Fix wooden window sill to top of brick wall

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Hi all,

I've recently renovated the porch (my first large-ish DIY project :)), and have come a bit stuck on one part of it.

Essentially, I have ripped off some old terracotta tiles that were mortared (badly) down on top of a brick wall, which formed the window sill of the porch. I would like to replace this to a wooden sill (which I have cut and fits perfectly). But how would I go about fixing this to the brick surface? Is there something specific I should use?

Photos below showing the wooden sills in place, and also the current state of the top of it.

Any advice appreciated :).

NB: The wall isn't 100% straight on one side where the foundations of the porch have slipped, and is about 1.5cm out, so any tips on how to level this when I lay the sill would also be appreciated.

Thanks!



 
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As long as the top is reasonably flat and you dont ever envisage having to non destructively remove them, then gripfill will suit.
 
We always insist that they are packed level (end to end AND front to back) then drilled, countersunk, plugged and screwed. Gripfill alone isn't strong enough and I've never seen a commercial job done that way

The packers we use are often a mixture of plywood shims, softwood wedges and graduated plastic shims (horse shoe packers) at 300 to 400mm centres. In really bad cases the boards can be dropped onto dabs of compo (mortar) and levelled, although they will need to be left to set and may need further packing shims when you finally fix down. Obviously if the windows themselves aren't level you may have to compromise on the levelling to make it look right. Similarly if the gap left beneath the boards by levelling is too large to be dealt with by a bead of silicone sealant or possibly mastic it may be necessary to add a piece of flat moulding to cover it unless it's plastered (in which case it's filled)
 
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Disagree totally, as long as its pretty level, gripfill with a tensile strength of 20kg / cm2 will be fine.. especially as a cill in not under any tensile strain normally. I couldn't give a fig what is "normally" done its usually due to total igornance of physics / material science "its what we always do". What was done normally and usually is just irrelevant.
 
Disagree totally, as long as its pretty level, gripfill with a tensile strength of 20kg / cm2 will be fine.. especially as a cill in not under any tensile strain normally. I couldn't give a fig what is "normally" done its usually due to total igornance of physics / material science "its what we always do". What was done normally and usually is just irrelevant.
Really? If you are prepared to fix down uneven window boards on mountains of Gripfill when the masonry is out of level your pockets are deeper than mine. And in your world window boards never swell or contract due to changes in humidity (air or in the masonry) or temperature? In your world kids don't clamber over boards and move them? In your world somebody moving a piece of heavy furniture doesn't bump into a window board? Theory is one thing. Practical experience of failed construction adhesive joints is another.
 
Disagree totally, as long as its pretty level, gripfill with a tensile strength of 20kg / cm2 will be fine.. especially as a cill in not under any tensile strain normally. I couldn't give a fig what is "normally" done its usually due to total igornance of physics / material science "its what we always do". What was done normally and usually is just irrelevant.
Really? If you are prepared to fix down uneven window boards on mountains of Gripfill when the masonry is out of level your pockets are deeper than mine. And in your world window boards never swell or contract due to changes in humidity (air or in the masonry) or temperature? In your world kids don't clamber over boards and move them? In your world somebody moving a piece of heavy furniture doesn't bump into a window board? Theory is one thing. Practical experience of failed construction adhesive joints is another.
Agree, the board will get a regular soaking from condensation on those single glazed windows.Bow like a Banana if not held down.
 
Thanks all. Seems like it will be more complicated than I first thought (and I'm a firm believer in things being done properly... have experienced far too many newbie problems of things coming loose at a later stage when I first started doing these kind of jobs!)

A handyman friend is going to come over and help level it with mortar. The drop from one end to the other is about 2cm, so this seems a sensible solution. And then I'll put some edging over the join so there isn't a big mortar line underneath :).

The windows themselves are level luckily. And it's a listed building, so we're stuck with single glazing sadly. But we have secondary glazing which I haven't put back up yet, so that will help a little.

Thanks for you suggestions everyone :)
 
You could change the glass for Double Glazed units , which means you keep the original window frames . (Under listed building regs)

Get "stepped units" where the inner panel of glass is smaller than the outer , the inner panel then sits on the interior bead .
A glazing merchant would advise best depth of inner panel to outer panel.

works out considerably cheaper than complete double glazing, I cannot see the logic of removing perfectly good window frames .


As for your window boards I have had no problems with mine, I leveled off,
Plugged and screwed them down and made good.
 
You could change the glass for Double Glazed units , which means you keep the original window frames . (Under listed building regs)

Is this really the case? We had been informed by our planning officer that there could be no changes at all to the windows themselves - only a secondary glazing added inside (something about the appearance of the glass not being affected).

Do you have a link or example of these units? Would any glazer know what they are?

Appreciate your advice - thank you :D
 
I`ve got a listed property as well, changed the glass for stepped units ( most of the glass was of the Greenhouse thickness very dangerous with small children) These were made up by a local Double Glazing Glass supplier, its the seal edge that is the problem this must not be visible when the glass is in place.

There are a couple of Firms that specialize in Double Glazing units for listed properties , look on internet for further details

Timbalite and slimlite Both supply units

http://www.timbalite.com/
 
Umm, maybe a bit of humble pie, judging by the date and time of my post, I figure I may have been a bit tipsy...... however...... on a good flat surface / non damp surface gripfill'ed boards are impossible to get off without breaking them..

There.. I said it!
 

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