An old original wood awning sash in an old S.W. Portland building. You might click on the photo for an enlarged view.

One of the joints between the bottom-rail and a stile was coming apart and threatening to drop the glass to the sidewalk below.

We boarded-up the opening and retrieved the sash for transport back to our shop in Tigard.

It took two of us to wrestle that sash to the interior with the client keeping the sidewalk clear below very early in the morning, as you can see dusk approaching in the second photo.

But the point is that it was done competently and safely without the need for scaffold or a man-lift, which would have increased the cost considerably.

A couple new wood sash components manufactured and the sash is reassembled. Remember, you can enlarge the photo to gain a better grasp of what is being shown, by clicking on the photo.

New glass, new putty glaze.

Some fine-tune adjustments for a perfect fit.

Finish fastening the friction hinges to the jamb.

Re-installing the latch.

The Legends Condos on S.W. 19th. Wood windows, especially casement windows in high-wind applications, whether clad or not, have a well-established history of problems in the Willamette Valley.

Case in point. Wind driven moisture is driven right back up into the weep-hole corners in the weatherstripping that is supposed to let water drain out. But with wind-load factors such as these openings are exposed to, gravity is moot. The rain is blown up past the weep-holes, past the aluminum-clad surfaces to the end grain of these sash and wicked up into the sash components via the stile and rail seems.

We offer expert consultation services to architects, structural engineers and construction companies, but few and wise are they who make use of our expertise in these matters before such buildings are built. As with many such buildings, this one came with swing-stage rigging which we employed for hanging our block and tackle gear.

The other end of the block and tackle set up is lowered to the patio below. Yes, we did look into a man-lift, which we use all the time, but due to the lack of level surfaces upon which to park it, the lift companies advised us against it. A swing stage would have added several thousand dollars to a job whose price tag was understandably causing heads to spin already.

Our crew stationed below hook up the glass manipulator and it is lifted up to the 6th story window, whereupon it is attached to the glass of the damaged sash.

The damaged sash is lowered to the patio below after the sash is detached from the jamb. Remember, you can click the photo to enlarge it. You may find it difficult to make out the sash on the end of the ropes otherwise. Notice the two addional ropes attached to the window by which our crew kept the window positioned away from the wall as needed.

The new sash is hooked up to the manipulator.

And the new Marvin sash is raised into position, whereupon it is fastened into the original jamb assembly. You might imagine how fortunate we were to find a day with the weather we had this day. Imagine trying to handle this large window on the end of these ropes if the wind had been blowing.

Jake hangs around outside for a while and tackles the exterior finish work.

All the seams are caulked this time. No more depending on the factory weatherstripping to keep the weather out on this particular sash.

We could perhaps write a book regarding the evolution of the wood window industry and it’s wrangling with the issue of designing windows.

For example, there’s the issue of trying to make a window sash with insulated glass look like it has multi-panes, or what they call “divided-lites.”

A number of the major modern day wood window manufacturers (Pella, Marvin, Pozzi, Etc.) began around the late 1980’s, trying to manufacture true-divided-lite windows using insulated-glass, but the muntins necessary to house and cover the spacer-bars that separate and hold the panes together…

…necessitated muntin dimensions that were too much of a departure from the classic 7/8″ muntin. These new muntins were huge by comparison, and we suspect that architects and home owners rejected them in mass.

And thus was born the “Simulated-Divided-Lite” feature so common today in the modern wood windows & doors.
It has been our experience to observe that this feature has for the most part, gone…

…unnoticed by the general property owning populace, because we are continually having to explain why it is a bit more difficult to replace…

…failed or broken glass with “Simulated-Divided-Lite” glass with the muntins that have been adhered semi-permanently to the glass.

Such as these Eagle brand wood clad windows have in this northwest Portland Condo building.

Learning to order the glass correctly with the corresponding simulated spacer-bars that align internally with the simulated…

…muntins, and learning how to correctly re-adhere the simulated muntins to the glass has become a skill-set in and of itself.

The Helen Gordon Child Development Center on S.W. 12th Avenue in Portland.

The 2004 restoration of the center was spearheaded by LCG Pence, LLC Company.

LCG Pence awarded the contract for restoration of the water damaged windows to Anderson Door & Window Mechanics, Inc..

As well as addressing any other general impediments to their use and operation.

Water Intrusion Remediation Services are a major part of our market niche.

We & our associates have become experts in the custom milling of wood window & door components that have been water damaged, whether original historical sash or the modern versions.

Or if budget restraints require it, we can employ the use of wood-care systems wood-treatments and sculpt-wood products for replacing damaged areas.

The problem with a patch is of course the fact that discerning the extent of the materials affected by fungal contamination is much less than an exact science.

And it’s not uncommon for the rot to continue its spread throughout the remaining original materials.
So “buyers beware.” You may save money in the short run, but…

More condos in N.W. Portland. More leaky windows.

When we got involved, this building had a combination of Kolbe & Kolbe, and also Pella “Wood-Clad” windows. The Pella products represented what was left of the buildings original windows.

We worked on this building for years until it was eventually concluded that the exterior envelope was never correctly flashed.

They had to pull all the windows and the siding and start all over.

Our technicians Jared & Vinny taking a breather.

This is what the building looks like now, after a major facelift. This photo was taken in 2011.

What made this project unusual was that it is rare for someone to hire us to basically reinstall windows installed by others so long ago.

Scott & Bruce take a break to allow a photo op. Western Architectural was hired by the Chown Pella Homeowners Association to determine why all these Pella windows had crowned sills. It was determined that the windows had been ill supported when installed in 1995.

So we were hired to correct the supporting components (shims) beneath the windows. As it would happen, we were on-site in 1995, installing the replica wood windows on the south and west elevations, when these windows were originally installed by a company who is no longer in business.

This side of the building never had any windows originally, because it abutted another building that was torn down to create a parking lot. The openings in the brick wall were then cut, steel lintels were installed for header support. And Pella’s wood-clad double-hung windows were installed by another sub for Baugh Construction.

Built in 1858, the Northrup, Blossum & Fitch Building @ S.W. Yamhill & Naito Parkway is the lone survivor of the infamous 1873 fire that pretty much destroyed the rest of the block.

On the day we arrived with the property management company to inspect the windows, there was scaffold erected, which made examination of the damaged windows a breeze.

It’s no surprise that 156 year old windows might have some problems at this stage of the game. Actually, it was quite apparent that these were NOT the original windows.

Given that they had wood-stops around the glass on the exterior, and insulated glass in them, it’s a fair assumption that they are less than 30 years old. But as you can tell from the first photo,…

…these wood windows have virtually no protection from the elements. Add to that, the loss of the protection Lead-Paint used to provide, and the difficulty inspecting these 2nd and 3rd story windows from the exterior, it’s no wonder they would be in this condition.

So we were contracted to replace a number of the wood sash.

Here are some of the new sash stored at our warehouse. As you can see, we had them pre-painted per our client’s instructions.

Unfortunately for us, the scaffold was gone by the time we went to install the new windows.

Fortunately for us, technician Phil McNair and his comrade manning the camera are still able to make short work of the process.

Problem solving. It is our stock in trade. If there is one thing we’ve come to expect in this business, it’s the unexpected problems that our trade requires that we learn to solve.

The San Marco Apartments on N.E. Couch Street.

Here’s a window repair for the list of “unusual repairs” list.

Smoking? Fireworks?

Vandalism? Arson?

Whatever caused it, the fire blistered the Vinyl Snap-Bead that glazes the glass to the sash. You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it if you want to see it a little better.

Other than the means by which the need for repair came about…

…the other unusual aspect of this project was how the window coincided with a stairwell landing.

As you can clearly see in the above photo, the landing pretty much cuts straight across the middle of the opening. As you can also see, someone removed the shrubs by the time we returned with the replacement window.

This did pose a slight challenge because the Marvin window sash TILT towards the interior to install them, and to remove them.

Of course this was nothing a seasoned window mechanic wasn’t able to deal with. The new window

Another N.W. Portland Condo.

In 1995, the east elevation had openings cut into the brick wall & new Pella wood-clad windows were installed.

Sometime in or around 2004, this particular window began to leak.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the interior MDF trim shows the evidence quickly.

So we employed some investigative techniques by removing the MDF stool and…

…some of the surrounding trim pieces and traced the trail back to its source.

The mystery didn’t end up remaining all that mysterious.

Our technician Eric makes short work of figuring out that wind driven moisture was finding its way in between the masonry and the window frame.

Flashing new windows into older masonry buildings always presents a little more of a challenge than other types of structures.

An old strip mall and someone apparently hit their gas pedal instead of the break and created a drive threw at the veterinary clinic.
Fortunately, they hit a masonry pillar (not shown because it’s gone) and a door assembly, or they might have kept on going.

The mess was pretty much cleaned up by the time we got there.
The original structural components for the storefront windows basically consisted of three two-by-fours laminated together.

To precisely match the original structural components, we purchased some CVG studs and laminated them together back at our shop in Tigard. Then we ran a router over the corners to match the original radius before we brought them to the job site. .

We also ordered a new Aluminum Storefront Door and jamb assembly.

We improved a little on the fastening system.

Masonry anchors for fastening to the newly built masonry pillar.

Our client’s instructions were to alleviate any and all evidence that the new structure was not original.

The glass stops are cut to length.

The glass is installed; the new aluminum door & jamb assembly is installed.

Another repair made better than new. Note the masonry pillar that was rebuilt.