External window sils

[tartantiffy]

Hello!

I'm not even sure if this is possible so any advice is appreciated.

Was hoping someone would be able to point me in the direction of a cement based product i could use to skim my external concrete window sils to renew them?

I don't want to paint them as its not to my taste, the plan was to clean and skim them to try and renew them of sorts.

I have attached a photo of one of my sils and a photo of the type of finish I am trying to achieve.

I will be starting on an out of sight sil to see how it comes up.

Thanks for reading and any input!

 

[Wayners]

You need to remove the one that's there and replace.
I've seen boxing made around a damage sill and concrete poured but it's not great. Boxing removed and polished when it's setting.
You won't get it anywhere near as good as a precast

 

[foxhole]

I poured self levelling compound on old cracked stone sills, came up very well.

 

[Wayners]

Self leveling need to be on a flat surface.
It's self levelling and very thin and runny.
Not sure how that will work?
Mix thick and trowel maybe?

 

[foxhole]

Self leveling need to be on a flat surface.
It's self levelling and very thin and runny.
Not sure how that will work?
Mix thick and trowel maybe?

It just run off the sill leaving a thin coat .

 

[opps]

As a decorator I often have to square up, sandstone sills.

The following was repaired with 2 pack filler.





It took about 4 lots of filler after each sand. A straight bit of timber was clamped to the underside to generate a straight line. I wrapped polythene around the timber so that the filler would not stick to it. You really need a random orbital sander though. oh, and I primed the area with SBR after removing any loose paint.

When a "slightly" lower quality of finish is required I use the Toupret Murex filler. It is marginally easier to sand (still harder than most powder based fillers though). The following image- I had to use resin and heli bars before filling with Murex.





The next one was filled with a much softer filler (Toupret Touprelith F). Colin the pointer removed the masonry paint and repointed before I did my work.









Toupret Touprelith F can be hand sanded. I used it on the above job because of budget constraints. I would not recommend it for upper window sills that might have ladders rested against them because it is too soft.

Your sill, I would probably wrap some poly around a bit of plywood placed on the upper part of the sill and fill the front of the sill to get a straight edge, then backfill the top face of the sill. Assuming it is ground floor, I would use Toupret Touprelith F. At that depth it might take a day or two to dry though. If you use 2 pack filler (car filler), you could do the whole lot in one day. The thicker the two pack, the faster it hardens- pretty much the opposite of fillers with water.

 

[Alastairreid]

Very tidy work Opps.

 

[Wayners]

Yeah. Top notch.
Better than anything I've done...

 

[opps]

Very tidy work Opps.

Cheers. Unfortunately, in the first two images, Colin the pointer didn't point where the sill meets the brickwork which means that you can see the old paint on the bricks. Normally he does, not sure why he didn't on that job. That said it was a first floor window with a pitched roof under it, meaning the old paint is difficult to see from the ground level. The great thing about often working in tandem with him is that he repoints the window reveals, thereby eliminating the poorly painted cut in lines where the mortar reveals meet the timber sash boxes. Our relationship is symbiotic- his weather struck pointing is stunning but if the timber sliding sash windows are a mess it detracts from his work, likewise, regardless of my quality of finish, if the cement reveals are a mess it detracts from my work.

Another advantage for me is that when he uses hydrofluoric acid to clean the red rubber windows, he warns the customer that the masonry window sills will discolour. He then puts my name forward to repaint them. Once I have started, I often get asked to repaint the timber windows. I am happy to take on the work because he already has the scaffolding up. I cannot achieve the same quality of finish working off ladders.

 

[opps]

Yeah. Top notch.
Better than anything I've done...

I am sure that isn't true, but thanks.