Pardon the Dirt - Stained Glass Window Project

[Robert Pauly]

Sorry for the crummy photos - it's my first shot uploading pics to a bulletin board.

Anyhow, here's what I've been doing this spring.  Our house has 7 stained glass windows in front, and sometime during the 60's - to make the house look more modern and sleek - the PO painted them white and removed the trim from around them.  Because of the magnitude of a refinishing task, I resigned myself into accepting them, until .....

..... my two toddlers were found to have elevated lead levels in their blood.  Nothing big, but an alert condition, nonetheless.  The culprit: my windows.  The solution: replace, or strip and refinish.  Hence, the project, and here's how it turned out, prior to the final cleaning and dusting.

Before:



After:



I've got some issues with the sills (the ends were cut short when the trim was removed), but I was pretty happy with the overall results of the job.  I trimmed it in birch, which matched the stripped wood perfectly.  Hours involved in the project - maybe 80.  Next project is the crown moulding and door trim, but that's after the attic, back stairs, main bathroom .........

[Ana]

Priceless!

[pkd50]

Love it!!

[OakParkSpartan]

Did you find a good source for millwork?  I need about 18 ft of a piece that tops the baseboard, and really don't want to spend several hundred dollars to get a knife made etc.


Cheers,
Brian

[Robert Pauly]

I went to Owl Lumber - on Southwest Highway (near 95th), just a little east of Cicero.  They specialize in interior lumber, and have quite a selection of birch, maple, oak, etc.  I'd definately say it's a trip worth taking.

[hvychev]

Absolutely stunning Melliman!!! WOW!

Compared to what I am doing the 80 hours that you spent don't sound to bad! What process did you use to stain and Schellac them?

[Robert Pauly]

Staining and varnishing them was the easy part - stripping them - especially the outer layers of leaded paint - was what was tough.  But to answer your question, I used a Minwax stain/sealer (one coat got me to the color I was looking for), and then I varnished with a semi-gloss Minwax polyurethane.  The color is a little bit redder than original, yet I have original doors in the house that are real red.

[Suedehead]

it looks real good, congrats!