Question about Strength of Copper foil in Windows

by David
(Shreveport)

Hi,

I'm making a large window project (5ftx5ft) and I was wondering about the strength of copper foil and what I needed to do, if anything to reinforce the final project. Or could I mix the copper foil with the lead came technique?

Answer

Hi David,

Sorry for the delay in answering your question, but it's not an easy one to answer in this limited space.

A five foot square panel is very big to be doing in one piece. If we were constructing one of that size we'd make it in two pieces (broken up horizontally) and put it together with H lead on the top of the bottom piece and U lead on the bottom of the top piece. The U lead would be narrow enough to fit inside the H lead so you would have a tongue and groove effect. The two pieces would fit together when the window is being installed. Additionally we would use a rebar, placed along the lead.

The rest of the window would have copper restrip anywhere there was even a hint of a hinge joint.

To answer your question about combining lead and foil, YES you can do that.

I'm sorry that I can't go into more detail, but it would take an entire tutorial to cover reinforcement throrughly. I hope what I've told you will be of some help.