Best wood to use for a window board? (Older property)

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Hightowermark

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Hi

I live in a 1920's property with very large window reveals. What is the best wood to use for this as do not want to use MDF as it's on stone and worried about moisture from it being an older house.

Thanks
 
By window cill I presume you mean the internal window board (in timber yard/joinery terms, the cill is outside, window boards are inside). In general your best choice will be solid wood. If you are painting it then softwood should be more than adequate. In any case you should put a piece of DPM (e.g. Visqueen) beneath the window board if you suspect there is any chance of the masonry being damp. The new window board will more than likely need to be packed up level, for which plastic packers are ideal, and is best fixed down onto the masonry with screws and nylon masonry plugs
 
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Yes, sorry window board. (We call both the inside and the outside the sill where we live :) )

I'll be painting it so soft wood. Yes was going to put DPM down too.

Thanks
 
Hightowermark said:
Yes, sorry window board. (We call both the inside and the outside the sill where we live :) )
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A lot of people do, including my missus, but if you go to a timber yard...

Hightowermark said:
I'll be painting it so soft wood. Yes was going to put DPM down too.
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I may be stating the obvious, but the other things to mention are that you should "dope" (paint, coat) any knots with patent knotting compound (this stops any potential bleed through of resin from knots) and prime the underside well before installing (which also helps to deal with moisture).
 
Thank you for the advice. What wood would you recommend as i think they are around 450-500mm deep in places
 
That is a pretty deep window reveal. You probably aren't going to be able to get an the shelf window board at that width (the widest I can get is about 300mm), so it will be probably be necessary to joint two boards together. Some yards can do this, but many won't. I have joined boards myself using dowels or Dominos in the past, but it does require a dowelling jig, cramps and a circular saw (to trim to width afterwards,)
 
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Personally, as my joinery and painting skills aren't great, I would use a laminate window board.
 
If using solid timber, joined or not, don't forget to give the OP advice on selecting suitable timber and treatment and installing to avoid it cupping like a banana on that cold stone. :rolleyes:
 
Hightowermark said:
Hi

I live in a 1920's property with very large window reveals. What is the best wood to use for this as do not want to use MDF as it's on stone and worried about moisture from it being an older house.

Thanks
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If you have room put a layer of insulation board down first - maybe 6mm or 10mm underfloor heating board like marmox, then 18mm mdf.

it will act as both a damp and thermal barrier.
 
Yes, as above, although thinner foam/foil on a roll should do, and 25mm MDF, as 18 is a bit thin.

Or add a strip of MDF to the nosing of 18mm board to give the appearance of a thicker board.

Unless you go for hardwood or find selected softwood, there would be too much risk with it cupping if attempting to edge join sections together. And it's not worth the expense for a painted window board.
 
I'm planning to eliminate all window boards and replace with quartz. You can get offcuts at a reasonable price and there are no knot or moisture problems to worry about.

In my experience all wooden boards get damaged and/or discolour - in my previous house I oiled and stained either hardwood and/or hardwood-faced ply. These looked great for ages and wire wool and a fresh couple of coats was enough to restore any dulling. I also hate UPVC as that is massively vulnerable to damage and
 
I've had some success using T&G floorboards as window boards (think it was 20 or maybe 22mm)- glued and clamped and weighted 3 lengths together then trimmed the spare tongue and groove off, routed a nice round face edge and done.
Yes do put insulation under it if you have room
 
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