Caulking Windows vs. Reglazing

Materials and Supplies

• To caulk the windows, you’ll need a glass scraper, silicone caulking, a caulking gun, a damp sponge and some rubbing alcohol. To reglaze, you’ll need a five-in-one glazier’s tool, glazier’s points and glazing putty. During the reglazing process, you can replace the old glass with new glass, cut to the same dimensions, if desired.

Caulking

• Caulking the windows includes scraping away the old, hardened glazing in the crease where the glass meets the window frame, adding a uniform bead of new caulking and smoothing it into the crease. Be sure to clean up any excess silicone residue from the window with rubbing alcohol before it dries.

Reglazing

• Reglazing the windows involves scraping away the old putty, pulling out the glazier’s points that hold the glass in place and removing the glass panes from the frames. When the panes are out, the indentation in the frame that holds the glass, known as the "rabbet," is cleaned and sanded. Instead of caulk, glazing compound -- which resembles molding clay -- is used to fill the rabbet indention before repositioning the glass pane snugly in the frame. New glazier’s points, installed in the wood frame next to the glass, hold the pane in place, and more glazier’s compound is applied to the inside crease. Excess putty washes off the window and wood frame with warm water before it dries.

Considerations

• Reglazing is a better long-term solution than caulking because it completely resets the glass in a new compound base. Reglazing takes longer, however, and the window frame should be removed and worked on while it lays flat, making it difficult to reglaze during inclement weather. Silicone caulking forms an airtight seal, but silicone won’t hold paint, whereas you can paint glazing compound to match your window trim. You can apply silicone caulking while the window frame is still in the window, making caulking a better quick fix when you need an immediate repair for a drafty window. If the wood beneath the silicone gets wet, the caulking can come loose. If you don’t have time to reglaze the window, caulking offers a quick fix until you can reglaze.