Putting in the windows

Our builders made a series of round windows on the upper floor, and we had coloured glass made to fit them with a lead surround. Two of the windows are etched with the "Lessal" pattern. Regrettably the builders weren't entirely au fait with the concept of circularity, so we had to have the glass cut to the shapes that we thought they had made the window openings. Even then, the glass didn't fit. So the first task was to chip away the brick to get the openings about right. That took a while, and trying to avoid dropping the glass each time it was offered up to the opening was a bit worrying.

In the end I managed not to break the first window. This is the side where I cut the bricks to fit, but the mortar covers the cut edges, more or less. I used a bit of colourant in the mortar which otherwise would have been white (almost).



The other picture was taken from the other side of the wall (inside the bathroom) without the flash and shows how the sunshine comes through the window. That was the effect we were aiming for. The sun doesn't fall directly on the window at this time of year but it's good enough to give a fair impression.



It wasn't easy to get the mortar smooth. It needed quite a lot of going over with a sponge. That unfortunately showed up a basic error with the dye. It should have been dissolved in the water I mixed the mortar with. Instead it went in afterwards, and little bits of it were undissolved and produced something of a smear when wiped over.

The next one will be better. Oh yes.