How To Repair Leaded Glass Windows

Leaded lights make upward some of Britain's earliest surviving windows, dating back to medieval times. As glass could just be manufactured in modest pieces, the leading immune for them to be joined together to form a larger window pane.

The basic pattern of this type of latticed window remained largely unchanged for centuries and even today is nevertheless used for new stained glass. Leaded light windows are found in buildings of many periods and should exist carefully repaired, specially if the windows are old.

Find out more well-nigh renovating a flow house, and about all things windows on our defended page.

Original leaded light windows in Cotswold stone house — *Original leaded lights should be treasured and properly maintained. If yous accept the space, a window seat is the perfect way to enjoy them*

How leaded windows are fabricated

Leaded lights consist of a framework of H-shaped pb strips, or cames, that join the drinking glass pieces – usually in diamonds or rectangles. Except for the smallest, these are supported by metallic confined or a framework called a ferramenta (from the Italian for ironmongery), historically made of wrought fe, fixed into the masonry.

Medieval cames were cast in moulds with whatever uneven surfaces shaved away, leaving a distinct, faceted contour. From the 16th century, cames were produced by extruding lead through a manufactory.

As a sign of authenticity, you may find names of manufacturers or dates impressed into the lead on the flat 'heart' between the H-shaped flanges.

Original diamond shaped leaded lights — *The lite ripples on these restored diamond-shaped leaded lights, positioned between stone mullions*

Fixing issues with leaded windows

Leaded lights can final for hundreds of years with only minimal care. Loose or leaking glass may be re-sealed inside the leadwork using glazier'southward putty – a mixture of linseed oil, whiting and white cement.

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Broken or cracked drinking glass can be replaced on a small scale by bending back the flanges of the cames to insert new pieces, and re-sealing. Sometimes lead or copper strips are used instead, to repair croaky glass in leaded lights.

Over fourth dimension, lead creeps under its own weight and causes panels to distort, particularly where rectangular rather than diamond-shaped pieces of glass, known as 'quarries', are used for plain glazing. Minor undulations contribute to the character of a window and by and large don't demand repair.

More serious distortion places farther stress on the cames, which may then lift from the glass, increasing the run a risk of breakage. It also traps moisture, accelerating the decay of both the glass and the ferramenta.

Information technology may be possible to reduce distortion in situ, but in the severest cases panels will need to be laid flat to be repaired. Installing actress ferramenta tin help forestall farther buckling. If cames are corroded or take major fractures, the whole panel will need to be taken to a specialist workshop for careful rebuilding.

Leaded light windows in 16th-century Wealden house — *Leaded light windows are authentic to Tudor homes, and perfectly set the tone for cottage-fashion interiors*

Repairing scratches to glass

Accidents and devil-may-care painters can lead to scratches on your windows. These tin exist polished out with a soft cloth using a balmy rubbing chemical compound such as jeweller'southward rouge or, with a little more effort, a metal cleaner (such as Brasso). DIY buffing kits are also available.

Deeper scratches (those that catch your fingernail if you run it across the drinking glass) are best left to specialist scratch removal firms.

Douglas Kent is technical and enquiry director of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB)

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