Bay Window Draughts - A Few Questions

[chuckalicious]

Hi all,

my house has a bay window which has 3 windows, all sash. On the inside, the bay is made entirely of wood panelling. Over the years the wood has shrunk and moved and has been stripped and varnished.

Because of all this, there's a hell of a breeze coming from all the gaps in the frames, panels etc.

The windows themselves are painted shut (done by previous owner) but I'm not too fussed about that. The glass is also a strange stepped setup whereby it looks like a thin double glazed unit fitted into the single pane space.

Anyway, my question is how should I best deal with the issues of the breeze from all the gaps?

Could I drill small holes and spray expanding foam in to almost insulate behind the wood on the inside and the stone on the outside? Might doing this cause a damp issue?

Would I be better filling all the cracks and then painting the whole thing?

I wouldn't dare take the panels off the wall, I'd feck that up royally!

Thanks

 

[The Madman]

Personally I'd fill the gaps with suitably coloured wood filler that matches the rest of the window formation. Draughts would be blocked in a couple of minutes and without further damage to the wood by drilling.

 

[chuckalicious]

Thanks - that was my other option I guess and at worse after filling in all the gaps, give it a sand down and paint the whole thing.

Out of interest though, would putting some sort of insulation between the stonework and the wood cause any potential damp issues? Assuming there is no unwanted water ingress of course.