Learning to reglaze your old windows is something that scares the pants off of many homeowners. But fear not! It does require practice and a bit of an artist’s touch to get it just right, but like anything, practice makes perfect. You can learn to reglaze your old windows yourself with just a little practice and some good training.
However, describing how to reglaze your old windows in a blog post is a bit like trying to teach someone to dance via cell phone. So I’ve put together a short video to walk you through the steps of bedding and reglazing an old window. Along with a few tips and resources I’ve included in this post you should be able to reglaze your own windows with confidence.
That’s right! The Craftsman now has its own YouTube channel! And we’ll be posting lots more videos to teach you all kinds of new skills. So, stop by YouTube and subscribe to our channel for updates whenever we post a new video. And don’t forget to like our video and share it with your friends if you find it helpful.
Tips
- Always prime a bare sash with an oil-based primer prior to glazing.
- Wear gloves when handling antique glass. It is very brittle and can easily break.
- Wait until the glazing putty has formed a skin (usually 1-2 weeks) before you attempt to paint.
- Do not prime the glazing putty after you have glazed your window. Just add 2 coats of a quality paint.
Resources
- Sarco Glazing Putty – This is the only brand of glazing putty I recommend. It is linseed-oil based and as close to the old stuff they used to use. If you are glazing your windows in a garage or shop use Sarco Type-M putty. If your windows will be glazed outside and exposed to the elements prior to painting use Sarco Dual Glaze.
- Diamond Glazing Points - These points are the smallest and easiest to hide under the glazing putty which allows you to have the cleanest glazing lines.
- Silent Paint Stripper – For removing old paint that may contain lead paint this is the method I prefer. It’s expensive, but most things that work well usually are. *Always use proper protection and follow the EPA’s rules when dealing with lead paint.
- Glazier’s Tool – For me this tool provides the best angle to get a nice smooth line and allows me to cut in to get perfect (most of the time!) corners.
If you’ve got more tips or suggestions I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
Scott’s Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I will get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase. I only recommend products or services that I have experience with and use myself, not because of any commissions I may make, but because I truly find these products useful. Please do not spend any money on any of these products unless you honestly feel that they may be a benefit to you.
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Those are good tips. I’ve found it is sometimes tricky to remove the old putty, especially on larger panes of glass. My glass supplier shared a great tip: Don’t try to remove old putty in sun or in hot temperatures, but instead do the work in shade and early or late in the day. The old glass is more likely to break in the hot sun. Obviously if you remove the old sash then you can work indoors, but for a picture window sometimes you don’t have that option. It can be heartbreaking to crack a large pane of wavy glass!
Jack, that is a good tip, thanks for sharing it. Yeah, I don’t mind breaking a couple small panes but when you break 30″ or 40″ window it kills me.
We’re building our own steam cabinet now and looking forward to trying it out because stubborn putty is the easiest way to break windows.
I am sure I have much less experience than Scott does, but I have repaired and reglazed more than 100 windows and through trial an error have mostly come to do it about the way Scott does. The differences:
1. I use Dap 33. I just started out using this because this is what the home centers carry. I’ve never used anything else and maybe what Scott recommends is better. It sounds like Dap 33 requires a little less set up time than the Sarco putty which is a good thing from my point of view but beyond that I don’t know why one product versus the other.
2. I use Dap glazing compound in a tube for the bedding. I use this instead of Dap 33 because it goes down faster and is easier to squash flat when you install the glass. I don’t think it works very well for the window glazing itself because it sags and in general just looks kind of ugly in time.
3. I use a two handed technique with the putty knife. I use one hand to hold the knife steady against the frame and a second to drag the putty knife along.
4. I use the points with the bent up edge. Sometimes they are just barely covered by the glazing compound, but at least on occasion somebody as cut the old glass a little on the small side and if they were any smaller I’d need to get new glass.
5. I’ve been making the glazing compound bevel end as close as possible to the edge of the inside rabbet. I think I’m going to go with Scott on this. I’m going to start making the bevel a little more narrow.
6. I clean up the oil from the glazing compound on the window with whiting. This allows me to make the window mostly clean while I wait for the glazing compound to set up so the window can be painted and cleaned. Maybe the Sarco Putty is less messy to install than the Dap 33 and doesn’t leave the window with oily smears the way Dap 33 does?
Just poking around the site a little bit more I stumbled on the tip about using plaster instead of whiting. That sounds like a great idea. I have to make a special trip to get whiting but I always have plaster lying around and it is much cheaper as you said.
Dave, thanks for all the comments! It sounds like we do about the same thing with our windows.
I tried the DAP 33 at first and liked it too the main reason I switched for a couple reasons.
1) When restoring old windows I would come across some that were redone only a decade or two ago with DAP. The DAP was chalky and crumbling. I didn’t like its lack of flexibility after such a short period.
2) Several other window restoration companies I know where using Sarco or similar products and they didn’t like DAP. I figured if it’s what the pros are doing then I should look into it.
3) Sarco’s putty is the closest in formulation to what they used back in the day and that putty lasted 70 years in some cases. I want those results.
4) We do use the larger glazier’s points occasionally if the rabbet is big enough and, like you said, if the glass is a bit too small for the frame.
I just noticed another difference between the way I have been doing it and the way Scott recommends. For a long time I was just painting glazing compound with two coats of a quality exterior latex paint. I never noticed a problem, but I changed awhile ago to priming the putty with an oil based primer before I painted it. I changed after I noticed that priming was recommended by the Dap 33 instructions. Maybe not needing to be primed is an advantage of the Sarco Putty?
Sarco recommends NOT priming their putty. It’s hard for me to feel comfortable doing that, but sticking with manufacturer’s recommendations is almost always the safest route.
Great details about reglazing, but you don’t really write or talk about how to get the glazing off without breaking the glass. The infrared paint removers use low heat and soften the glazing so you don’t have to hack at it with a regular chisel. I didn’t like the Silent Paint Remover. I had quality problems with it after my first year. Check for other infrared paint removers and find the one that is UL-certified for quality. Some are more expensive but worth it for better durability