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One of many exclusive neighborhoods in West Linn.
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The pattern continues with elevated properties, elevated walls with minimal overhangs and non-clad wood windows.
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In this case, they are Weathershield wood windows. But the brand of window isn’t as pertinent…
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…as the exposure to the elements and the issue of maintenance. Or the latter’s lack thereof.
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This is one of those scenarios where the rotten windows translated into water-damaged walls.
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As the sills and jambs have deteriorated to the point of “holes” developing, the water has been routed on into the wall cavities.
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We do so much wood window repair that we often stock lineal footage of sash and sill components of various brands of wood windows.
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Brandon goes about repairing a large picture sash.
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Steve Hilt is cutting cedar siding…
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…for Bruce & David to install as they go about putting the exterior walls back together after the repairs have been made.
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Project 27482 – Water Damaged Exterior Trim & Sill Components – 2013
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Lake Oswego, just south of the PCC Sylvania Campus.
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The left side of this house, which is also the south facing side of the house bears the brunt of the weather. And as you can see, the architecture provides very little protection for our client’s wood-sash windows.
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If you enlarge some of these photos, you may be able to make out telltale signs of water-damaged wood window components.
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Obviously, some are more obvious than others.
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While some components may only look like the paint has lost its adhesion to the wood, those of us who inspect wood windows for a living can usually tell that the “wrinkles” in the paint mean that the wood has shrunk due to rot.
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As so frequently happens with this type of work, what was initially approached as an exterior trim and sill component repair project has translated into “change-order” work. The removal of certain components has exposed further damage that was previously covered, such as the edge of the jamb-leg (shown above) that had been covered by the brick-moulding.
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This photo shows that the removal of the water-damaged “sub-sill” exposed the “main-sill” and more jamb-leg damage, necessitating the temporary removal of the double-hung sash.
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Fortunately, on this project, the weather has turned quite accommodating for work that involves opening up exterior walls.
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This shot, somewhat obscured by the shadows, shows one of our technicians installing replacement materials for the window-jamb.
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And just before we replace the exterior brick-moulding trim as this day nears its end, the exposed sheathing surfaces are coated with a self-adhesive flashing-membrane that we have tied into the exterior walls moisture-barrier. The particular product that we have used here is called Grace Vycor Plus.
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Project 25569 – Acrylic Block Repair – 2012
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Northwest Portland Suburbs north of Beaverton & the Sunset Hwy.
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Apparently, some mischievous and no doubt youthful neighbor was practicing his rock throwing skills while…
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…simultaneously testing the durability of his neighbors 2nd story bathroom acrylic block window assembly.
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After merely cracking several blocks, the aforementioned individual achieved complete penetration through the…
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…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.
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And so our highly trained team of experts were called-in to clean-up the crime scene…
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…which we were all too eager to do.
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You needn’t ever again wonder whether or not these block collages can be repaired in place.
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Good as new.
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Be forewarned, the alleged perpetrator no doubt remains at large.
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Project 23756 – Leaky Casement Windows with Extreme Exposure – 2011
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One of the many top-shelf villas that dot the Washington shoreline of the Columbia River.
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Southeast facing Marvin non-clad wood casement windows with zero overhang. Need I tell you what the problem is?
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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.
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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.
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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…
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…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…
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…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…
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…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. |
Project 23247 – Replica Wood Casement Sash with Water Penetration Problem- 2010
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An eloquently restored and remodeled home up off of Skyline Road (Thompson Rd).
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No money was spared to have replica fir wood casement windows manufactured by a local sash shop. As many people know…
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…casement sash typically swing out to the exterior like an outswing door. Like many modern wood windows, these sash were designed to incorporate…
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…true-divided, insulated glass. Unlike many modern wood windows, these windows have no cladding on the exterior and minimal weatherstripping on the jambs only.
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The problem? Location, location, location. The skyline areas infamous, brutally extreme wind-driven weather skirting across the skyline of the Portland’s west hills.
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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.
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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…
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…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…
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…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…
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…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.
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Project 22662 – Re-Caulking Bank of Windows – 2009
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I truly hope that this doesn’t come off as sounding as arrogant as I’m sometimes tempted to think I can be,…
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…but reviewing this particular project, I’m reminded that we maybe wouldn’t have one-half the amount of work that we…
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…do have, were it not for the amount of low-quality work that is being done by some other folks.
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These first four photos illustrate two mistakes. 1) The wrong product for the job 2) being installed very poorly.
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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. |
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Project 24762 – Bent Glass Failure Repair – 2012
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A solarium or, as some would call it, a Sunroom on the back of a house in Tigard.
Our client wants to put his house on the market, but… |
…thinks it best if the radiused insulated glass units that have failed are replaced before allowing prospective buyers in to view the home.
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So we hatched a plan to try something we had never before tried. Our plan involved removing the original “bent-glass,” as it’s called in…
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…the industry, and temporarily securing the solarium from the elements. We then took the three insulated units back to our…
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…warehouse, whereupon we disassembled the insulated units down to individual panes of glass and took to trying to remove the…
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…oxidized consequence of the seal-failure of insulated glass. Frankly, I am not certain what causes the oxidation upon the glass that sometimes happens when moisture is allowed to get in-between the panes. Perhaps a chemical reaction to the aluminum spacer-bars or perhaps a gassing-off that occurs when the desiccant inside the spacer-bars gets wet. We tried everything we could think of or find advertised for oxidation removal.
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In the previous photo, our technician Brandon is applying Jewelers ruse with a buffing wheel on the end of a die-grinder, which was the last of about a dozen products that were advertised or recommended by folks we know in the industry as being good for oxidation removal. I can now tell you from experience that nothing even remotely worked.
So a template was made and an order was placed with California Glass Bending. |
Thousands of dollars later, we had three brand new insulated glass units to install back into our client’s solarium structure.
No, we did not pass our “research and development” costs onto our client. They were significant to say the least, but in my experience, most valuable educations are. |
I like to think that our desire to learn and to grow in our field of expertise is among several characteristics promoted in our company that tend to set us apart from some of, if not most of the competition.
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Although there is no way for us to know for certain, we do seem to enjoy an ever increasing amount of favorable feedback from our clients.
If something can be done in the field of door & windows, we likely do it. And then some. Water leak remediation is but one example of our problem-solving inclinations opening up ever increasing markets for us. |
Project 23453 – Solarium Leak Repair, Reflash & Re-Glaze – 2010
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A relatively small residential solarium.
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Not only are solariums prone to developing leaks, but a number of them lack proper flashing, as was the primary problem with this assembly.
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With a very predictable outcome. This is what we discovered upon removing some of the interior drywall beneath the solarium structure.
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Upon removing the insulated, this is what we discovered. Click on the photo for a slightly closer view, if you so like.
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We temporarily supported and lifted the assembly to allow us to repair the wall below the structure…
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…as well as allowing us to insert a sill-pan under the bottom horizontal portions of the structure.
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Sean Miller goes about working on the interior…
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…while Steve Hilt puts the finishing touches on the exterior sheathing.
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After the moisture-barrier is installed, the siding is re-installed.
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And then it was time to replace the drywall.
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Project 28159 – Roofline Sunroom Structure Failed Glass Replacement & Upgrade – 2013
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The Bonny Slope neighborhood in Northwest Portland with a client looking to sell their home.
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Time to replace the 5 failed insulated glass units in their sunroom structure.
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No leaking associated with this particular project, just foggy glass.
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These structures are always a bit of a logistical challenge, although this particular one is near the low end of the difficulty meter.
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We’re guessing that this structure was installed prior to the advent of Low-E glass, and thus they used what is called Mirror-Glass. Notice the reflection from the exterior side.
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If you enlarge the photo by clicking on it…you should be able to see the difference between the two units we replaced with 366 Low-E Glass, as compared to the remaining mirror glass unit at the bottom of the photo.
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Mirror glass apparently does a fine job filtering out the heat generating properties of ultraviolet rays, although it is more expensive and does not reportedly help keep the heat “in” as the Low-E products have been designed to do. To read much more about Low-E glass, you might go to: http://educationcenter.ppg.com/glasstopics/how_lowe_works.aspx
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Technicians Bruce and Sean shown in the previous photo preparing to hand down one of the original insulated units to Phil & David (above).
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Everybody, including Phil McNair taking the photo, is involved carefully installing the new insulated Low-E glass unit.
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So not only did we take care of the foggy-glass problem, but the new glass installed should be considered an upgrade, even though it costs less than the original mirror-glass.
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Project 26322 – Replacing Water Damaged Velux Skylights – 2013
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A stately, well-appointed, low-frills home in Lake Oswego.
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O.K., the remodeled family room behind the garage, with the vaulted ceiling and the four skylights to offset some of the darkness of living amongst so much foliage might be considered by some to be a bit of a frill.
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The two center non-operable skylights are showing obvious water-damage.
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If you enlarge the photo above by clicking on it, you may be able to see the light reflecting upon the water that was eking out of the crevasses the day we were there inspecting the damage…
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…as it had been raining the night before. These Velux skylights are top notch skylights. No doubt considered by most in the business, including us, as being among the best that money can buy.
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So one obvious question might be to ask “what went wrong?” And the answer is that any glass in any window, door, solarium or skylight that is exposed to frequent moisture in climates such as ours, should be re-glazed every five years or so.
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There is much that could be said about this, but we won’t go into that here and now. You might note that although it looked as though only the two center skylights had water damage, once we removed the adjoining, interconnecting flashing…
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…it was quickly discovered that the two flanking, operable skylights had also sustained some water damage. It just couldn’t be seen until some disassembly had been accomplished.
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So two more skylights were ordered as we finished up this first phase. Our client said that they had never opened the two operable skylights, and thus instructed us to order “non-operable” versions for the replacements.
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And so it was that we returned at a later date and replaced the other two as well.
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