A Labor of Love When I was 18, I spent
a summer stripping painted glazing putty from hundreds
of windows in what is now the Tudor Arms Hotel, built
in Cleveland in 1933. After soaking the windows for hours
in paint stripper, I’d then chip away any remaining putty.
Sometimes it would come right out, sometimes it would
stick. Occasionally, the glass would break. At times the
stripper would do so much damage to the wood that it
warped, nearly ruining the sash. If any putty was left,
I would warm it with a heat gun and chip it out—also at
risk to the precious glass. Now that I’m restoring my
own windows, one of my goals is to save as many of the
original panes of 130-year-old glass as possible.
With simple operation
and built from old-
growth wood, sash
windows predate and
defy the notion of
built-in obsolescence.
LEFT Restoring wood
sash windows isn’t
difficult, but requires
patience and plenty of
elbow grease.KINDRA^ CLINEF
F