John Leeke's Historic HomeWorks™

    207 773-2306      26 Higgins St. Portland, ME  04103
[Home][Library][Restoration Reports][Seminars][Forum][Internships][Office][Workshop][Front Porch][Search] info.© 1994-2009 JohnC.Leeke

Window Workshop and Training Preparation

Greetings and welcome to the Save Your Wood Windows workshop! This webpage will help you prepare for extended three to five day workshops so you can take full advantage training sessions when we get together onsite.

Old windows are fascinating mechanisms. They are made of thin strips of wood and fragile glass, yet they hold up to use and abuse for years, decades, even centuries. Well, after a century they may need a little tender care, and sometimes a lot of hard work. The sash slide down easily to keep out the storm, or slide up for a refreshing breeze—unless it’s painted shut, or the warped wood binds, or the glass is broken, or you have 76 of them to repair. Good grief! What a struggle. But, window work need not be a struggle. At this workshop we’ll smooth out and eliminate the struggle.

How can I promise to eliminate the struggle? By leaving in the work. I hope you noticed that word “WORK” in “Work-shop” before you signed up. I’ve already got a few assignments for you.

Pull together and bring along:

We will be taking safety very seriously during this workshop.

Required:

Very Useful:

Study Beforehand

Download the handouts for advanced study.

You will receive a copy of the Save America's Windows book in the mail a couple of weeks before the workshop for advanced study.

Assignment 1.:  Based on what you learned in the handouts and book, take a close look at ten of the windows in your own home or on a current project. Study their condition and write down some notes on each window. Use words, sketches, numbers, photos—what ever you are most comfortable with, but get it down on paper. Don’t worry or even think about what needs to be done to fix them, just consider their condition and write it down.

Assignment 2.:  Now, take a look at the windows in someone else’s house, or in a building where you are not working. What strikes you about these windows? Written answers, please.

Bring your written results to the workshop.

Pre-Condition Yourself for Safety

We will be taking safety very seriously during this workshop. Work on old windows generates lead-containing dust. Controlling the health risks of lead is a primary concern. You will be learning and following lead-safe work practices at this workshop. Study pages 11 and 38 in Save Your Wood Windows, or pages 18 and 45 in Save America's Windows, if you have a copy. Study the Lead Paint Safety guide, which you can download at:

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/education/WindowsHandouts/handouts.htm

Three lead-safe work practices we will follow are:

1. No smoking or other uses of tobacco during work sessions. Lead-containing dust on your fingers gets onto the tobacco and is vaporized by burning and inhaled. In order to manage the risk of building fires there will be no smoking within 50 feet of any building.

2. No eating or drinking during work sessions. This helps prevent ingestion of lead containing dust. A work session can last up to 3 or 4 hours. This means you must hydrate your body by drinking much more water than you probably usually do for two or three days before the workshop begins. (How much? That’s up to you, but my doctor tells me that most people drink one-half to one-third of what their body really needs.) During the days of the workshop, drinking plenty of water before and after work sessions, especially during the evenings, hydrates your body for the next day. When you are well hydrated you will be less thirsty during work periods.  (Don’t worry about dying of thirst during a work session. It is possible to have a lead-safe drink during a work period, but much more convenient to be well hydrated.)

3. Wearing respirators when lead dust is generated.  This helps keep lead out of your lungs. If you are not used to breathing through a respirator routinely, practice using your respirator for a few weeks before you come to the workshop, in order to build up your diaphragm muscles. Start out wearing it for 10 to 20 minutes every day, building up to at least a couple of hours a day over several days. If you know you have respiratory difficulties consult with your doctor before using a respirator, and consult with you doctor if you develop respiratory difficulties while practicing the use of your respirator. If you find that you cannot use a respirator, you can still participate in the workshop, but you will not be able to do the tasks that generate lead-containing dust, such as sash removal, de-glazing, paint removal, etc.--don't worry, there is plenty more to do and learn.

Please visit this special section of the Historic HomeWorks Forum and post a message (or send me email at johnleeke@historichomeworks.com)  if you want ensure a specific topic or method is covered or have specific questions you want answered at the workshop.

My goal at this workshop is to help you by sharing what I have learned working on windows for the past 30 years. You will learn many details of window work that can only be passed along through live demonstration and personal interaction. I hope to instill in you my own enthusiasm and channel your new knowledge into a practical approach that will help you achieve your own goal of  learning more about wood window repair and preservation. I’m looking forward to working with you. -- John

 

 


John Leeke's Historic HomeWorks™

    207 773-2306      26 Higgins St. Portland, ME  04103
[Home][Library][Restoration Reports][Seminars][Forum][Internships][Office][Workshop][Front Porch][Search] info.© 1994-2009 JohnC.Leeke