Window board fixing.

[4square]

Am about to fix parana pine window board to kitchen, 1.8m long by

225mm deep. Is it OK to secure it with no-nails, or similar, to the screed where the old tiles were fixed? It will not be rebated into the wall as in new build, or fixed to the window frame, although will be tiles down to it at both ends. In addition, at either end where there is a 50mm return in front of the wall, is it advisable to allow 8mm or so clearance behind these to slide tiles behind the wood, or cut the wood flush with the wall, and cut tiles to fit round the bullnose ends? Any advice much appreciated.

[Andy Hall]

You could. A better solution would be to drill and counterbore fixing holes then screw the board to the reveal. Then cut wooden plugs to fill the holes, cut and sand smooth.

You can do either. With this amount of projection it doesn't matter, although it is a lot of projection of the board......

Are you sure it's in proportion.?

[Stuart Noble]

Yeah, a dozen 6" x 14 screws should hold it.

[4square]

My error, what I meant was, the board will extend 50mm each side beyond the window opening, and overhang forwards over the wall about

25mm along its length, which is about normal I think. I reckon I will use no-nails, hopefully the board wont warp.

[Stuart Noble]

Parana is known for its stability, hence the price, and the availability in wide sections. I'd cut it flush with the wall at either end, fix it with NMN or similar, and tile down to it. I wouldn't have the overhang at the front either. It gives you extra space, but can be more trouble than it's worth if you have a sink under the window.

[Roger Mills]

Don't you think that 10mm dia carriage screws would be better?

[Andy Hall]

Don't be silly. This is simply a suggestion for doing the job properly as well as making the board removable without damage later.

[Andy Hall]

OK. How thick are the tiles? If they are the large format ones or even smaller good quality tiles, the overall tile can easily be 10mm thick. Add the adhesive and it can be 12-13mm. so you mahy want to cut the board wider to allow for that. A 12mm overhang would not look right. At any rate, tiling first and cutting the board to fit over it will provide a neater job than cutting in tiles around the ends. That would simply draw attention to it.

Hopefully not. I would suggest rendering or plastering the top surface of the reveal to profide a flat, slightly rough surface. Then use one of the solvent based adhesives like Gripfill rather than the mimsy water based ones.

[Andy Wade]

I really, really wouldn't. I'd use some frame fixings, say about 8 x 80 mm, or 8 x 100 even, spaced at about about 400 or 450 centres width-wise and roughly centred over the thickness of the inner leaf of the wall. Put them into counterbored holes and make good with cross-grain pellets in the usual way.

[Stuart Noble]

I'd say it's making work for the sake of it, with no discernible benefits. This ain't cabinet making

[Stuart Noble]

Must be full moon

[Cicero]

================================ Consider using expanded foam (as discussed here fairly recently. Expanded foam is a powerful adhesive and a good gap filler.

Cic.

[tony sayer]

93% so it sez on my Google homepage!..

[Stuart Noble]

I wouldn't. They don't call it "expanding" for nothing! Gripfil is cheap enough and made for the job.

[Stuart Noble]

[Cicero]

--------------------------------

-------------------------------- I would tend to believe the manufacturer (Unibond) who state on their container that it's suitable for fixing window sills. That tallies with my experience and that of many other people. Used properly it's a perfectly satisfactory solution.

Cic.

[Andy Hall]

No it isn't. However you don't know about the discernible benefits, nor do you know about the stability of the specific piece of material

Sticking with construction adhesive *may well* work OK.

Using screws and plugs *will* work.

If I were doing the job, I would certainly do it properly with screws and plugs. This does take longer than sticking it, but the results are essentially guaranteed and the board is removable later.

The OP may choose to cut out this step and stick the piece of wood. That's fine. He will probably get away with it. If he doesn't. the fix will take a lot longer than fixing it with screws and plugs.

This is really an issue of doing a job properly vs. cutting corners. It's not quite a bodge.

Generally one can get away with cutting corners. I prefer to do jobs properly from the outset in the knowledge that the result will be correct and the job will not need to be revisited.

[Stuart Noble]

Fixings don't stop wood moving. In extreme cases it will simply split where the fixings are. Your insistence that it's the "proper" way doesn't hold up, particularly in this case where it only needs holding in place. Allowing the wood to move isn't "cutting corners". Trying to fix it into submission sounds like engineering principles wrongly applied

[Andy Hall]

Obviously

Correct

It is the proper way, but not for reasons that you suggest.

Of course.

Which is why I wasn't. The main reason is to make the piece able to be removed as I stated.

[Stuart Noble]

Who removes window boards, other than to replace them? Is there perhaps something under them that needs to be inspected periodically?