Looking for a window into the mind of old time carpenters. Or a door.

October 6, 2013 11:18 AM

So, I have a pane of glass in a wooden frame. If I call this wooden frame a door, the pane of glass is held in place with some pieces of wooden trim tacked down with some finishing nails. But, if I call this wooden frame a window, the pane of glass is held in place with glaziers points and putty. Why is this?
posted by Kid Charlemagne to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Generally speaking, putty is used where the frame needs to resist the weather for many years. Wooden trim is mostly used indoors, where aesthetics are more important than water resistance. Often windows have trim on the inside and putty on the outside.
posted by pipeski at 11:38 AM on October 6, 2013

Points and putty is cheaper and faster than wooden trim but the wooden trim is more durable and better able to handle the force and vibration of the door swinging open and slamming shut
posted by Mitheral at 11:38 AM on October 6, 2013 [3 favorites]

Glazing putty gets hard and brittle over time, and would fall out with the flexing of a door. Also, doors tend to be seen up close much more often than the exterior of windows and wood moldings are more attractive than a (at best) flat, angled putty surface.
posted by jon1270 at 4:55 PM on October 6, 2013

Seconding Mitheral. We put glaziers points and putty on a mirrored bathroom cabinet thinking it looked better than framing in, and the bloody thing loosened up to the point it needed redone--with framing the second time. No prob then.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:57 PM on October 6, 2013