How to Repair Dry Rot in a Window Sill

well I've got a bit of a dry rot problem here now I've really got two options I could replace the entire window or I could repair this corner right here I'm gonna go for the second option both the window sill on the bottom and wood trim on the sides are rotted I'm going to begin by cutting away first the damaged sill and then the decayed trim next I'll remove an old screw and a couple of rusted nails then begin doing away with the crumbling and rotted wood on the side trim I wasn't able to cut all the way through so I'll use a chisel to remove material up to the cut line then slip a pry bar underneath and snap off the unwanted wood on the sill I've removed as much of the rotted wood as I can however I'm still left with some material that's not very sound to restore its hardness I'll use this wood hardener it's thin as water and will quickly penetrate and saturate the wood fibers it dries rather quickly and leaves the deteriorated wood firm and much stronger the next step can be a bit messy so I'm detecting the shingles with masking tape this high-performance wood filler is also known as polyester resin I'll put a tennis ball sized portion on a mixing board and then add this cream hardener that always comes packaged with the resin it's important to mix these two components together thoroughly now I can begin packing the resin into the cavity and smooth it off with a slightly whiter putty knife once the resin begins to set I peel off the tape then remove any high spots using a chisel next I skim on a second coat smooth it off let it set and then sand everything flat the resulting surface is hard durable and free of rot now it's time to replace the outer portion of the sill for this I've cut a block of cedar to fit on the backside I apply a couple of beads of polyurethane adhesive then set the block in place and secure it in position with a few nails finally using a small plane I shape the wood block to match the existing sill profile and sand the surface for the trim I set a second wood block into position and nail it in place then mix up another batch of resin and fill in any gaps between the new and existing wood a final bit of sanding some caulk to seal the seams a touch of spackle on the nail holes then a coat of paint and this project is complete so what do you think isn't that better than replacing the entire window

Channel: Ron Hazelton

Views: 2,118,000

Keywords: window dry rot, repair dry rot, do it yourself, ron hazelton, home improvement

Id: eSpwKTWYnJQ

Length: 4min 43sec (283 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 21 2016