I have factory finished and glazed DG wood windows. The frames are excellent but the wooden glazing beads are rotting and need replacement. It is a drained and vented system. Rather than fit wooden beads that might rot again, is it possible to fit plastic or aluminium glazing beads to a wooden frame? Would also have the advantage that would never need painting.
Davie, they would stand out like chapel hat pegs. A blind man on a galloping horse would see them and they would not look right. They won't coat up with paint in the same way. Putting 2 different materials together would lead to trouble further down the line. I would think that they might worsen the chance of rot in the main frames because the plastic or aluminium would shed water or damp at a differing rate than the wooden frame. The best suggestion I can come up with is to use a hardwood bead such as oak. Buy some flooring and cut that up on a saw bench. It won't cost the earth and I think that might work. Alternatively see if you can get your hands on some Accoya (spelling) It's practically rot free because of the process it's gone through. Good luck.
Surely a hardwood bead fitted and sealed properly, with either paint or varnish, shouldn't really rot should it.
Fitted and sealed and protected properly, should be fine. Problem with wood is, if the water gets in, it can stay there for a long time(drainage or no drainage). And most paints/varnishes are not designed to be sat in water. Mr. HandyAndy - Really
From OP: when I bought the house the painted and sealed softwood beading was rotting badly where the sealed joints had opened and allowed water in, that was then trapped by the 'sealing' and paint. At ground floor level I ripped out the sealing, left the joints open to breath, removed the waterproof white paint around the joints, injected wood preserver into the joints and repainted with breathable acrylic primer. I now only need to spend about two hours annually to just clean and touch up. That has stopped the rot but the acrylic primer does not look too pretty. I could not reach the beading on the first floor windows so they have suffered. Because of the problem of access wondered if fitting white plastic bead would solve the high-level maintenance problem. But I do take the point that white plastic on white-painted wood wood look obvious; especially as the existing beading is a complex profile. As Mr HandyAndy says I could paint the plastic beading but then would not be maintenance free. As mentioned by Phil, hardwood might be an option but difficult to apply wood preserver and would need to be primed and painted. Shame, plastic seemed such a good idea but I was surprised that plastic glazing beading is not available for wooden windows so did suspect there is a reason!
I have found a plastic bead product designed for glazing, its called Q-Wood and seems to be a very advanced solution - but best used during the manufacture rather than repair of windows?