The Pleasure and the Pane

Spring, 2025

The joy of maintaining antique homes lies in preserving their unique features, like the original window designs.

By Ray McCarthy

Our home was originally built in 1790 in Sutton, Massachusetts. It had never had running water nor electricity before it was demolished board by board and stored in a barn. Long story short, we bought it in 1978 and rebuilt it on a new foundation, with a new first floor framework and subfloor. We were able to reuse all of the chestnut and oak beams as the frame, as well as much of the floors, plank walls, and doors.

But this is not the main story.

46 years ago, I created thick plank frames for the windows to hold the 9 over 6 sash reproductions made by artisans. These sashes had to be glazed with individual 6″ x 8″ single pane glass. The seventeen window sets each require 15 pieces of glass, which meant that my wife, several family members, and I had to set, point, and glaze 255 panes. This truly was a pain.

Fast forward to 46 years later:

Sun, rain, and extremes of temperature had taken their toll on these sashes. I made a trompe-l’oeil set of replacement sash from plywood so that I could work on one set of windows at a time.

I took the time-ravaged parts to the shop, hit them with 60-grit sandpaper on my random orbit sander, and pulled out my trusty WEST SYSTEM® repair kit and 403 Microfibers.

First, I removed any rotted wood. Then I repaired any damage and sealed the wood with the WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. After it cured, I went back and filled any cracks and fissures with the epoxy, thickened to a heavy whipped cream consistency, using a putty knife.

I sanded the cured epoxy flat once again, then primed the sash and painted both sides with two coats of latex paint.