Sealing leaking wooden windows

CountryBath

I have an old cottage with wooden windows. We are having significant problems with leaks and it appears that the sand and cement used to plug the gap between the window and wall is crumbling away. I therefore need to make the (quite wide) gap water tight.

How exactly should I do this? I have some ready mix sand and cement, but understand that it won't adhere to the wood, so how do I treat the wood?

Do I need to mix PVA into the sand and cement, use it direct or, not use it at all?

Finally, is normal sand and cement ok, or do I need sandstone sand and cement in order to avoid having grey cement? Someone advised me of this, so I just added it to my list of questions.


All help appreciated from an enthusiastic total amateur.

Thanks

CountryBath

Same posting on two forums and still no replies - anyone have any ideas? I need to do the work as soon as we have some good weather and I could do with some assistance. Many thanks.

MX5huggy

CB, Maybe post a photo of the problem if you can (use photobucket.com) that will get us going!

Basicly you have the plan but I would not bother with the PVA the motar does not really need to bond to the wood, infact because the wood expands and contracts at a different rate to the motar it would just crack anyway.

You need to try differnt mixes to get the color right you can add color to the mix. Or maybe you have lime pointing again a photo will help.