This fall we’re working on a window and viga restoration job. We knew the windows were in bad shape, and soon discovered all of the trim, sills, and bottom parts of the window frames were badly rotted. These are all wood windows from the 90’s, poorly built in the first place and made with finger jointed pine, which is okay in vertical applications but not such a good idea for horizontal surfaces. The windows were built to look like traditional wood windows, but the manufacturer used the same material and assembly as modern clad windows, just without the cladding. With some good wood and better detailing they could have held up better, but they clearly performed pretty badly as built. Our clients wanted to stick with wood windows. So, instead of throwing these in the dumpster we decided to restore them. We replaced the sills, sill extensions, and all the trim with solid Spanish cedar, a much more rot resistant choice. To conform with all that was not straight or parallel, we used lead for the head flashing. Lead was our material of choice here because it allowed us to custom fit the metal in place. We’re also using lead for the viga restoration portion of this job. The 1970’s adobe addition on this house was done the old school way, with vigas protruding from the building. When the windows were installed in the 90’s, someone did try to protect the vigas by adding sheet metal and a bunch of silicone. This didn’t really stop the water from coming in, but only trapped it and accelerated the damage. We’re splicing new wood in to replace the rotted parts of the vigas where they protrude, and are treating everything with borate to deter bugs. Unlike the previous sheet metal caps, the new lead flashing goes behind the stucco. We’ve done a number of projects at this beautiful adobe home, including the blue doors that you might recognize. While we’re more in our element with new adobe construction, it is a privilege to do restoration work on buildings like this one, and we appreciate the owners who want to take such thoughtful care of it. #adobehouse #leadflashing #windowrepair #vigas

Nov 18, 2022