Craftmanship, Creative Expression or ..........

just the sense of accomplishment? I'm not sure what the feeling is that comes with getting something right on this project but it is a good one. I created a proper sill where none existed before and found myself feeling like I do when I create a sculpture.


My hope, as I renovate my house, is to give it as much of the folk Victorian look and character as possible, within a budget. I replaced the windows with modern, vinyl, double pane windows but I'm trying to recreate an "older" look in the window casings, giving the impression of original without the cost.


The challenges are varied and many. For some windows, I reframed completely and used new construction windows so there was no existing casing present. Some windows were replacement windows which slipped inside of the existing frame after I removed the old sashes. A couple of these had existing casing, including sills, although the style was not consistent as these windows were trimmed in brick mold rather than wide, flat boards.

Others of the replacement windows were trimmed but the previous owners destroyed portions of it in order to apply 4'x8' sheets of masonite siding. Since they wanted quick & easy installation they apparently beat the sills and drip caps with a hammer to knock them out of the way. These pose the greatest challenge, trying to make the remnant of the sill into a smooth surface which will allow for grafting on a new sill extension and creating new drip caps to take the place of those smashed to bits.

The first two efforts at building sills went well. These were not damaged, they were new window sizes and no sill was there after the reframe. Basic theory for the remaining sills is the same though, so I do not foresee major problems but only time will tell on that.

Poor old house has weathered a lot of years and they have taken a toll on it. The old cedar siding is in surprisingly good condition, termites never touched it, despite having made a few attacks on the sheathing beneath it. I hope to "rehome" the siding to someone who can use it as it seems a terrible thing to send beautiful, resiliant wood like this to the dump. On a small application, this siding could be brought back to usefulness and serve even more years protecting structures for someone.