Window Boards

[ProDave 4,545]

Trying to work out how to do them.

 

In the previous house we bought softwood window boards and they were very disappointing, warped like mad etc.

 

So this time we want something better.  We have oak floors and would like something similar for the window boards. I tried all the timber merchants I knew and none seemed to offer anything.

 

So in an idle moment, tidying up after finishing the floor I cam up with this idea and post it here for you to either tell me how rubbish it is, or praise it, or recommend improvements.

 

The Oak flooring is engineered board so 3 layers with oak as the top layer. That should hopefully mean it is not inclined to warp.  It just happens that each floor plank is just a little wider than the window reveal depth so easy to plane to the depth needed.  But of course the edge, being a 3 layer engineered wood, is too rubbish to leave as the finished edge.  So I have mocked up this on the smallest window:

 

 

The trim along the front is pine and not treated yet.  That is all I could get locally in a BM.  If I go ahead with this I would hope I could get similar trim in oak from a timber merchant, or failing that experiment staining it to at least look closer to the oak board.

 

What does the forum think of this idea?

 

SWMBO thinks it's okay but wants a more appropriate bit of trim.

 

 

[the_r_sole 287]

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Edited September 26, 2019 by the_r_sole

[ProDave 4,545]

Nothing else is decided. We have oak floor, oak kitchen worktop and will have oak doors.  So logically want oak door liners (that one is not going to be fun finding them) and oak architrave and skirting (easy, Howdens sell oak veneer of both)

[Mr Punter 1,296]

You can get oak stair nosing with a groove at the back but I don't know if it would fit with your floor.

[joe90 2,115]

10 minutes ago, ProDave said:

So logically want oak door liners

 

I had this decision to make but after seeing pictures (on here?) of oak doors with painted skirting/architrave found it looked good. I like your cill idea, I would have biscuit joined the facing piece myself but think pine won’t look good unless you have pine elsewhere. Personally you can never stain pine to look like oak (but I am OCD according to er indoors). You would IMO be better off having lengths of pine machined by a local firm then trim to length and stick them on. I am making oak calls fir my oak sunspace and using 18mm oak faced ply and biscuit joining a bull nose to the front.

[Square Feet 29]

I think it looks good.

 

[Redoctober 348]

Plus one to that. You should be able to source oak trims from a BM. If your budget can stretch have a look at the UK Oak Doors website. We got our oak Cills and boards from them. 

 

[Simplysimon 286]

@ProDave back the flooring onto a piece of mdf/ply and mitre the front edge, a piece of solid oak mitred and fixed to give the edge. as for the standards, where the door is, rebate  slightly more depth than the thickness of the door and beyond the margin for facing, fill with oak. alternatively, if fitting planted stops then a full oak facing slightly more than the depth of the margin.

[Thedreamer 597]

@ProDave looks good.

[ProDave 4,545]

I found a donkeys years old pot of "Dark Oak" wood stain in the garage.  Gave the trim the very thinnest possible coat of that so as not to be too dark, followed by a coat of clear varnish.

 

I think this is acceptable:

 

[Redoctober 348]

Tidy job there 👍

[CC45 288]

yep, looks good.

[newhome 2,321]

Pity you're not closer. I have a ton of oak bits and bobs left over from the build. I actually burnt some of it in the summer 😊 

[joe90 2,115]

I am impressed with the colour match, so much for me saying otherwise, well done 👍

[Jenni 22]

Hi. I hope it's ok for me to add to this thread. I first saw your window board pic a few years ago and love it.

 

I want to create a similar look and am thinking of buying oak faced plyboard to do the job. (I think this will work better than floorboards as the sills are deep - 280mm. And I want to make some nearby 2m long shelves to match).

 

I hope people here can advise on 2 things - what thickness ply to go for? and, the possibility of just having the ply edge visible rather than the slimline trim? (with plaster skim ending flush with it).

[jack 1,624]

 

15 hours ago, Jenni said:

I hope people here can advise on 2 things - what thickness ply to go for? and, the possibility of just having the ply edge visible rather than the slimline trim? (with plaster skim ending flush with it).

 

I can't answer your questions directly, but I've recently been working with oak-faced ply to make furniture.

 

A couple of points:

- you want to make sure the ply edge is of good enough quality to be visible. I suspect most oak-faced plywood will be on birch plywood, but check before buying (tell them what you're planning to do with it)

- you'll need a way a making a decent cut, as the plywood surface splinters easily. I ended up buying a decent rail/plunge saw, and it's been brilliant. The cut edge doesn't even need sanding, although you need to take the sharp edges off slightly.

- I'm using 19mm plywood and I think that'd be a good thickness for this sort of application. Depends on what level of "chunk" you're after, visually. You'll need a fair bit of support if you make shelves out of this thickness and want them to handle much weight (eg, books) without bending.

[markc 159]

12 hours ago, Jenni said:

Hi. I hope it's ok for me to add to this thread. I first saw your window board pic a few years ago and love it.

 

I want to create a similar look and am thinking of buying oak faced plyboard to do the job. (I think this will work better than floorboards as the sills are deep - 280mm. And I want to make some nearby 2m long shelves to match).

 

I hope people here can advise on 2 things - what thickness ply to go for? and, the possibility of just having the ply edge visible rather than the slimline trim? (with plaster skim ending flush with it).

If you are going with ply and want to have the edges visible you need a good quality Birch Ply, also known as Baltic Birch. This has 13 ply build up (18mm) with virtually no voids.

Or you could use compact ply which is similar but more resin in it - this is the board you often see used in fast food places where the edges are visible. It is very tough, doesn't splinter etc.

[Jenni 22]

Thank you both for tips so far. 

I do have access to a rail saw, as you say its an excellent bit of kit. 

 

I thought a couple of pics might help. 

The windows already have a base ply on them so good support for oak faced to go on top of. 

 

The shelf has a fair amount of timber to support it, I was thinking I may plasterboard it first then put the oak faced ply on top. 

Edited March 23 by Jenni

[jack 1,624]

10 minutes ago, Jenni said:

The shelf has a fair amount of timber to support it, I was thinking I may plasterboard it first then put the oak faced ply on top. 

 

Oh, that'll be fine. I assumed that you were talking about a shelf sticking out from a wall, rather than one supported from underneath like this. 

[Jenni 22]

Thank you.

 

Do you think thinner ply would be ok, say 12mm, given that there's already (I think) pretty good support there?

 

Will plaster skim run flush to the ply work ok? I'm a bit worried it's will end up a flaking away and looking a mess.

 

Any suggestions for fixing the ply to the existing ply on window sillls, and to plasterboard? 

[jack 1,624]

1 minute ago, Jenni said:

Thank you.

 

Do you think thinner ply would be ok, say 12mm, given that there's already (I think) pretty good support there?

 

Will plaster skim run flush to the ply work ok? I'm a bit worried it's will end up a flaking away and looking a mess.

 

Any suggestions for fixing the ply to the existing ply on window sillls, and to plasterboard? 

 

I think you'd get away with 12mm given how well-supported it is. 

 

Re plastering up to it, you could perhaps put a stop for the plasterer to skim up to then install the plywood and caulk the remaining gap. I'm sure a couple of people on here have done that when skimming up to windows and door frames.

 

Not sure about fixing. Glue would work, although it'll be a devil to get off of you ever want to replace it. Perhaps just use a minimal amount?

[Oz07 486]

Plaster stains oak doesn't it? Fit afterwards if poss as above

[joe90 2,115]

I made oak cills for my conservatory with an oak nosing held on with biscuits, works very well.

[TonyT 239]

15 minutes ago, Oz07 said:

Plaster stains oak doesn't it? Fit afterwards if poss as above

Or tape up/ wrap up as I think it’s a better finish /less likely to damage plaster if the window boards are in prior to plastering

[TonyT 239]

6 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I made oak cills for my conservatory with an oak nosing held on with biscuits, works very well.

Mine were meranti, routed to make it out of one piece.