Indy Total Construction

The opening lights of windows often suffer from the same defects as hinged doors — loose joints, faulty hinges, etc — and the remedies are similar. However, you have to proceed with more care to avoid breaking the glass, especially on repairs that involve driving in wedges.

But the most common defect is rot, usually in the window sill. If the rotten section is not too extensive then you can make a repair, but if it has spread, you may find that the best policy is to remove the frame completely and fit a modern replacement window.

If the rot is in the middle of a sill, make a saw cut about 75mm (3in) each side of the rot. The cuts should be at an angle so that you remove a wedge-shaped piece from the sill. You will then have to cut a new piece to fit. Timber merchants sell standard sill sections but in the case of older houses you’ll have to buy a rectangular section and shape it yourself.

Treat the new timber and the cut ends of the existing sill with preservative. The repair is held in place with dowels set at intervals of 100mm (4in) and fixed into the frame. Smear all meeting surfaces with adhesive before finally fixing in place. For additional strength on wider sills, fit steel repair plates to the underside of the repair. Corner repair pieces are fitted in the same way, except that they are slightly more difficult to shape to the correct profile.

Remember that the outside of any window is exposed to the weather so be sure to give any new timber a coat of primer and then a good coat of gloss paint to protect it. Older properties are more likely to have sash windows and for a complete discussion on how to repair these.

Faults can also develop in the door frame — for example, part of it may work loose from the wall. In this case you’ll have to find the heads of the nails holding it in place — they are usually visible under the paint — and drive them deeper into their timber plugs with a hammer and punch.

However, if the plugs have split or shrunk this remedy will not work. So for a more secure repair drill through the timber and into the masonry behind with a masonry bit. Twist a plastic wall plug onto the end of a screw and insert the plug into the hole in the frame. Tap the screw head lightly with a hammer until the plug is fully home, then tighten up the screw. Fit as many screws as necessary to secure the frame.

Settlement of the building or loose joints may force the frame out the square, and then the door will not fit properly. The only answer is to reshape the door to fit — removing excess timber, adding a fillet here and there and shaping these until the door matches the opening as it should.

An easy way to do this is to cut the top of the door to match the angle of the doorframe, add an extra piece to the bottom and then reran the door. First transfer the angle of the frame to the top of the door using a small block of wood and a pencil, and then cut along this line.

It’s worth taking off a reasonable amount to make sawing easier —12mm (1/2in) would be about right. Measure the gap left at the top of the door and add a batten of wood of this thickness to the bottom. Finally, move up the hinges by the same amount so the door fits correctly, and adjust the latch striker plate too, cutting a new mortise if necessary.