Progress with the House – Windows

Stará Oleška 44 in April 2017 © Ricky Yates

It has become quite clear to me since moving into my new home in Stará Oleška, that the previous elderly owners, had alterations and improvements done to the house, as and when they could afford it. This is reflected in the variety of windows that there are.

The photograph at the beginning of this post, shows the house as it was in April 2017, a few weeks before moving in on 15^th May 2017. Please use it as a point of reference for what follows in the rest of this post.

The two windows in the upper floor of the house, directly under the apex of the roof, are quite old. They are double-glazed but have wooden frames. Once I had moved in, I noticed that the exterior paintwork of these window frames was in a very poor state. Bearing in mind that they are located in the most exposed area of the house, back in August 2017, I made getting them painted, one of my first priorities.

Newly painted windows © Ricky Yates

Fortunately, it was, and still is, possible to completely remove the windows which made painting them far easier than in situ. Here they are, laid out on a table, under cover at the back of the house, having received their second coat of gloss paint.

Surrounding window frames having been painted © Ricky Yates

Likewise, with the windows removed, painting the surrounding frames was also a much simpler task. I am pleased to report that, following my labours of August 2017, the paintwork still looks in good order, having now survived two Czech winters.

One of the last things the previous owners did, was to have the verandah on the front of the house enclosed. In order to do this, they had two pairs of high-quality double-glazed uPVC windows fitted across the front of the verandah. But they did nothing about the windows on the side of the verandah – the ones nearest the front door in the photo and their twins on the other side. These were single-glazed with wooden frames, on which condensation soon started appearing in the Autumn of 2017.

Having ascertained that Rudolf Cebiš from the village, (Ruda to his friends 😉 ), had procured and fitted the uPVC windows, I approached him about having matching ones made and fitted on both sides of the verandah and also replacing three other small windows on the far side of the house. He came and measured up and in due course, gave me a written quotation for the work.

I accepted his quotation, paid him a deposit and the manufacture of the new windows was set in train. Some weeks later, on the morning of 9^th November 2017, Ruda and one of the guys who works for him, arrived with the new uPVC double-glazed windows.

New uPVC windows ready for fitting © Ricky Yates

Here they are, laid out on the front lawn.

Old windows out © Ricky Yates

In next to no time, the old ones were removed…..

New uPVC windows fitted on the side of the verandah © Ricky Yates

……and the new ones fitted.

New shower room window © Ricky Yates

The section of the house stretching back from the front door with roofs at a fairly gentle angle, is clearly a later addition. What was the front door before this section was added, is now the door between my bedroom and the enclosed verandah. The two pairs of windows on the side of this newer addition, which you can see in the first photograph, are double-glazed and quite modern, but still have wooden, rather than uPVC frames. There is also a similar pair of windows at the rear of the house.

I was determined to get all of these painted this summer, not least because the existing exterior paintwork was beginning to go in a few places, especially on the pair at the rear of the house. However, I knew that I would need several successive days of dry weather to accomplish the task. Fortunately, such period occurred towards the end of July.

As is usual with any painting job, the most important part and also the most time consuming, was the preparation needed before I could start to paint. First of all, I cleaned the all the glass, inside and out, discovering how much more light this let in 😉 Then I rubbed back the areas where the existing paintwork was beginning to go and covered those areas with an initial coat of paint. Once that was dry, I then washed down all of the window-frames.

Windows with masking tape in place, ready for painting © Ricky Yates

I knew from past experience of painting window-frames, that the only way to ensure paint didn’t end up on the glass, was to use masking tape. Accurately masking each windowpane, inside and out, was a tedious task. Only when this was complete, could I finally start painting. Above is a photograph of one of the pairs of windows, finally ready to be painted. My apologies for the reflection of the photographer on the glass 🙂

Not only did the weather remain dry for several days, it was also very hot and sunny. Fortunately, the two pairs of windows are on the west-facing side of the house meaning that the sun didn’t shine on them directly, until the early afternoon. So I was able to work fairly comfortably each day, until it was time to stop and have a late lunch. And because it was so warm, there was no problem with leaving the windows wide open for several nights, allowing the paint to dry hard.

Freshly painted windows in the evening sunlight © Ricky Yates

Here are the freshly painted windows on the west-facing side of the house, drying in the evening sunlight.

Rear windows © Ricky Yates

And here is the pair of windows at the rear, north-facing side of the house, freshly painted, with the masking tape removed and the glass cleaned, once again.

With all this painting complete, with the exception of the front door, (another story), the exterior of the house is ready to face the next Czech winter. However, as a result of my labours, my neighbour Pavel, who lives in the house behind me, has given me a new name – Rembrandt 🙂