Victorian Door Set

In summer 2012 I was asked by one of my Dad’s neighbours if I would consider re-building a set of windows for them. They had purchased a lovely old Victorian door which had a large square window and two smaller squares above. They also had a transom window that matched the door. The new home for the door also had a transom window, but it was a different shape to the window purchased. All of the original glass was filthy, some broken or missing and the lead had decayed. I fancied the challenge so we agreed a cost for labour plus they would pay for materials at cost. In the end the number of hours far exceeded what I had thought it might take, but it was a great exercise and they love their new windows!

The large window in the door was dismantled carefully and the glass cleaned of a century of grime and lead cement. The green glass around the central flower was all broken as were a few other panes. New glass was sourced for some of it and a piece of one of the other windows was identified to replace part of the yellow circle with a near match new glass found to use on the other windows. The whole window was then rebuilt using new lead, soldered and cemented.

The process was repeated for the two smaller squares with a mix of old and new glass with new lead.

The old transom window had a number of missing pieces and was significantly smaller than the new hole. I redesigned the window using as much of the old glass as possible and extended the window using new pieces, The central circle was fixed to sit between the red and clear edge strips with the aim of making it look like an original part of the set. I think I pulled it off!

Finally, here is the full window set ready to go to its new home.