Serious question about using old school putty vs modern sealants

Honestly, I was talking to my buddy who runs a restoration shop in Charleston last week. He said he still uses traditional linseed oil putty on every single pane in his historic window jobs. He called modern sealants 'a crutch that fails in 10 years'. Ngl, that hit different because I've been using a polyurethane sealant for everything, even old houses, for the past five years. He showed me a window from 1902 he redid 20 years ago, and the putty is still perfect. I always figured the new stuff was just better. Now I'm rethinking my whole approach on period work. Do you guys think there's still a solid place for the old methods, or is he just being stubborn?

3 comments

3 Comments

morganj8129d ago

Your buddy's line about modern sealants being a "crutch that fails in 10 years" is dead on. I helped my dad repaint the original putty on our 1920s house windows last year, and it's the stuff from the 50s. It was still flexible. Meanwhile, I've had to cut out cracked modern caulk on my own house after just seven years. The old methods work with the wood, not against it.

jessica39729d ago

Wondering if modern caulk fails faster because it's designed to be replaced... keeps the whole industry moving.

jordant699d ago

That line about working with the wood, not against it, is the whole key. It's not just caulk. Everything now is made to fight the natural movement of materials, then it loses. My deck screws from ten years ago are rusting and snapping, but the old square nails in the barn floor just bend. We replaced lasting solutions with quick fixes that guarantee another sale down the line.