A Window Begins with a Hole in the Wall
First, what is a window? Fundamentally speaking, a window has always been nothing more than a simple hole fashioned in a wall for the purpose of providing light and air and perhaps the ability to see what’s on the other side. Throughout recorded history and since the day people emerged from caves, humanity has excelled at optimizing this hole. Now, at our current stage in culture, most of any design flaws have been worked out and eliminated. What remains is what we might refer to as the window in it’s purest, optimal or archetypal form.
Window frame awaiting a carpenter to install it into the hole in the wall. Once the frame is installed, sashes can be mounted to the frame.
What Then is Window Craft?
The system of optimizing the window openings in a historic house is what we call Window Craft. It utilizes a trinity of different, but complimentary skilled trade disciplines. They are joinery, carpentry and finishing. Window Craft is in high demand throughout America’s historic house communities. The person mastering these three skilled trade disciples inherits a lifetime of meaningful work.
Window Craft is:
- Joinery
- Carpentry
- Finishing
Joinery – a narrow discipline of woodworking describing the assembling components of intentionally milled wood into useful items, most often incorporated into a house or similar structure. Windows, doors, bookcases, etc… are all examples of joinery.
Carpentry – a broad discipline of general and useful woodworking most often describing the work that goes into assembling wood components into a home or parts of a home. Rough carpentry might include framing foundations, floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, stairs and other structural elements. Finish carpentry might include the assembling of windows and doors into rough framed openings, kitchen cabinetry and library bookcases, mouldings and trim. Other general carpentry might include assembling exterior envelope elements like siding and soffits.
Finishing – a broad discipline of beautifying and protecting the completed work of the joiner and carpenter with various paint coatings and finishes.
The Five Pillars of Window Craft
This trinity of old house disciplines are the skills bound up and utilized within the order of operations we call the Pillars of Window Craft.
These Pillars describe the natural flow of systems used to optimize a window opening. Each Pillar is vital to processing and completing each Window Craft assignment. They are:
- Mechanics to Primed Frame
- Stripped to Glazed Sash
- Glazed to Finished Sash
- Primed to Finished Frame
- Assembled and Tuned Frame.
These pillars are optimally performed by a team of two people and a helper. This team is best comprised of the following:
- A carpenter familiar with finishing skills
- A finisher familiar with carpentry skills
- A helper aspiring to master Window Craft
Teamwork Makes the Pillars Work
The optimal Team to execute on the Five Pillars of Window Craft are a Carpenter, a Painter and a Helper. The first Pillar, Mechanics to Primed Frame separates the sash from the frame as the very first movement. One team member, usually the carpenter, stays with the frame. The other team member, the finisher goes with the sash. Both work through their units of work to completion and meet again at the Assembled and Tuned frame Pillar. The Helper splits time assisting both as needed, helping improve project flow while learning the Pillars in a hands on way.
Each of the Pillars Described
Mechanics to Primed Frame
- Performed best by a carpenter familiar with finishing skills.
- The most foundational and complicated of all Pillars.
- Carpentry skill disassembles the window, isolating the sash from the frame.
- Finishing skills removes the failing and excessive paint buildup to ensure proper and intended function.
- Exposes all hidden problems.
- Joinery and carpentry skills solve all hidden problems, ensuring all vital parts are intact and functioning as intended.
- Sets in motions all other Pillars/processes.
- Initial correct tuning is vital to future success of other Pillars/processes.
- Primed frame communicates a completed unit of work.
- This is a properly restored window frame when completed.
Stripped to Glazed Sash
- Performed best by a finisher familiar with carpentry skills
- Works closely with Mechanics to Prime operator to accomplish set up and tuning.
- Finishing Skills remove failing and excessive paint buildup/glass in preparation for new finishes.
- Carpentry skills make repairs to sash as needed.
- Joinery skills make new sash as needed.
- Glass cutting and setting skills vital to proper finish set up.
- Prep skills vital to a proper finish set up.
- A primed and glazed sash communicates a completed unit of work.
- This is a properly restored window sash when completed.
Glazed to Finished Sash
- Performed best by a finisher familiar with carpentry skills.
- Protects properly restored sash with various topcoats of paint finish on interior and exterior.
- Prep skills are vital.
- Brush skills are vital.
- Streamlined process when Strip to Glaze performed correctly.
- Finished sash communicates completed unit of work. Ready for Assembly and Tune.
- This is a properly protected window sash when completed.
Primed to Finished Frame
- Performed best by a carpenter familiar with finishing skills.
- Protects properly restored frame with various topcoats of paint finish on interior and exterior.
- Prep skills are vital.
- Brush skills are vital.
- Streamlined process when Mechanics to Prime performed correctly.
- Finished Frame communicates completed unit of work. Ready for Assembly and Tune.
- This is a properly protected window frame when completed.
Assembled and Tuned Window
- Performed best by a carpenter and finisher together.
- Reassembles component parts into an optimally functioning and beautiful window.
- Hardware skills are vital.
- Window tuned and checked for functionality.
- All remaining window parts installed in their final sense.
- All glass is cleaned and polished.
- All paint is touched up.
- Streamlined process when Pillars 1-4 are performed correctly.
- Assembled and Tuned Window communicates completed unit of work and completion of project.
- This is a properly restored window when completed.
Final Thoughts
80% of work performed in Window Craft will be spent on the Mechanics to Prime and Strip to Glaze Pillars, setting the stage for success in the last three Pillars. The first two are foundational and fundamental. Get them right and the other three fall into place naturally.
Note: Mechanics to Prime is like a foundational cornerstone. When placed properly, it is used to properly set up the other Pillars. Not done correctly sets the project on a course for mishaps, frustrations and loss of income all the way to the end. If Assembly and Tune is hard, it’s because Mechanics to Prime was lacking and adjustments need to be made.
