window sills

[Terry Barr]

What type of material should be used for the window sills? I have been thinkinking about using solid surface counter top material like Corain. Is there any suggestions? I have 9 windows to trim out in the new addition




http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=96825&stc=1&d=1221315841http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=96824&stc=1&d=1221315841

[Jim Becker]

This is largely a matter of taste, design and desire. Mine are poplar along with the rest of the trim. (pine in the 250 year old portion of the house) The one exception is the one in our walk-in shower...it's black antique finished granite. My parents in Florida have marble sills...not my cup of tea, but every house in their neighborhood has them.

I see no problem using solid surface material...if you can get it. It's not easy to source if you are not a certified installer.

[Peter Pedisich]

Terry,

I have one in solid surface in my kitchen, and the only reason I don't like it is the cold transfer in the NY winters, which will not be a concern of yours!

Certainly easy to clean,

Pete

[Jim Cunningham]

Like Jim said, here in So, Fl. everyone has marble

[Peter Quinn]

Sills or stools? The sill is the beveled part against which the sash closes, the leading edge of which resides on the outside of the building. Basically the bottom portion of the jamb assembly. The stool, or what many mistakenly call the sill, is the interior trim portion with ears that overlay the jamb and form a termination point for the casing. Not to be a nit picker but the difference is important. A 'sill' made of poplar may not last very long, a stool can be made of any relatively stable material to your liking or a material to match your other trim. It can also be stone, and i would guess solid surface would perform well assuming you have the capacity to cut it and form the appropriate edges. Amana makes a line of router bits with geometry specific for solid surface work if you go that direction.

If you are in fact replacing sills quarter sawn white oak is a fine choice and holds paint well, resists cupping and weathers well. I have seen teak specified for coastal marine areas for thresholds and sills. I have also used PVC trim with success. My replacement stools are made of poplar. My parents house in Florida has marble stools throughout, very termite resistant and heat loss is not a problem there!

[Jason White]

Depends on whether you actually mean window "sill" or window "stool." The "sill" is on the exterior of the house and the "stool" is on the interior. People often confuse the two.

If you're talking about the sill (exterior), PT, AZEK or cedar are good choices.

JW


What type of material should be used for the window sills? I have been thinkinking about using solid surface counter top material like Corain. Is there any suggestions? I have 9 windows to trim out in the new addition




http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=96825&stc=1&d=1221315841http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=96824&stc=1&d=1221315841

[Jim Kountz]

To echo the other posts if you're talking about the interior portion or the stool then yes corian makes a great stool. Easy to get, just find an installer and you can probably salvage enough scrap from one of their installs to do 9 windows of regular size. Thats what I did last summer for a job I was working on. Maybe I just got lucky though, my buddy does custom countertops for his living! LOL

[Jim Becker]

I was referring to the interior surface in my comment...around here, they are generally referred to as "window sills", despite that not being the correct term. Thanks to several folks for the clarification.

[Neal Clayton]

This is largely a matter of taste, design and desire. Mine are poplar along with the rest of the trim. (pine in the 250 year old portion of the house) The one exception is the one in our walk-in shower...it's black antique finished granite. My parents in Florida have marble sills...not my cup of tea, but every house in their neighborhood has them.

I see no problem using solid surface material...if you can get it. It's not easy to source if you are not a certified installer.

i've got stone ones in sunrooms as well, and the 1 or 2 out of ~30 that aren't broken look fantastic :rolleyes:

[Terry Barr]

OK I met the stools sorry for the mistake

[Tom Godley]

Corian makes great sills -- you can double up the front to make it look thick - I like them with out trim under them -- very clean looking.

I did the same with a thick bluenose tumbled marble tile -- but I made the mistake of not insulating them properly -- house is block and brick. They get cold in the winter :( But they look good!

[Peter Quinn]

Round here (CT) on traditional double hung windows the stool (or interior sill if you like) has a birds mouth cut which is the negative of the bevel on the sill, which allows the stool to form a draft check for the bottom sash and sit level on the sill. If you are creating something for this application make sure you have the ability to make this cut in your material of choice. Does that make sense?

I guess for some modern windows the manufacturer builds in a flat for the stool to land on, and the sill is integral to the window so this birds mouth cut has become irrelevant? Probably explains why the term stool has fallen out of use. If you work on old windows the old terms still make sense.

[Paul Girouard]

Round here (CT) on traditional double hung windows the stool (or interior sill if you like) has a birds mouth cut which is the negative of the bevel on the sill, which allows the stool to form a draft check for the bottom sash and sit level on the sill. If you are creating something for this application make sure you have the ability to make this cut in your material of choice. Does that make sense?

I guess for some modern windows the manufacturer builds in a flat for the stool to land on,


and the sill is integral to the window so this birds mouth cut has become irrelevant?


Probably explains why the term stool has fallen out of use. If you work on old windows the old terms still make sense.



I agree out here PNW / left coast I'd say about 90 % of all windows installed are vinyl's there is to stool used to ingage the sill like a old wood window. Hell I forotten the term stool as the last wood window I installed that need the tapered / birds mouth was about 20 years ago.

Even the few wood windows I install today Marvin , and over priced, Andersons do not require or would engage a true stool like your talking about.

Yet another term and item to die in the building trades.

Typical west coast window ,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June2nd7.jpg


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/June2nd19.jpg

I'd still say out here if you said stool they'd go look in the terlet :D

[Jim Becker]

Paul, that's really nice work!

[Neal Clayton]

Corian makes great sills -- you can double up the front to make it look thick - I like them with out trim under them -- very clean looking.

I did the same with a thick bluenose tumbled marble tile -- but I made the mistake of not insulating them properly -- house is block and brick. They get cold in the winter :( But they look good!

you can insulate it all you want and they'll still be cold, i don't think it's your fault.

that was the turn of the century air conditioning in my house. a big ole ceiling fan blowing on a marble/slate checkered floor on the east side of the house. it's cool in the summer and you can feel the cold radiating from it in the winter in the next room.

[Paul Girouard]

Paul, that's really nice work!



Thanks.

Here's a few more ,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Sept1320089.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Sept13200810.jpg

They'll be plinth blocks at the doors .

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Sept1320086.jpg

[Peter Quinn]

Paul, beautiful trim work there. Sometimes I forget living in my 100 yr. old home in an even older neighborhood that most of America has windows less than 20 years old, and most carpenters much younger than me (38) probably wouldn't know what a stool was for if I put one in their hand. Can't fight progress, can't beat the energy value of those vinyls either.

I've had a few replacement window salesmen stop by the house to make their pitch, reputable local companies each. About two minutes into it I start laughing hysterically at the samples they show me, screaming through the laughter "What is this, some sort of recycled milk jug?" "Will this thing last 100 years, cause the old ones still go up and down?" "Do they come with antique wavy glass? Cause I'd miss that!"

The only thing that comes close to the aesthetic value of the old double hungs seems to to cost around $3800 per hole, Marvins and Pellas. Anderson's gotta be the ugliest expensive sash going till you get into the real high end lines. Oil is going to have to get a lot more expensive to get me to tear out my old sashes.

[Paul Girouard]

Thanks Peter. Gesh yer jest a kid. :D

Once in awhile we get a repair job where I work on old sash , there's a term most don't use or know today.

This old farm house has some vinyl window and a few hold over D. Fir ones.

That vestibule has a lot of character so we decided to save the old look / sash.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Shermanwindowrepairs14.jpg

As you can see it's settled a bit and has been cut to fit probably more than once,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Shermanwindowrepairs17.jpg


I pulled the sash and exopied the old sill after removing most of the rot,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug9th6.jpg

Mulitple coats soaked in really well over a couple of days , I had other window's I was working on at the same time.

The sash itself as pretty bad ,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Shermanwindowrepairs11.jpg


I made a new bottom and repaired the bottom part of the side rail as well,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug13th6.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug13th2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Aug13th.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17009-3.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17006.jpg

Turned out OK and the folks where happy.

[Paul Girouard]

My glazing abilities are rough but I only do a window every 5 or 10 years , few and far between in other words.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/sept17007-2.jpg

My Granddad could really puddy glass in , he was Dough boy /WW-1 soldier he was shipped to France , by ship at the time, late in the war and said he never did get in on the fighting , he or they where trained as they moved closer to the fighting , odd way they did things back then. Anyway he did a LOT of glass repair I guess they used the GI's/ dough boys differently than they do today. But he could glaze / puddy like no one else I've ever seen. Yet another lost trade / process.

[Peter Quinn]

Wow, great work there Paul. I love the fine muntins. Great work bringing that bottom rail back. I don't have pics, but i just rebuilt a couple of 28"R circles divided into 16 lites, major pain to reglaze. Not as rotten as that sash in your picks though. I used Smith CPES from Jamestown and Abetron Wood-epox, and a fair number of 8" brass dowels to get it back in order. These go in the gable ends as gable vents. When I removed them they were hanging by a thread of hope and not much more.

Warms my heart to know I'm not the only guy out there saving an old sash now and then.

[Neal Clayton]

speaking of saving old ones, is there a 'net source of high quality pulleys and spring bronze that's not as bend-you-over expensive as killians?

i don't have any complaints about their stuff and their pulleys just happened to perfectly match my old frames, but ~300 dollars for 5 pounds of brass is a bit much.