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French Windows - oak frame and double glazed.

 
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General description

A pair of French doors made from  softwood were rotting away  -see above. South facing,  they had taken a lot of weather,  and the bottom rails  had been boarded over  with plywood in an attempt to  disguise the rot.

The brief,  to copy and replace exactly the the rotten doors - but  in oak.

Photos above:.....

Oak and traditional joinery. A router is used to cut out the mortises, and an inverted router set in a router table is used to produce the tennons.

Photos above:...

When there is a moulding running around  the glass panels it is necessary to mitre the rails into the stiles. For me, this is hardest part of door making . The funny dark shape is a teaspoon, the handle of which has been wedged into the joint to separate the rail from the stile to illustrate this text.  Too much wood removed means a gap. Too little and the joint will not close up properly. High levels of  accuracy   are required...

Furthermore, these mitres must be in exactly the right positions otherwise,  a rail will not sit square with the mitreing on the opposite stile....

Photos: Above......

Final gluing up using polyurethane adhesive. New technology in glues means that the glue reacts with moisture in order to "go off" and then resists moisture  entirely; the joint should  never break down with damp or the ingress of water.

Photos: Below

Close up of the door handle and mortise lock in situ.

Photos above:

Left close up of the door.  Right the pair of doors as fitted.

Double glazed units  were fitted; the glass is toughened glass and the inside of the inner pane is "Pilkington K glass. This inner glass  pane is especially coated and in effect; allows light in. but reflects heat  .

Because the tannic acid in the oak can cause the sealant used in the construction of the glass units to break down,  two prerequisites are necessary. The rebate  for the glass is given two coats of polyurethane to seal the wood. Then as the glass goes in,  it is separated from the wood by a special "low modulus" sealant . The effect is to isolate the glass units (and its adhesive) from the wood and to prevent the ingress of water into the area around the glass.

The glass units are held in with oak glazing bars. The glazing bars are screwed in using brass screws.

Photos above:

Left-  view from inside. Right- drip bars screwed on using brass screws. Because the brass screws will never corrode they have been left as a  "feature".

The finish is Sikkens Filter 7. Very expensive but also the best possible finish. It is unlike polyurethane because it will never flake off and it  is not like Danish oil because it is highly resistant to rain, weather and particularly UV light.  Think of Filter 7 as a resin that becomes hard and which gradually wears away. In about 4 years time, the application of another coat of Filter 7 will restore  its  protective qualities.

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