The afternoon started off well. The boys were about as expected, running around with their friend, Justin. Of course at times it got a little out of hand. Of course one of those times, Will got in trouble (don’t worry, Ben got in trouble as well the other time). So he got a time-out in his room (and yes, for those without kids, time-outs do work).
I’m outside with Ben and Justin – I have my phone set to go off when Will’s time-out is over. From above, I hear the sound of glass breaking – from Will’s window. I run upstairs – a little angry- I’ve assumed the window broke because he was angry and threw something that broke the window (hey, seems fair – the usual cause of broken windows is things being thrown ).
Well, it turns out that he wasn’t throwing things. He had just been leaning with his hand on the window pane and it broke. And he was upset – upset about the time-out – scared he had broken his window (there was glass all over the floor). Thankfully the only thing on him was a small scratch on his arm (I am VERY thankful for no trip to the ER).
So, after he calmed down (and I calmed down), I sat down with him. I told him that he wasn’t in trouble (it was an accident), but that he needed to help fix the window. That made him more upset (he wanted to play with Justin). I told him it wouldn’t be all afternoon – if I break a window, I am expected to fix it, so it seemed fair if he helped.
I think he must have realized that it wouldn’t be fair to play the whole time I was working on fixing the window he broke – he complained a little bit, but did help with the window.
We carefully cleaned up the broken glass (work gloves and shoes on). Then off came both stops, and out came the sash. I don’t know why, but the stops on this window have only one screw in the middle, and nails on the top and bottom. Maybe I’ll change it to three screws each tomorrow when I put the window back together (like the rest of the windows in the house).
Will cleaned out the rabbet where the broken pane had been (lots of nice old hardened putty). I removed the other pane (the putty was in bad shape – and since he had only broken the one pane, Will didn’t have to help with that pane). Then Will was back to paint the sash. After the paint had dried to the touch, we put a new piece of glass in (strangely enough I had a new piece of glass sitting around the right size), and reglazed the window.
I use Glaze-Ease from Advanced Repair Technology, Inc. to glaze the windows. I love the fact that it can be painted 2 hours after glazing (traditional glazing needs to cure for several days prior to painting). It comes in a caulk tube and they have a special tool to get the finish to look like traditional glazing. I’m still working on getting it to turn out perfect – but this is a second floor window, so no one will see the glazing job.
Tonight I painted the glazing and removed the tape. Tomorrow I’ll second coat the glazing, and Will and I will wax the sash where it rubs against the parting bead and stop (keeps the paint from sticking) and put the window back together.
So Will gets one night without a lower sash (he still has a storm window). And he had a lot less play time this afternoon than he had originally wanted.
On the good side, Will learned how to take the lower sash off a double hung window and replace a pane of glass. Another good thing – that window sash was in the worst shape of all of them in the house – so reglazing and repainting was needed. Even better – I got to work on a project with Will for a good part of the afternoon. And I’m pretty sure he won’t lean on a window again.
