The Damnedest Thing
My wife spent most of Saturday stripping paint from the kitchen window, the bottom window pane in particular. After hours of scrapping, she dusted it off and leaned it against a wall to evaluate her work.
Then there was a faint "tink." I stopped what I was doing and took a look around. My wife had a odd look on her face.
"What was that?"
"It broke," she said without looking at me. She stared in disbelief.
"What? The window?" I walked over.
"Yeah. I was just standing here and it broke," she said.
I squatted in front of the window to get a better look. There was a small "star" of cracks in the bottom left corner of the pane. That wasn't too bad, but the one long crack that ran up to the top corner in a wide arc was.
"Shit."
"What happened to it?"
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that." I said. "That's the damnedest thing."
"Well, if we're going to have to replace it, lets get stained glass. I think your sister knows someone that does that. Email her so we can get a quote."
"Okay."
So, has this ever happened to anyone else?
Then there was a faint "tink." I stopped what I was doing and took a look around. My wife had a odd look on her face.
"What was that?"
"It broke," she said without looking at me. She stared in disbelief.
"What? The window?" I walked over.
"Yeah. I was just standing here and it broke," she said.
I squatted in front of the window to get a better look. There was a small "star" of cracks in the bottom left corner of the pane. That wasn't too bad, but the one long crack that ran up to the top corner in a wide arc was.
"Shit."
"What happened to it?"
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that." I said. "That's the damnedest thing."
"Well, if we're going to have to replace it, lets get stained glass. I think your sister knows someone that does that. Email her so we can get a quote."
"Okay."
So, has this ever happened to anyone else?
posted by John | 7:21 PM
4 Comments:
Were you using a heat gun? I've never scraped paint from a window with a heat gun because I was afraid it would crack.
it happens when too much heat is placed on the glass, either directly or indirectly. i actually do stained glass, and i can tell you it's no fun when you hear that little tink and have to replace the piece. i know it's yucky stuff, but using a chemical remover to strip the paint around a window is usually best.
I have done this so many times. Either the heat gun cracks the glass or you miss a glazier's point. A new piece of glass will cost about $20.00. A stained glass window, several $100 depending on the size of the window. A piece of glue chip glass will run $3.00 to $8.00 a square foot depending on color. I lay a piece of card or asbestos board over the glass when I use a heat gun now, but I always miss one of those little metal points!
yep- been there done that. In my case it was a transom window and we replaced it with stained glass. I have the utmost admiration for anyone(HiP and Enon Hall and others) who have the patience to clean the window framing without damaging the glass!
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