For St. John Lutheran Church in Walhalla, South Carolina we restored all the stained glass windows in the church. Every 80 to 100 years all stained glass windows need to be rebuilt. The windows are photo documented before being removed from the site, crated for safe keeping, and then taken to our studio for the restoration. After a window is removed from the frame, a rubbing is taken. On the rubbing special notes are made as to what glass was used, where it was located, previous repairs are noted, broken original pieces are noted, and the sizes and types of lead cames are noted. Original pieces that are broken and cannot be matched with new stained glass are edge glued with an ultraviolet glue. Previous repairs are replaced with glass that matches as close as possible in color, density and texture. Then each piece of glass is hand cleaned. The window is then rebuilt using the rubbing as a map. Before the windows are reinstalled into the wood frames, the frames are also restored. The frames are stripped to bare wood, sanded, and then painted an oil based primer and two finish coats. If there are any rotten areas, those areas are either repaired with Liquid Wood or replaced with pieces milled to match the original. The windows are then put back into their original wood frames and reinstalled into the church. When we install the windows in the church, we inspect the frame and trim work, if there are any rotten areas or missing trim we correct that too. For protective glazing, we have installed tempered glass on the exterior. Our restorations are full turn key operations. When we are finished, the church has new windows that will last another century.