Window Frame mushrooms

I am new to this forum so please forgive me if I am covering old ground but could not see any previous dialogue on this topic before.

Just had my house decorated internally and was advised by the painter that I had sonme serious problems with my windows externally.

It appears that I have mushrooms growing externally on the window which strikes me as a problem with water penetration, mould etc.

Without replacing the window frames how do I resolve this issue. I think the window (glass) are held in place by a small piece of 9mm2 beading around the external sides of the window but surely this cannot be the only way of securing the glass. Can I use some form of silicone sealant also to give me a good watertight seal.

Mushrooms are the "fruiting body" of a fungal infection to the material at hand. Probably the first thing is to hit the outside of your windows with an antifungal treatment.

What you are talking about to hold the glass in, is a glazing bead - usually fixed with a smear of putty and panel pins, this is a pretty good means to keep glass still.

The correct antifungal treatment probably needs to be followed up by something like an oxalic acid prep/rinse, then all woodwork allowed to dry fully. Missing material can be fixed with products such as Builder's Bog (large chunks gone) or Sikaflex (small gaps and holes). After that, repaint with a neat 1/16" margin of paint onto the glass. This is your final seal against water ingress.

FWIW, I like enamel paints on the outside of windows and start with a Penetrol/oil based sealer mix, but not everyone does...

Cheers, Adam.

addo,

thanks very much for the reply. One of the windows appear to be leaking internally when it rains. Its not that evident other than a small pool of water in the corner which stains the newly painted window.
What I was proposing on doing was to pull off the beeding, apply new silicone (sikaflex or something equivalent) and reinsert new beeding and then paint. Would this suffice or have I missed out anything?

I'm not a big fan of silicone in most building applications, but Sikaflex should do if the wood can be dried out.

A little trick is to mask around the repair work area neatly before using the Sika, and then you "tool it off" with a fingertip or the proper weapons, right up to and just onto the tape. After about an hour's setting (almost dry to a light finger brushing past), you carefully peel the tape away to reveal a nice clean edge... If it strings, let it sit a while longer.

Still, you really need to kill the fungus or it will continue to do its thing.

Regards, Adam.

Thanks again for this. I will try it out and let you know how it fairs. Just need to get rid of the inlaws first before I get back to curing the problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chessp

Thanks again for this. I will try it out and let you know how it fairs. Just need to get rid of the inlaws first before I get back to curing the problems.

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Kill 2 birds with same stone.

Pick said mushrooms, saute in butter with a bit of garlic and white wine, serve to the in-laws. Both problems solved. Now go get rid of the damp source...

Ha Ha, merry Christmas...