Shrinkage of internal putty bedding

[Nick Gray]

Hi,

Over time the putty bedding on the inside of my windows has shrunk by a couple of millimetres. What's the best course of action to fill these gaps?

I've tried filling them with putty, but there seems to be insufficent depth for the new putty to 'grip' to the old material.

Thanks in advance

Nick

[Jerry Built]

You sure it's putty (linseed oil) and not something else? If it *is* putty, and it has "shrunk", not something I'd expect, then it propably needs raking out and replacing.

J.B.

[Nick Gray]

Thanks Jerry,

I'm pretty sure it's putty. The windows were put in in the 1970's and are georgian style casement windows, with wooded frames.

As it's the internal putty bedding, between the pane and the frame that's shrunk it's going to be difficult to scrape out the old stuff. And as it's only a 1-2mm depression I'll be buggered if I'm going to take out all of my windows.

Thanks once again for the suggestion though.

Cheers

Nick

[Jerry Built]

Well, you ought to do something - condensation will run in and you don't want that.... what about a good clean-up with meths on a rag, and then using acrylic filler?

J.B.

[Nick Gray]

Thanks once again.

There is a black deposit starting to show in a couple of places, hence my noticing the problem and wanting to do something about it.

When you say acrylic filler, can you suggest a brand? I've used UniBond flexible decorating filler on the top of my skirting boards and found that it shrunk when dry (maybe I've got the incredible shrinking house? :-) ).

Thanks

Nick

[Jerry Built]

Rub off the mould with bleach and water (ordinary bleach, sold by Tesco etc. as "thin bleach"), not lavatory cleaner! Let that dry and have a go with meths and a rag. That will dry quickly. I don't know what I'd use for filler, I should think they're all much of a muchness. B&Q do Cerafix which is OK, I've used a pack recently when working at a weekend. Maybe masking tape on the glass would help neatness/reduce cleanup. I only suggest decoraters caulk (filler) as I can't think of anything offhand that contains fungicide or whatever to keep mould down. It may not matter! Silicone is not much use as you can't easily overpaint the stuff. Yes, filler does shrink when it dries, especially if it's one application filling a deep hole.

J.B.

[Michael Mcneil]

Pity this thread was hijacked by someone who is using an anonymous mailer service. Or is it just my reader that is splitting the thread?

You shouldn't really have so much of a bed that paint can not fill it. If you have, can you not just scrape some more out with a pin and load the gap with paint and putty mixed? If it is a thin bed, mix some putty into a little paint and brush that in.

Paint should cover putty by at least a 1/16th.