What's the simplest way to glaze a window?

[Chris Green]

I want to reglaze some quite large windows in a shed/summer house.

I'm having to rebuild the frames, there's no existing 'window structure' there at all at the moment.

The result doesn't have to be particularly weatherproof, just reasonably robust and, more to the point *simple* to make.

The window frames will probably be made of 25x50 timber though I could use other sizes if that would make things easier. The windows are about 600mm wide by 1200mm high, I want to keep them as single sheets.

What's the simplest way to do this? Making rebates in the frames and using glazing beads seems very laborious (and fairly difficult). Isn't there some easy sort of ready made way of mounting glass in a frame that doesn't involve tiny thin bits of wood, putty, etc.?

E.g. I could imagine some sort of screw on channel section to hold the glass, but such things don't seem to exist.

[newshound]

Making (full length) rebates isn't difficult if you have a table saw. Not very elegant filling the end bits to make it look neater, but OK for a shed? Tacks plus putty is not difficult, or you could use flexible filler or silicone from a gun.

You can get channel for secondary double glazing

although you might have to hunt around for something to take 4 mm as they are normally used with 2 - 3 mm polycarbonate.

[Roger Mills]

Cut a rebate in the frame before you assemble it, and hold the glass in with quarter-round section wooden beading held in place with a few tacks.

Alternatively, if you're happy to fit the glass at frame assembly time, you could simply cut some grooves - rather than rebates - in the frame members, and slot the glass into them.

Would save putty, beading, etc. - but may be a bit of a challenge if you ever need to replace the glass.

[Chris Green]

That's basically what I'm trying to avoid! :-) I have a router so I guess the rebate isn't too challenging but the beading/tacks have a couple of issues:-

It's far too easy to hit the glass when knocking the tacks in, esepcially since some of this is a little inaccessible.

The beading rots much faster than everything else and the glass falls out.

Yes, I guess I could do this.

[tabbypurr]

You don't really explain what the problem is, making it hard to advise.

2 simple methods I've seen:

1. Plastic glazing, holes made around perimeter, screw on.
2. Plain unrouted frame, pins prevent glass dropping out. The hammer slides across the glass to put these in.

NT

[Chris Green]

Some is plastic but not all yet, maybe it will be eventually.

Hmmmm. I suppose I could do this.

Thanks for all the ideas so far, I'm not sure which way to do it yet though.

[Chris Green]

Which is OK until you need to angle the hammer one way or another when the pin doesn't want to go straight. Yes, I have done quite a few of these on existing windows and haven't broken any so far but it just feels wrong and a bit unsafe.

Yes, I was thinking I might go up to at least 2x2.

It'll be pretreated wood, my experience has been that painting makes it disintegrate quicker.

Your 3x2 + 1x1 rebate is way bigger than the original (not done by me) glazing. I guess that's why I found the nails in glazing bars difficult, the bars were tiny!

[David]

Cheap shed solution - just tack/staple some 10mm (or similar) beading to the inward side of the frame instead of making a rebate. Same effect, less agro. Or go up in size; anyway fastening strips of wood with a nailer/ stapler is pretty easy.

Then fit thin polycarbonate sheets as windows secured by glazing beads. Unlikely to break the polycarbonate.

Not as classy as a properly made window with nice clear glass, but easy.

Cheers

Dave R

[Weatherlawyer]

Buy or find o;d units of approximately the sizes you desire and offer them up where you would prefer, see if they fit pinn them in place or rest them on something. Mark the outline un charlk and cut outside the marked outline.

Slide them into th openingfg cut out and wedge square an plumb then infil the gaps to suit mastic, beading or packing -whatever.

[Tim Lamb]

Chat with your nearest double glazing installer. They must be dumping dozens of potentially recyclable frames each day.

>

[Tim Lamb]

Bit less worrying to have a thin sheet of rigid plastic between the hammer head and the glass:-)

[Davidm]

and put the beading on the inside of the shed, maybe easier to access, less prone to rot, and more secure. Chamfer the outside of the bottom bar rebate to encourage any water to run off it.

[Chris Green]

No use, the sizes are fixed by the shed so won't be standard.

[Chris Green]

These are sloping windows (I think that's in my original post) so beding inside isn't practical.