I am currently replacing the hardwood sills on my conservatory. I noticed when I removed the old sill, that directly underneath the sill was a rubberised damp course membrane - it was between sill and mortar, but was not attached to either as it just lifted off. The sill did not seem to be fixed at all to the dwarf wall, apart from the inside window boards, which were glued and screwed to the inner wall. My gut instinct tells me to leave out the membrane and put the new sills directly onto the new bed of mortar which will be lime based for a stronger bond. But - I don't understand why the original sills weren't placed directly on the mortar. Can anyone shed some light on this? The dwarf wall has a damp course lower down which is in tact. It seems to me that the membrane seemed to let in water underneath the sill. I have heard that some conservatories sit on a floating sill. My conservatory is approx 8 metres long and 4 metres wide, completely timber framed with a pvc and a tiled roof. So the weight of the building is significant. Thought I would mention this as it may effect whether the sills are attached to the wall or not.
Replacing conservatory sills
- Thread starter sjsjsj
- Start date
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The cill sits on a DPC to stop it staying damp and rotting, and to prevent water rising and breaching the threshold
No door should be on a floating cill as they are designed to be trodden on - don't know where you read that
No door should be on a floating cill as they are designed to be trodden on - don't know where you read that
Thanks for comments. It isn't the door - it is the actual window cills that are not attached to the walls. I understand what the damp course does, but I can't understand is why there is a dampcourse over the top of the mortar course (which is on top of the brick wall) and directly under the wooden cill. I can see on the old cill that the damp course has just allowed water to go underneath and inbetween the wood and the course it self. My gut feeling is to leave it out and mortar the cill straight on to the brickwork. This would seal the top of the bricks and the new woodens cill and hold it all in place. As I have said, there is already a dampcourse which is 7 courses of bricks down.
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