Downtown Schenectady has a problem she paid to fix just two years ago. In 2010, I hired a man to reglaze all the windows in the skylight in my two family house downtown. There were 14 panes and he charged me a lot of money to remove and replace the old putty. The price included painting the windows after the reglazing was done. Recently, I had occasion to go up on the roof to check the chimney and drains. I discovered that more than half of the putty/glazing compound had fallen out! I have paid the bill in full. Before I call him and complain, can you tell me what went wrong?
Mac answers: There are several things that could have happened. One could have been that he used something other than glazing compound. He should have used the conventional type that comes in a can or the tube type that is applied with a caulking gun. More likely, when he removed the old stuff, he scraped it out exposing the raw wood. If he did not prime the raw wood, the solvent in the glazing compound would have been absorbed in to the wood, leaving the compound dry. That would cause it to fall out prematurely. The other reason could have been not painting the compound, but you said he did that. Ask him to come and replace it. It should last much more than two years. Ask him to prime the wood with linseed oil and let it dry for a few days. Use boiled linseed oil.
