Interior windowsill replacement

[evil len]

Is it easy to replace an interior window sill ? Any tips or tricks ?

The house we're about to move into, the living room sills are a bit beaten up and I want to replace them. They are varnished wood, and the exterior window is new-ish UPVC, so I'm assuming the two are not going to be attached too strongly (how is the sill attached to the house normally ?) I dont want to try and remove the sill, and ruin half the house at the same time

And what to replace them with, just wood and paint, or are there funky low maintenance jobbies these days ?

Ta !

[Toyowner]

If you intend to varnish the new ones, you will need hardwood windowboard, as per the image (ok,thats oak, but I CBA to look further)

These will only be attached to the underside, either screwed on or simply gripfilled.

[evil len]

Nice wood ;-)

Any clue on how to get existing hardwood ones off, or is it just a case of BFI ?

Ta

[saleen836]

How old is the house? Is it drylined (plasterboard walls) or traditional sand/cement render?
Window sills are generally fitted prior to drylining/rendering so will sit back into the revelas by up to an inch, they are then (usually) fixed down into the blockwork or timer (if timber frame) by screw along with a fixing in the shape of a number 6 that screws up into the sill then fixed back to the wall again prior to drylining or render, either way you will have some making good to do around the reveals and under the sill once the new ones are fitted.

Hope that all made sense?!

[Blakeatron]

If they are just in a bad state then why not give them a decent sand and refinish.

Removing them will almost definately cause some plaster daamge somewhere.

[Laurel Green]

Blakeatron said:

If they are just in a bad state then why not give them a decent sand and refinish.

Removing them will almost definately cause some plaster daamge somewhere.

If at all possible, 'tis what I'd do. Failing that, The answer to your cunundrum.

Te he

[evil len]

This bit of the house was built in 1968

I was contemplating having the living room plaster skimmed anyway (once I've taken the wallpaper off), but obviously I dont want to damage the new-ish windows, nor totally noddy up the plaster

Sanding and varnishing is certainly an option, I was trying to judge if it would be easier just to replace though (instead of spending hours sanding and froofroo-ing)

Thanks

[Globs]

Blakeatron said:

If they are just in a bad state then why not give them a decent sand and refinish.

Removing them will almost definately cause some plaster daamge somewhere.

They are easier to remove with the window out TBH, and even then can be a pain!

[evil len]

Well I aint taking the window out !!!

[evil len]

oooh, Ive just had a thought ... I wonder if you could cover the existing sill some way with a plastic "over" bit ... (heads off to google)

[MrV]

evil len said:

oooh, Ive just had a thought ... I wonder if you could cover the existing sill some way with a plastic "over" bit ... (heads off to google)

Here you go

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

I have pretty much done all of ours at home with this and it looks pretty good

[philmots]

MrV said:

Here you go

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

I have pretty much done all of ours at home with this and it looks pretty good

This looks good but how do you finish the edges off? My original cills chip into the wall by circa 70mm

[Fastra]

A few months ago I 'covered' 2 sills - either that or sand down and repaint the existing ones.
£15 for a 15' length of 9mm thick 250mm wide UVPC, from a local window place, which was long enough to do the 2 sills.
Quite nice material really and dead easy to work with - easily cut with a sharp saw.
You can buy 'end caps' to finish the overlap edges off with - 60p a pair.

As no 2 walls in my house are adjacent to each other (one window sill is 8.5" wide at one end and 9.25" at the other ) I made some paper templates of each corner to get the cut angles right.

£20, including a couple of sealant tubes, and job done.

Edited by Fastra on Monday 6th June 15:00

[MrV]

philmots said:

This looks good but how do you finish the edges off? My original cills chip into the wall by circa 70mm

I mitred mine but would think you can get end caps for them if you are not sure how good your finish would be.

[Fastra]

MrV said:

philmots said:

This looks good but how do you finish the edges off? My original cills chip into the wall by circa 70mm

I mitred mine but would think you can get end caps for them if you are not sure how good your finish would be.

They do a good job and look fine - {nerd mode on} hang on till I get home and I'll take a couple of pics for you (nerd mode off}

[philmots]

All pics would be good to see.

Cheers

[Fastra]

right, finally took a pic (not the best mind, but I think it'll do..)




The end caps are about 60mm in length which you just chop to the required size.

[philmots]

Looks good. specially like the square edge, all the others I've seen are rounded. Which I dont really want!

[Fastra]

Considering the small outlay they actually makes a huge difference.


I've always liked 'unfinished' wood sills but they're a pain in the backside to keep looking nice, so you end up painting them, which are fine for a few months or so, then they need rubbing down undercoating and re-painting and so on and so on.

These things give that 'nice clean show house' look.

Good God! Am I really enthusing over plastic window sills..!?

[evil len]

They're perfect for the job ... you said a window company sold them, are they specifically window sills ? do they wrap under too, or just bend through 90 degrees ?

Ta