Even severe water damage doesn’t have to be the end of the line for doors and windows.  Restoration professionals like Wooden Window and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger know how to give historic windows a new lease on life.

 April 3rd through the 5th, the California Preservation Foundation held its 2012 Conference in Oakland California.  Wooden Window, with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, hosted a breakout workshop that gave participants a fair chance in the battle of water against wood — and what to do if they lose, even if only  temporarily. After an introduction and presentation on the basic components of how water reacts to wood, and a discussion of ASTM standards and procedures for window testing, participants broke out into small groups for in-the-shop demonstrations of steam stripping, CNC architectural profile matching, glazing, puttying and epoxy repair of severely degraded wood components.

The day wrapped up as Janelle Leafblad of Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger and her colleague demonstrated standardized testing procedures for window integrity against water on both restored and new windows.It was a lot to take in, and participants got their money’s worth, both in the demonstrations themselves and in the opportunity to question and chat with the presenters.

A successful day all around.