Ed is a do-it-yourselfer who is happy to share some of his ideas and experiences in this monthly column.
This month: The quick cover-up!
Sometimes there’s not much you can do with a damaged area other than to disguise it so that most people won’t notice it. Then, you’ll have to “dummy up” and not brag about how you disguised it, unless you’re writing an article like this one to demonstrate things!
Of course, just how you disguise things depends on what you’re trying to cover up, and you might need to use your imagination in order to come up with the proper plan. In this situation, there was a corner of the building that had dramatically settled, making everything (like this window) WAY out-of-square. Once the building was shored up, it was time to tackle the window.
Here’s a picture showing the incredible situation outside. Note that a concrete “wedge” has already been poured atop the sill stone. The top of the new surface is level, and shows you just how far off things really are.
The plan was to cut wooden wedges to make the window “look” square and correct, although it is way off in reality. By the way, when glass was cut for this window, careful measurements and a template of cardboard was needed, since the glass had to be cut to fit the crooked window frame.
Here’s a wedge (actually 2) cut on the bandsaw, to properly disguise the bottom outside of the window:
With a little caulk and some paint, the outside was easy to address. On the inside, the sill was treated with another wooden wedge, carefully cut to fit, and firmly attached.
The upper pane was treated the same way, using a leveling wedge:
Then, all that was needed was to install a straight “apron” to cover up the wedges. Here’s a pic of the lower apron and how straight things LOOK.
The upper area could only have an apron installed on the outside, as doing so on the inside would interfere with window operation. This pic shows the upper apron from the inside. (Sorry, but I didn’t take a picture of the upper apron from the outside…)
Again, you may need to use different techniques and some out-of-the-box thinking for any ugliness issues you encounter, but a quick cover-up as a last resort can make things look surprisingly nice!
Happy restoring!
Ed
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