In my new to me house the previous owner had a dog, or dogs. There are a couple of areas on doors and door frames where the dog tore up the wood. Some of them are not a big deal, but some of them are pretty bad.

This first pic is the window / frame next to my front door. This is mainly for overall scale and for an idea of the space.


This is a zoomed in of the bottom piece. You can see where it has been scratched pretty good.


And this is a zoomed in of the piece above the bottom. I am not sure what the heck the dog did to this one. But it also looks like someone tried to patch it and did a very bad job. The result appears to be something out of Salvador Dali painting.


My painter (a buddy of mine) has been at the house and he looked at it and had no idea how it would / could be repaired.

I then had a GC type guy who does all kinds of small remodels in the area out to look at it. He also was not sure what could be done.

Can this damage be fixed or repaired? Or will it require replacement of the entire window and frame?

If it can be fixed, what type of contractor should I be looking for?

If that’s a painted surface, yes. Wood filler and sand paper. If you google painted baseboard repair there are ways to match the contours pretty well, sand and then paint over.

Is it all one piece of glass or individual panes?

You can sand it down and fill and contour with a build up of wood putty. Not wood filler.

Alternatively, if that piece just sits on the glass and is held in by a small brad nail on each side, you may be able to remove it and find a piece of trim to match and reinstall.

Also, call a glazier, they may know just how to fix it.

Oh heck yes, it can be fixed as if it never happened. I did this very same thing in numerous places when my daughter bought her house. Can not even tell it ever happened.

Anyone that lives in an area of old houses should have more than a few people around that do that kind of work all the time.

It can be fixed, you just have to evaluate is it cheaper to repair or replace.

Google window restoration near me should bring up carpenters that do it.

If you are handy and are not concerned with keeping the exact original look, you can carefully remove the old wood casing holding it together and replace it with something the same size and a close profile.

Depending on the age, you need to be careful as the paint and glazing most likely contain lead.
Lead paint was banned in 1978.

 
It is just a piece of molding, mitered around the glass. Take out one of the long pieces (easier to get out) and see if you can find the same profile at the big box or lumber yard. It is probably just nailed in with brads, being on the inside. Slip a putty knife behind and under it and try to ease it back out.

If not able to match it, an alternative is to find a molding of similar dimensions but with a different profile, and then just miter in all 4 new pieces. The heck with trying to repair it.

Auto body filler is another really good product for that problem. Sands super smooth and is easy to work with.

Local contractors may be able to point you to a window place, or google it yourself for glass replacement. They may have the trim in stock.

Pic #3 looks like wood bondo that hasn't been sanded. A quick patch to clear closing.
Link:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40069621/

Since the glass comes out for replacement after the kids toss a ball through one, all that trim around it will come out as well.

Like others said, you should be able to get one of them out and find a replacement at a store, cut to fit, try your best, with paint and caulk, do the rest...

The Styles around the glass (4 decorative side moldings) should come out, allowing you to remove a broken glass pane. there is a center bar of wood dovetailed in between each pane,

Use a safety razor blade, go around the edge of the wood trim, then remove the styles once you have them loose.

Take the old wood, a good piece to home depot etc and match up to replace, sand down the center piece, cover with wood putty to fill any low areas, sand, prime, install new styles trim, caulk and paint.

Or you could have a window company come out and replace the entire window unit if possible, more money but a good time to upgrade.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
It is just a piece of molding, mitered around the glass. Take out one of the long pieces (easier to get out) and see if you can find the same profile at the big box or lumber yard. It is probably just nailed in with brads, being on the inside. Slip a putty knife behind and under it and try to ease it back out.

If not able to match it, an alternative is to find a molding of similar dimensions but with a different profile, and then just miter in all 4 new pieces. The heck with trying to repair it.

^this.

Sand down the paint to the bare wood, and you'll see how that molding sits in there.
It looks like a regular piece of wood trim. Any of the "big box" hardware stores, even a local place should have that.

** pro tip **
Get some plumbers putty, pack the corners of the glass before you put the trim back on. The putty will help reduce any draft you might get.

quote:

It is just a piece of molding, mitered around the glass.

You are referring to the stops which are on the exterior of the sidelight. What is pictured is the interior window muntin which is fabricated as part of the sidelight and has a horizonal profile extending outward from the center that forms the frame that the glass is set within from the exterior then the stops are applied to hold the glass in place.

The only solution I would recommend is to take the exact measurements of the existing sidelight unit and then either buy two new units from Home Depot, etc., or what I recommend, is having a millwork fabricate exactly what you want.

If you buy prefabricated units, understand that you can buy slightly larger units, then cut them to fit the window opening.

If you try to make the existing muntins look pre-dog, make sure a dog is available to hide the result so you can blame it on a dog.

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quote:

Originally posted by redleg2/9:

quote:

It is just a piece of molding, mitered around the glass.

You are referring to the stops which are on the exterior of the sidelight. What is pictured is the interior window muntin which is fabricated as part of the sidelight and has a horizonal profile extending outward from the center that forms the frame that the glass is set within from the exterior then the stops are applied to hold the glass in place.

All of the pictures are from the interior (you can see the patio through the glass). The interior stops are just moldings (the miter cuts are evident), and so is the "muntin". This is not a true divided lite window. The muntin is nothing more than another piece of molding that has been coped on the ends so it fits neatly against the side moldings, and then toe-nailed (or glued) into place. You can see along its bottom edge the silicone caulk/glue that holds it against the glass. You do not see it extending through to form a rabbet on the outside, as would be the case for a true divided lite window. It, too, can be removed and replaced. The coping can be done on a bandsaw, or even with a coping saw.
 
As the glass is double pane insulated (with an air space), all modern windows I've seen use just single piece of glass (cheaper than several smaller pieces that a true divided lite window would require), and any "divided" look is just moldings on one side only.

Just replace the trim as suggested above.
You'll spend more time trying to sand the profile than to replace it and the new trim will look much better. There's also the dust from sanding inside your home and all the cleanup needed.
Also clean the glass well and look for fogginess, indicating the seal between layers has failed.

Okay, I enlarged the photos - which I should have done initially:

1. I did realize in my initial viewing that the photos are all interior shots.

2. The sidelight is made of five separate lites of glass with each lite marked with the manufacturer's glass code dated 02-98. You will also note the black caulk surrounding each lite. This is not a "divided look" sidelight with a single lite.

3. Correct, the stops are on the interior; in which case the sidelight was incorrectly installed. Rarely is glass installed from the interior
because a unified interior surround is a superior for bedding caulk to prevent water intrusion and the glass can be glazed directly to the frame.

I stay with my original recommendation to replace the sidelights and correctly install them with the applied stops to the exterior.

I have a bit of experience in this - reference studio website below, but my only experience has been with millwork sidelights and not prefabricated single lite.

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The trick is to use a utility knife and score across the bottom trim, which looks like 1/4 round and at the two ends, you should be able to remove it.

As redleg pointed out this unit houses multiple glass panes, and they are all removeable and replaceable individually, Take one piece of the trim out and go to Home Depot/Lowes and match it up, if you don't get an exact match, then you may want to retrim the whole window so it looks better.

Replacing both side lights is possible as well, if you can A) find them, b) find a guy to do it,

If you want to replace both sidelight assemblies its the same process, only larger and more expensive, but you get the opportunity to change the look to something more up to date, or to an opaque/frosted type privacy glass.

Here's a video on the process of changing the sidelight assembly, btw doing an individual glass is similar, you just don't do the outside, just one window at a time.

quote:

Originally posted by redleg2/9:
2. The sidelight is made of five separate lites of glass with each lite marked with the manufacturer's glass code dated 02-98. You will also note the black caulk surrounding each lite. This is not a "divided look" sidelight with a single lite.

3. Correct, the stops are on the interior; in which case the sidelight was incorrectly installed. Rarely is glass installed from the interior
because a unified interior surround is a superior for bedding caulk to prevent water intrusion and the glass can be glazed directly to the frame.

Well I stand corrected then, about the divided lites. You are right, it is installed backwards. The beads or glazing compound always go to the outside.
 
I guess in 1998 there were still divided lite windows/doors being made. In the 25 years I spent working in a custom millwork shop (1970-1995), we only made divided lites, because we had the mortisers, tenoners, and shapers set up for that. That included sash, doors, sidelights, transoms (some radiused or elliptical). I hated to see the move to faux divided lites, just because it was not traditional, I guess, but I understand the need for economy and easier cleaning with snap-in grills.
 
The damaged muntin will have to be repaired, or replaced. If one could find a length of bar with the same sticking, it could be cut to length then coped to fit and nailed in. Any custom millwork shop could fabricate it, and might have those exact cutters. It's just a simple oval-o profile, and the shop might have some laying around.