Repair a large wooden window frame

[Edition5]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone could advise me on which type of tradesman I need to repair a large frame window that is becoming increasingly mouldy, especially due to winter condensation. I had a window repair guy come over recently to fix it, but he made it worse. He lightly sanded the window but didn’t clean or wipe away the dust before applying a coat of varnish. I was appalled by his work.

So, my question is: do I need a carpenter or some kind of specialist? I received a quote from a company for over £800, which seems excessive to me. I'm based in London. Many thanks.

 

[Wayners]

Fill and paint that.
Other way it to cover in thin hardwood. Basically cap it but I think fill and paint. Maybe use something like mahogany opaque wood colour or walnut colour.
You can't varnish that .
You need a painter.

You need to get yourself a dehumidifier. Dry washing with it and run a few hours in the evening. The high humidity in your house is dumping on the cold glass

 

[opps]

£800 to do what?

Image number one, the discolouration wasn't sufficiently sanded back. Image 2, not sure what has caused the minor damage to the edge of the internal frame. Does the window bind when you are closing it?

From the photos, it looks like a pretty trivial job, but one that requires a number of revists because of drying times.

 

[crank39]

Think this would better posted on the painting and decorating section!

 

[Edition5]

Fill and paint that.
Other way it to cover in thin hardwood. Basically cap it but I think fill and paint. Maybe use something like mahogany opaque wood colour or walnut colour.
You can't varnish that .
You need a painter.

You need to get yourself a dehumidifier. Dry washing with it and run a few hours in the evening. The high humidity in your house is dumping on the cold glass

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the condensation on the glass dripped onto the wooden frame, causing mold to form. There isn’t much to fill. There is a paper-like coating on the bottom of the wood, which is probably some kind of waterproof protector—I’m not sure what it’s called or what it actually is. If I sand and varnish it with a waterproof varnish (like the type used for boats), wouldn’t that protect the wood from condensation? All the window frames have their natural colour without any paint, and we’d like to keep it that way.

 

[Edition5]

£800 to do what?

Image number one, the discolouration wasn't sufficiently sanded back. Image 2, not sure what has caused the minor damage to the edge of the internal frame. Does the window bind when you are closing it?

From the photos, it looks like a pretty trivial job, but one that requires a number of revists because of drying times.

They didn't say what they would do to fix it but the quote is £800 so we didn't contact them again. The discolouration is from the mould and it looked a dry now in summer but we know when the weather is getting a bit colder the mould and the blacken colour of the wood will come back hence we'd like to get it fixed before it got worse. There is no problem to close the window, it still works well, it's just the wood getting darken and mouldy in winter, it looks like if we don't do anything now the wood will just get rotten.

 

[Edition5]

The thing is the mould probably has gone in quite deep as well, not sure how much has to be sanded off, if we do paint it after, will it helps the wood and it wont get worst with the future condensation? We are looking into a dehumidifier as well, never had one before, can it be turned on all night when sleeping as that's the condensation comes, we see lots on the glass dripping in the morning.

 

[Nemix]

Astonish mould spray is cheap, under £2 a bottle usually and works really well. It won't fix the root cause but it will withhold it without much effort while you investigate where it's coming from. Soak wet paper towels and leave for 10 minutes then you'll want a toothbrush and hot soapy water to scrub it away where you can.

You might need to just run a dehumidifier and keep a fresh breeze with ambient temperature if you can, wipe the window down morning and night - those karcher vacs are supposed to be really good for windows and glass as a whole, get the sucky one if so. Or the windowframe might need replacing if the wood is rotting and/or it's coming from deep inside.

 

[Diver Fred]

Prevention :- Making sure the condensate is dried up regularly is the first line of defence. Window vac when you see condensation forming - certainly daily in the morning.

Do not use radiators to dry (or even 'Air') clothes. Buy ands use a De-humidifier.

The problem :- It looks to me that the timber has 'aged' - the Grey colour. Is the timber soft? Either to touch (Thumbnail causes an indentation when pressed into grey area) or when Sandpaper is rubbed on the grey areas - if it is then there is little that can be done to repair. However you could try using, on bare timber, Wood Hardener; brush it on generously so it soaks until it stops soaking in to the wood. Leave to dry for at least 24 hours. Lightly smooth down with fine sandpaper (150 grit).
The wood hardener won't stain or colour the timber.
Once dry and in a warm room apply 2 of 3 coats of spirit based yacht varnish. That is likely to be a temporary solution.
If the timber frame is hard then you could sand down through the discoloured timber and apply spirit based yacht varnish.

If the timber is very soft then I'm afraid it's replacement.

reason for edit - incomplete final sentence.