Northwest Portland Suburbs north of Beaverton & the Sunset Hwy.

Apparently, some mischievous and no doubt youthful neighbor was practicing his rock throwing skills while…

…simultaneously testing the durability of his neighbors 2nd story bathroom acrylic block window assembly.

After merely cracking several blocks, the aforementioned individual achieved complete penetration through the…

…exterior side of one of the blocks. In fact, the CSI team had no trouble at all ascertaining the exact nature of the weapon used, as can be seen in this photo.

And so our highly trained team of experts were called-in to clean-up the crime scene…

…which we were all too eager to do.

You needn’t ever again wonder whether or not these block collages can be repaired in place.

Good as new.

Be forewarned, the alleged perpetrator no doubt remains at large.

One of the many top-shelf villas that dot the Washington shoreline of the Columbia River.

Southeast facing Marvin non-clad wood casement windows with zero overhang. Need I tell you what the problem is?

Well the house isn’t old enough for the windows to be water-damaged yet, but give it time. No…the particular problem at this point has to do with the inherent characteristic I discuss frequently regarding casement windows in high wind scenarios with little or no overhang.

Unlike most other window function configurations, the “casement window” usually consists of an exposed exterior reveal between the sash & the jamb. You can see the consequences in the above photo. Those are water spots on the bottom of the large horizontal mull-post.

Even if this exterior wall consisted of a substantial eve (overhang), the prevailing winds along the river here are significantly influenced by the world famous wind-turbine known as the Columbia Gorge, despite what some folks were telling me to contrary about this…

…piece of property.
Anybody’s product would be sorely tested in these conditions…it is nothing unique to Marvin windows.

So we removed the top four sash from the jambs & provided significant aftermarket waterproofing products & techniques we’ve developed over the years to the seams and joints between the various jamb components to stop the water from…

…finding its way down through the horizontal mull-post directly beneath them. As long as architects continue to design homes with walls that lack significant protection from the elements while specifying wood windows like this in…

…locations like this…our company will stay busy trying to plug the holes and repairing and or modifying the wood window assemblies.

Our technician Conan is shown here refastening the interior mull-post cover.

And then he puts the finishing touches to the exterior after reinstalling the sash.
Please note: Although “sill-pans” would have kept the water from getting to the interior, you still don’t want water frequently accessing the joints of a wood window jamb.

An eloquently restored and remodeled home up off of Skyline Road (Thompson Rd).

No money was spared to have replica fir wood casement windows manufactured by a local sash shop. As many people know…

…casement sash typically swing out to the exterior like an outswing door. Like many modern wood windows, these sash were designed to incorporate…

…true-divided, insulated glass. Unlike many modern wood windows, these windows have no cladding on the exterior and minimal weatherstripping on the jambs only.

The problem? Location, location, location. The skyline areas infamous, brutally extreme wind-driven weather skirting across the skyline of the Portland’s west hills.

If there’s a nook or a cranny to be found in any kind of structure up here, you know that the wind driven weather is going to find it. Behold, one of the consequences of clear-coating the interior side of these windows.

Painted window & doors are subject to moistures adverse effects as well, but less so. Note, like outswing doors, the reveal (space) between the sash & the jambs are exposed to the exterior. So the wind-driven-rain is jet-streamed into those spaces, allowing…

…the moisture to test every seam created by where the varying sash components connect and wicking itself up under the clear-coat finish via the wood-grain which is designed to wick moisture. Upon being asked…almost begged to help find a…

…solution, we clad the lower-sides and bottoms of the most vulnerable sash with a light-gauge aluminum sheet-metal with an adhesive. For the record, it should be stated that we also are called upon to repair and replace hundreds of the latest…

…and greatest high-end aluminum-clad wood windows and doors with the best designed redundant weatherstripping systems money can buy…for the exact same reasons. The limitations of physics as it relates to wood-components being exposed to severe weather.

I truly hope that this doesn’t come off as sounding as arrogant as I’m sometimes tempted to think I can be,…

…but reviewing this particular project, I’m reminded that we maybe wouldn’t have one-half the amount of work that we…

…do have, were it not for the amount of low-quality work that is being done by some other folks.

These first four photos illustrate two mistakes. 1) The wrong product for the job 2) being installed very poorly.

After-Shot #1.
Our client not only had to pay twice to have it done, but they also paid us to remove the first application of…

After-Shot #2.
…caulking, which was way more work than putting it on. Ouch! And no, I have no idea why the first contractor wasn’t brought to task to fix it.

After-Shot #3.
Perhaps it wasn’t a contractor, you never know. Anyway…we’re thankful for the work that comes our way, just a little less “content” when we profit from the misfortune of others, if you know what I mean.