The Wooden Window & Door Company crafts sash and doors using the same construction methods employed for the past few centuries. The end result is sash and doors made from high quality, dry, straight-grained woods with very few or no knots; 'through' mortise and tenon joinery that is further strengthened by pegs and epoxy; glazed with restoration glass (wavy and bubbled); and finally sealed, primed and painted with oil-based waterproof treatments.

This wood is about to be used for 15 storm windows for a 150 year old home in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Do you notice anything interesting about this wood? - No knots! Woodworkers refer to this calibre of wood as being 'clear'. Literature in old construction texts suggests that stock have knots no larger than one-quarter inch for the building of sash. The reason for this is that knots can be points of weakness where the sash could twist or bend. If you look closely at the old sash in your home you will probably notice that even after all this time they are still very straight. The joint you see above is referred to as 'through' mortise and tenon joinery - 'through' in that the tenon is visible. With 'blind' mortise and tenon joinery the tenon only goes about 3/4 through the stile and is thus hidden. When our sash are to be painted we recommend the blind method. However, if sash are to be finished clear we like to use through joinery as the aesthetic is strong. We set up our tools carefully to get crisp, clear, pleasing joints...

Here are a variety of beautiful sash being prepared for a heritage property in Black Rock, Nova Scotia. We take a lot of time to ensure that every sash is carefully assembled, square and tight. Although this is not always the case.... occasionally we make sash that is 'out-of-square'. We do this on purpose of course, as sometimes an old frame is crooked. We can do the same with our doors. It simply adds character!

The following series of pictures are sash that we are currently building. With all the pieces painstakingly shaped to interlock perfectly, we can now assemble it all... Twenty-one separate pieces of wood here... Let's see, thats 8 sash at 21 pieces per sash - thats 168 rails, stiles and mullions for this job... We start by inserting the tenons of the inner sash bars into the mortises of the top and bottom rails... The middle mullions (or muntin) are then inserted into the mortises of the sash bars... Next, the tenons of the outer mullions are inserted into the mortises of the stiles. The 3 pieces can now be joined together, epoxied and clamped... ...wait about an hour and... voila! The sash maker of years past would approve!

Before we start any project autocad diagrams are made and sent to the customer to ensure compliance. Every detail is included in the drawing and tolerances are to 1/32 of one inch.

The sizes and types of our typical orders range from single specialty windows to very large and simple styles. Pictured are two of a very large order of storms we are getting ready to glue as well as a 12 foot high, 6 foot wide church window that we are replicating for a 200 year old church. We love old church windows!

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