How To Repair Window Sill Dog Chewed

Q: I of our windowsills appears to exist rotting. Can it be replaced without ownership a new window?

—Bill Bailey, Baldwin, Mo.

David Raymond, Raymond Design Builders, replies: Sticking out into the conditions year after twelvemonth, forest windowsills take quite a beating. They can last for decades if y'all but continue them make clean and protect them with a coat of pigment. But when h2o gets trapped in or against them, equally happens with improperly flashed windows, rot can take hold.

A simple epoxy repair will exercise the trick if the rot is confined to a modest area, but if more than 10 percentage of the sill is rotten, the sometime sill should exist cut off and replaced. For this project, I used a solid piece of Kleer cellular PVC sill that matches the profile and thickness of the other sills on the house. It costs less than a piece of clear, milled red cedar and is paintable, but no matter how many times it gets wet, information technology can't rot.

Footstep-by-step tutorial renders beneath OTHER VIDEOS player. Continue scrolling!

Step 1

Remove the Side Casings

Photograph by Ryan Benyi

The casing comes off to articulate the fashion for removing the old sill. If the casings are rotting, as hither, replace them, too. Slice through the caulk bead between the siding and the casing, and then carefully pry off each slice. Save the trim to apply as templates for the new ones. Make sure the flashing behind the casing is intact and properly installed behind the siding.

Step two

Saw Off the Old Sill

Photograph by Ryan Benyi

Brand a plumb cut flush with the sheathing along the length of the rotten sill. A circular saw with a beveled blade can handle about of the cutting, but for the sill ends where a circ saw can't reach, switch to a multitool, like this Fein Multimaster equipped with an oscillating saw blade. Smooth the cut with a few strokes of a hand aeroplane.

Footstep three

Utilize the Agglutinative

Photo by Ryan Benyi

Repair whatever rotten spots on the onetime sill with epoxy. Trim the dorsum edge of the new sill as needed then that its lower edge fits tightly against the siding and its back edge fits against the old wood. Drill pilot holes every 16 inches or so through the new sill's front and back edges. Run a bead of waterproof, marine-grade adhesive along the old sill.

Footstep 4

Attach the New Sill

Photograph past Ryan Benyi

Printing the new sill into the adhesive, and immediately clamp it in place by driving iii½-inch deck screws through the plastic and into the forest. Cease when the heads are virtually ¼ inch below the sill surface. Immediately wipe up whatsoever agglutinative that squeezes out. Fill whatever gaps between the old and new sill with adhesive.

Stride v

Hide the Screwheads

Photo past Ryan Benyi

Cover each screwhead with a dollop of a white, two-part acrylic adhesive, such as Bond&Fill FastCure. (This likewise works every bit an adhesive in Step three.) Overfill the recess slightly. When the adhesive hardens completely, in about 30 minutes, sand it flush.

Step vi

Install the Side Casing

Photo by Ryan Benyi

Clasp a bead of caulk abreast the ends of the siding, and nail the new casing in place. Here, I used cellular PVC trim boards and 8d stainless-steel ring-shank nails. Set the nailheads slightly beneath the surface, and cover each one with a dab of the two-role agglutinative. After the dabs harden, sand them flush.

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/windows/21016539/how-to-repair-a-rotted-windowsill

Posted by: mosergine1988.blogspot.com

Share this post