away. Any solid wood still attached just got removed by drilling, cutting and chiseling around the remaining screw threads, still in place.

However, as you can probably figure, I now need an alternative way of re-installing the metal frame back into a new wooden frame that I will have made. As I will be unable to fix "through" the metal frame, into the new wooden one, I have been thinking about having a specially- made, hardwood frame, that could "sandwich" the metal frame between 'inner' and 'outer' components, that are independently screw-fixed into the brickwork. Granted that the situation is further complicated by the metal frame being rebated on the internal side, with a flange/ collar/whatever, visible from the outside... to prevent drilling access the original through-frame screw-fixings I presume!?

I fairly sure this could work, but before I commission the joiners, I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced the same, and if there is a more common-practice method that is widely used for solving this issue. I don't want to over-engineer this and incur unnecessary expense.

Looking forward to your responses. Many thanks.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its this a standard s/G leaded light in metal frame thing?

If so they are not hard to get out..I have these installed and the leaded lights are puttied into the steel frames.

And the leaded lights are by no means hugely expensive.

Contact these guys to see what is possible before expensing huge amounts of time.

[Dan Smithers]

We have original Crittal windows in our house with leaded glass throughout. There are some cracked panes. How easy is it to replace them? Do I need special tools?

Is it possible to get double glazed panels for them? Or would I be wasting my time as the metal frames would still conduct a lot of heat out?

Would I be better off investigating secondary glazing?

thanks

dan

[deano]

The window has three sections with the middle one an opener. All three sections are glazed, using different types of obscured glass, in a random, overlapping pattern, with leaded joints running vertically and horizontally. The client loves it and doesn't want me to touch the glass... I hate it and the job is more complex that it needs to be, but what can one do... she is being charged accordingly, so I have to do it her way.

cheers d.

[meow2222]

IIUC youve got a metal framed window installed into a wooden frame. This is not normal, the steel frame is just attached to the brickwork usually, and the small variable gap puttied. The whole point of steel frames is they don't rot. Thermally they're terrible, and secondary glazing would be a good move. Make sure its openable.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

I'd still contact those guys I mentioned: they can rebuild new lights out of the existing glass, and make up new metal frames and wood ones to go round them.

I used them here..and they are excellent.

[deano]

Normal or not, that's the way it is (or was)!

The frame is now in my workshop... nice and dry, out of this piddling weather! I located the screws which held the remaining, sound parts of the wooden frame, to the metal, and drilled down to them, through the wood, using holesaws. This worked a treat and the metal frame is now free from all wood, and stripped back to metal around all edges. The leaded glass is all intact.

After a bit of investigation, I also discovered that I will be able to re-fix the metal frame, to the new timber frame, through the original holes that exist in the metal. I just need to use longer screws, with domed heads, fixed at an angle. I can then bury the heads in new putty.

This is the plan, wish me luck :)

cheers d.