If it's Broke, Fix it.

 A couple of months ago I got a call from a women in the neighborhood who had two leaded glass sidelights (long windows on each side of a front door) that had been damaged. She wanted to know if I could fix them for her. After visiting her house and looking over the damage, I agreed to repair them and add a layer of clear Plexiglass to the outside of the sidelights to help prevent further damage. The home owner was restoring the exterior of her home and wanted to include as many of the original architectural details as possible.

Front of broken Sidelight.

     Damage at the top of the Sidelight

The hard part about this repair was that the glass that was broken was in the middle of the entire panel. That meant an almost total deconstruction. I started by having a wood working friend help me remove the panel from the wood frame. While I was busy fixing the glass, he sanded, re-stained (the inside), painted (the outside) and sealed the beautiful oak wood work.

 

    Damage at the bottom of the Sidelight

 

De-construction of panel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 New glass added and re-construction completed

                   Cementing the glass and lead, then cleaning with Whiting and the panel is ready to be installed into its wood frame.

Installed Sidelight with protective Plexiglass layer for protection.

As the homeowner continues to renovate her home, she wants to have several of the leaded glass windows in the downstairs rooms repaired. I'm proud to be able to help restore and bring some of the original integrity back to the lovely old homes in my area. It's an honor to help preserve the past.