Installing a wooden window sill is important not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also from a functional one. The products are made from various types of wood and its derivatives, in different sizes and depending on the purpose of the room. Self-installation will not be a problem if you know the main steps and treat the work with full responsibility.
You can make a window sill from any type of wood, the main thing is to decide for what purpose and where this interior detail will be installed. Hard wood, such as oak, is resistant to moisture and temperature changes and has a long service life, but the cost of such a product will cost a pretty penny. This material is suitable for window sills that will be used as a work area or a stand for heavy flower pots.
A budget option would be pine or spruce. Window sills made from these species are easy to install and do not require antiseptic treatment due to their increased resin content. You can install a larch board. It is not as expensive as oak, but has the properties of coniferous trees. The shade of a larch window sill turns out to be more noble, which determines its demand among buyers. There are several criteria for choosing wood for installing a wooden window sill with your own hands:
- integrity of the board. There should be no defects (chips, cracks, knots, etc.) at its ends, as well as inside the wood structure itself;
- The type of wood must be strong. It is better to choose oak, beech, hornbeam. Less strong are larch, pine, chestnut, cedar, but they have a beautiful pattern;
- texture and color of the board. There are so many species, so many shades and patterns of wood you can find. The choice depends on individual preferences and interior design.
In addition to solid wood, laminated wood, chipboard and MDF are used. Unlike solid wood, laminated boards do not deform from moisture, are much cheaper, but look no worse. If you want to save even more, it is better to give preference to MDF or laminated chipboard. The raw material is pressed wood chips covered with a laminate on top. The material is also good because it has many options for textures and shades. With its help, you can give the window sill the look of marble, stone, with a matte or glossy surface.
If you approach the choice of material for the window sill with all responsibility, then in addition to the functional element, you can get a real decoration for the room. There are ready-made products on sale, or you can try and make them, and then install wooden window sills yourself.
Necessary tools and materials for installing a wooden window sill
Before installing a wooden window sill, preparatory measures should be carried out. First of all, you need to prepare the tools and materials:
- window sill board (finished or made yourself);
- building level;
- square and ruler;
- measuring tape;
- polyurethane foam and a gun for it;
- marker;
- solution container;
- brushes and rollers;
- pegs or bars to regulate the installation of the window sill.
Check that you have all the accessories so that you don’t have to look for them while working.
Preparing walls before installation
Installation of wooden window sills begins with preparation. The surface on which the window sill board will be laid requires special attention. Surely, after installing the window structure, there was excess cement, dust, and other construction debris left behind. The surface must be thoroughly cleaned from them. The side parts are tapped. This is necessary to ensure that the board is firmly fixed in the wall. For better retention, it is better to “recess” the window sill into the slopes to a depth of 1-2 cm. If metal corners are encountered when making recesses, they must be carefully cut with a grinder and removed with a chisel.
Primer and water are applied to the cleaned wall. If there is a recess under the base in which communications pass, then horizontal supports made of metal or wood are placed on top of it to hold the window sill.
Window sill leveling
According to the construction rules, 2/3 of the window sill plane is located on a hard surface, and the rest is left in the form of a canopy. The maximum protrusion beyond the wall should not exceed 7-8 cm. If this point is violated, then subsequently the heat exchange in the house will be disrupted, and condensation will form on the glass.
Most houses cannot boast of perfectly straight walls. The base for the window sill is no exception. The surface is leveled and checked using a level. If there are even small errors and distortions, they are eliminated using wedges. The window sill may not be installed perfectly level. The standards allow a slight tilt, just a few millimeters, of the boards forward. After the window sill board is placed on the wedges, the angle of inclination is checked again with a level. It should be the same over the entire area. After this, the board is removed and the wedges are fixed to the surface using cement mortar.
Window sill fastening
Before installing a wooden window sill, you need to treat its surface, especially at the point of contact with the wall, with a moisture-proof compound. This will prevent its premature deterioration and rotting. A cement mortar of such thickness is applied to the base that it rises 5-8 mm above the level of the wedges. In addition to cement, you can use putty or gypsum, but traditional mortar will hold the structure more firmly. The window sill is laid on cement and pressed against wedges. Excess mortar that appears is removed with a spatula, but before it sets. If there is any doubt about the quality of the window sill impregnation with a moisture-repellent agent, a plastic film is laid between the solution and the window sill.
You can install a wooden window sill not only if the window structure is also made of wood, but also in combination with plastic. The market offers a large selection of shades and with the right approach to choosing a color, a wooden window sill board will harmoniously combine with a plastic window. In addition, a wooden element will add zest to faceless plastic and create individuality in the room.
Reinforcement and sealing
If laying a wooden window sill with your own hands is carried out in a panel or brick house, then it can be laid on polyurethane foam. After it hardens, the protruding residues are cut off. For additional strengthening, the window sill and window frame are secured with self-tapping screws on the outside of the window. At the same time, it must penetrate through the entire window structure and enter the rear edge of the window sill by no less than 4 cm. Thus, both vertical and horizontal stability are achieved.
A wide window sill, which protrudes significantly beyond the lower window slope, also needs to be additionally secured. To do this, metal corners or wooden blocks secured with self-tapping screws are installed on the slope. You can use pins that are mounted into the wall under a slope. First, holes are drilled for the pins in the window sill board itself. Only after these manipulations should the wooden element be installed on the foam. Keep in mind that the installation of a window sill in a wooden house should be carried out at the stage of installation of the window block itself.
At the end of the installation process, you need to seal all joints and small cracks at the point of contact between the frame and the window sill. This is done using acrylic. It is more plastic and resistant to negative influences.
Installing a wooden window sill with your own hands is not as difficult as it seems at first glance, but still requires some experience. If you are not confident in your abilities, and there is an opportunity to ask for help, it is better to leave this matter to professionals.
Installing a wooden window sill with your own hands will not take much time, even for a beginner, if you have detailed instructions at hand. It is for this purpose that this article was written, let’s begin to study.
Obviously, installing a window sill in a wooden house will be done using high-quality natural boards, but what makes it necessary to use this product in the “concrete jungle”, where synthetic materials play a leading role in interior decoration? Indeed, today plastic has practically replaced everything natural from our apartments, because it is easy to care for, significantly cheaper and quite durable. And modern people have no time to think about a healthy atmosphere in the house and constantly worry about the safety of natural finishing elements.
But, time has begun to turn back, synthetic chemicals are less and less suitable for consumers, and wood is the most accessible natural material for decorating window sills. Of course, there are also fans of natural stone, for example, but still the price category of such a product is closer to “golden”. In addition, modern versions of wooden window sills are not as clumsy as in the USSR; they already have their own style, quite elegant and restrained, which allows them to fit organically into both a modest interior and a very sophisticated one.
Installing a wooden window sill will give you many advantages, even if your windows are made of PVC profile. Natural material will definitely get rid of the external “coldness” of plastic; even such a small detail will bring a good amount of coziness to the room. In addition, wood has long been known for its “smart” mechanism for regulating heat and moisture in a room; it’s not for nothing that entire houses have long been built from this material. Therefore, such a window sill is not afraid of severe cold and wet autumn, it always remains relatively warm, and the radiator located under the window will not cause the release of toxins that its plastic counterpart “sinned”, according to some scientists.
Many will argue that natural material is difficult to use; you cannot spill anything on it or put anything hot on it. These are relics of the past, modern technologies allow you to process wood in such a way that it is not afraid of such accidents, however, unless you deliberately check it every day. Well, we’ve already said a word about the aesthetic side; there are many styles of such window sills. You can traditionally make this device of the correct shape and polished to a shine, and for lovers of interesting designs, the option of rough wood is suitable.
If you don’t want to buy a finished product, you can make it yourself. You will need a well-dried, carefully planed board without knots or chips. Choose which side will be outer and which will lie on the wall. You will need to make a teardrop on the inner surface to remove moisture from the wall. This is a regular groove 5 mm deep and about 8 mm wide, which is made approximately 2-3 cm from the front edge of the board. All that remains is to cut the board to the length you need (this parameter should be 15 cm larger than the window opening).
But you choose the width yourself; the optimal option is when the protrusion into the room is about 7 cm. The wood is also treated with compounds against the harmful effects of dampness and open fire. The choice of the finished product should be carried out in the same way, focusing on the geometric data of the window frame and opening. All that remains is to find out how to install a wooden window sill, we will talk about this further.
How to install a wooden window sill quickly and securely?
Now let's proceed directly to the installation, natural material is complicated in that it is very sensitive to errors in this process, so we will be more careful than ever.
How to install a wooden window sill - step by step diagram
Step 1: Preparing the Walls
To figure out how to install a wooden window sill, you need to start not with the board itself, but with the place where we will place it. The base on which the object of our attention will be located is thoroughly cleaned of dust and debris, because this was preceded by the installation of the window profile. Next, you should thoroughly moisten it with water, because in most cases cement mortar is used to secure the window sill. If the base is not solid, that is, there is a recess with heating communications under the window, then you will need to place wooden or metal horizontal supports on top of this niche so that the window sill does not hang in the air. And for reliability, the board itself can be “dressed” around the perimeter in a metal profile.
Step 2: Leveling the Window Sill
With rare exceptions, the walls that serve as the base are located at the same level, so you will need to first align the window sill board level using wedges. In addition, you need to set the plane of the board so that it tilts slightly towards the room. It will help to determine these small degrees. Once you have obtained the desired slope in all directions, secure the wedges with several portions of mortar so that this position does not change again by some accident, and remove the board from the seat.
The Prof-Wood workshop provides services for the manufacture, sale and installation of high-quality window sills made of natural wood at affordable prices. Our assortment includes window sill boards made from the following types of wood:
- larch;
- oak;
- pine.
Wooden window sills fit perfectly into various interiors and create a cozy atmosphere for a home, apartment, or cottage. Our capabilities allow us to quickly and inexpensively carry out the full range of turnkey work, including design of window systems, production and professional installation.
Our advantages:
Own production of wooden window sill boards
Modern equipment. The Prof-Wood company is equipped with the most modern high-precision equipment, which allows us to produce stylish and durable window sills for any interior. The company's plant is capable of producing products at an affordable price that meet modern requirements for quality and design.
Replacing old windows with plastic structures involves installing a mandatory element - a window sill, which is a rectangular or shaped board and can be made of different materials: PVC, natural stone, marble, wood, etc. Sometimes it is necessary to change only this part without affecting the window structure, and as an option it can be wooden window sills for plastic windows. Carrying out this type of work independently requires certain knowledge of how to properly install a window sill on plastic windows. This will help to avoid serious installation errors, which will result in a violation of aesthetic parameters and a reduction in the service life of the window sill.
Preparatory stage and features of material selection
At the preparatory stage, measurements are taken of the site on which the window sill will be mounted on a plastic window, joining with the stand profile. The workpiece is cut in accordance with the obtained dimensions:
- The length is measured by the width of the window opening - this is the distance between opposite slopes. To the resulting dimensions, 7-9 cm is added for an allowance, of which 5-7 cm is allocated to the extreme protrusion, and 2 cm to the groove under the window structure.
- The width of the panel is measured from the profile to the outer corner of the slope. These dimensions depend on the thickness of the wall and vary from 20 to 50 cm, adding only 5 cm to the protrusion on both sides.
Advice! It is unreasonable to increase the width of the board, as it will block the heating radiator, which can lead to disruption of the circulation air flow and lead to freezing of the glass and the formation of unwanted condensation.
The workpiece is cut according to the dimensions obtained. Models of window sills for plastic windows made of PVC panels, due to their availability, aesthetics and ease of installation, occupy a leading position and are popular among consumers. The technical characteristics of plastic panels have a number of undeniable advantages compared to other analogues: the products are presented in a wide variety of shades. Parts made from PVC panels are cut with a grinder, resulting in smooth edges that do not require additional processing.
PVC panels are most often used to make window sills Remember! When using a jigsaw or a regular handsaw, be especially careful while working, otherwise the edge will end up with torn nicks and chips, which will be difficult to cover with plastic end caps.
A wooden window sill differs from its PVC counterparts in its increased strength and durability. There are different types of material on the market, which allows consumers to make the right choice in accordance with the requirements for such products:
- Inexpensive wood - larch, chestnut, pine. Such parts belong to the budget option, so they are mainly installed in country houses and dachas.
- Precious wood species - oak and beech - are suitable for any window designs. High-quality wooden window sills for plastic windows look harmonious with a white profile or match other colors of the window frame. Noble wood has an amazing texture, high strength and long service life. The main disadvantage of oak and beech elements is the high price, which is compensated by quality and durability.
The use of expensive types of wood allows us to produce very durable window sill panels After the choice of material is finally made, all that remains is to find out about all the features of the installation work: how to replace an old window sill with a new one, whether it can be installed on a balcony (loggia).
Installation stages
Regardless of what material the window sill is installed on a plastic window, the installation process is carried out using identical technology. The main feature of this method is its simplicity and the lack of special skills. How to install a plastic window sill correctly or how to install a wooden one? The choice of material is directly influenced by the strength indicator, since this indicator is different for PVC and wood products. You can achieve high strength and reliability of wooden and plastic window sills during the installation process. Correct and competent installation of the window sill with your own hands will prevent its subsequent sagging and deformation.
Structure of a plastic window structure Installation of different types of window sills on plastic windows
You should understand in more detail how to install window sills on plastic windows, and a step-by-step description of the work will help with this:
- The first and mandatory step is to thoroughly clean the working surface on which the workpiece will be mounted from construction debris and dust.
The surface on which the window sill will be installed must be clear of debris - To perform further actions, you will need a building level to help determine how level the surface is. If there are irregularities, the workpiece is aligned using wedges and beacons. In order to install a wooden or plastic window sill, special glue or mortar is used, which is laid out on the work surface immediately after preparation. The board is placed on fresh mortar and pressed down firmly. In order to secure a large-width window sill, mechanical supports are used - brackets screwed with screws. The number of elements securing the board depends on its length and the strength of the material.
- In order for the workpiece to be installed correctly, recesses (grooves) to the thickness of the panel are made in the lower part of the slopes on both sides along the entire length. Marks are made on the slopes, and rectangles are cut out on the workpiece on the left and right sides. Work on creating grooves is carried out using a hammer drill, grinder and chisel. The depth of the recesses depends on the material from which the slopes are finished - it can be a layer of plaster, putty or drywall. Advice! After installation, cracks and holes are carefully sealed with an appropriate composition, which makes it possible to achieve solidity between the surface of the window sill and the finishing of the slope.
- The free space under the plastic panel is filled with polyurethane foam. The foaming mixture increases in volume and can move the workpiece placed in place, so a load is placed on its surface. These could be bottles filled with water, bricks, blocks, even books. The frozen excess foam is carefully cut off with a sharp construction knife.
- At the final stage, the ends of the plastic window sill are closed with plugs, adding completeness and aesthetics. The protective film is removed from the surface of the panel.
Important! Window sills on a plastic window should be fixed horizontally; it is better to take measurements using a building level or square.
The principle of insulating the window sill of a plastic window
If you decide to change the window sill, then you should immediately start insulating it. This will help avoid serious consequences: the appearance of defects, cracks, leading to the formation of drafts and heat loss. Before insulating the window sill of a plastic window, you need to make the right choice of heat-insulating material. Polyurethane foam, which does not require much time to apply, will serve as effective insulation. Also, a special silicone-based sealant can be used to seal small cracks and cracks in the window sill on a plastic window.
Features of installation on a balcony
Replacing the window sill of a plastic window on a loggia and balcony depends on whether the room is heated or not. In the absence of heating, it is preferable to choose plastic analogues, as well as blanks made of teak or larch. But even for a warm room, installed wooden blanks require careful treatment with moisture-resistant impregnating compounds.
The wooden window sill panel must be treated with a moisture-resistant compound You can get a perfectly flat window sill if its fastening is carried out simultaneously with the insulation of the fence (parapet). Thermal insulation boards are inserted between the interior finishing and always leave an air gap, thereby preventing rapid heat loss.
You also need to know how to install a window sill on a balcony for a plastic window. For fastening elements, a base is required, to which bars will be mounted along the entire length of the window sill in increments of 50-60 cm. How many there will be depends on the parameters of the parapet. In order for the finish to look neat, the bars should not extend beyond the base. To fix them, you will need a cement mortar.
Advice! Be sure to attach the workpiece at an angle of 3° towards the room, this will prevent condensation from accumulating on the surface of the window sill. It is possible to make such a slope using planed wooden wedges.
If you are installing a wide and heavy board, then you should know how to ensure that it is securely fastened. Installation should be carried out using brackets for self-tapping screws with a press washer. Long fasteners will not work - the best option is 4.2x16. The step between the brackets is 20-30 cm, but it can be larger, as it depends on the weight of the installation panel.
A waterproofing tape is attached to the brackets along the entire length, so that moisture from the street will not penetrate into the room. After which the window sill plate is inserted between the window frame and the profile and pressed until it stops. The connection between the loose edge of the board and the brackets is also done using self-tapping screws.
Considering that the installation of window sills on loggias and balconies is carried out in a variety of ways, preference should be given to the optimal and necessary option. Knowing how to replace a window sill, you can do the work yourself without the help of a specialist.