I’m in the process of building a summer cottage. It is winterized and the heat will be left on at about 45 degrees all winter, unless we are there, at which time we will turn the heat up to more normal temperatures. I am about to start doing the window returns and I love the look of knotty pine. The returns are about 5 1/4″ wide. Has anyone ever seen this done? Is knotty pine stable enough? Will I have a problem with knots falling out years down the road?
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drwet wrote:
I'm in the process of building a summer cottage. It is winterized and the heat will be left on at about 45 degrees all winter, unless we are there, at which time we will turn the heat up to more normal temperatures. I am about to start doing the window returns and I love the look of knotty pine. The returns are about 5 1/4" wide. Has anyone ever seen this done? Is knotty pine stable enough? Will I have a problem with knots falling out years down the road?
I’ve used about every available local wood species for just about anything and most all have worked fine.
Knotty pine should be acclimated to the surroundings as most other types would be. I’d do the cutting and fitting in the heat season and check the moisture content to get it close to what you have in the cottage. Pine will lose width as the MC drops, more so than hardwoods. Length shouldn’t be a problem.
I'd prestain and glue all joints and assemble the whole extension sill apparatus and then install. You could blind screw as well on pcs that wide.
knots sometimes do fall out but usually just shrink a bit and cracks some. Glue 'em back in and call it done.
and, where the extensions touch the jambs, a fine bead of caulk wouldn’t hurt if you don’t ooze it onto the finish.