South Pasadena Windows & Doors That Shed Water
Restored windows in South Pasadena get storm panels with weep slots and sealed sill ends, so rain that gets behind the glass drains out and the wood dries.
An exterior storm panel can shield a restored wood sash or trap water against it, and the difference comes down to a few small openings along its bottom rail. Rain that gets behind the panel needs a way back out. On a South Pasadena house where the original sashes stay, each storm panel goes on with weep slots at the sill and an uncaulked bottom edge, so water drains off the old sill and the wood can dry.
Storm panels that drain
A well-fitted storm panel cuts drafts and street noise and keeps direct rain off the original glass and putty. Its frame is screwed to the outside casing or the blind stop, with sealant along the top and both sides. The bottom stays open, and the lower rail of the panel carries slots so water running down inside it finds the outside. Before the panel goes on, the old sill is scraped, soft spots are consolidated with epoxy, and the wood is primed and painted, because a sill holding a sound coat of paint sheds water. Panels mounted inside the room are another route that leaves the face of the house unchanged.
Sill ends and casing joints
Water also gets in at the ends of a sill, where the wood runs past the casing and shows its end grain. End grain soaks up water like a bundle of straws, so those ends get epoxy consolidant and then paint, and a sill end that has already split gets a fitted wood patch. Where each casing leg lands on the sill, the joint is filled and painted so runoff passes over it. On an exterior door, the same care goes to the foot of each jamb and the lower edge of the door slab, which is sealed on every face before it is hung.
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When the sash is sound and the sill still holds paint, keep it and add a storm panel that drains. That pairing keeps the old glass and closes most drafts. Replacement makes sense where the sill has rotted through, where the frame no longer closes square, or where a bedroom needs a bigger escape opening than the old unit gives.
A storm panel or a new unit should put its horizontal rail at the same height as the meeting rail of the sash beside or behind it, so the line across the window reads as one. We measure that rail height on every original, along with the width of the outside casing, and keep sound casing where it is.
The City of South Pasadena reviews building permits for new windows, new exterior doors and any widened opening, with energy labels checked on the glass and a header shown where an opening grows. If a house carries a historic designation, design review can apply as well, and we confirm that before anything is ordered.
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