revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Moved into my new (old) house and needs a bit of fixing up.
I've been stripping the wallpaper from the spare bedroom, and under the window it's like there's a metal board? Is this normal? Do I need to get it checked out? If I need to get it checked, what trade should I be contacting?
If you look at the pic below, its the dark bits that suggest metal (the rest is that I just haven't scraped the stuff on top of it off properly yet) and if I whack it, it sounds like metal.

Metal? It seems an unusual 'fix'.

I wonder what's underneath it?

Might just be a case of someone using what they had to hand - but a bit of coincidence that it's the right size.

The closest Ive seen on sites has been when someone wants to plaster over timber and they staple mesh over it to provide a key for the plaster.
If it was me (bearing in mind that I work on sites and am a carpenter by trade) I'd remove the trim/molding that looks to be right under the windowsill and with luck see a bit more of how it's put together.
Well, actually I'd likely poke it with a bradawl first, thats my go to pokey thing.

I've never seen nor put steel sheet under a window.

Hammerite and forget about it.

Pre-prepared armoured sniper position? What's the view from the window?

Rockburner wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 7:06 am Pre-prepared armoured sniper position? What's the view from the window?

The houses across the street and the tennis club

Try a magnet to see if really metal, or foil based board?
Ideally get a hole to see what is on other side, if no insulation, could be cold under the window depending on wall construction and thus get damp condensation issues. If you can add some insulation board, extend the cill with nosing may improve thermal properties a bit.

cvilla wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2025 11:19 am Try a magnet to see if really metal, or foil based board?
Ideally get a hole to see what is on other side, if no insulation, could be cold under the window depending on wall construction and thus get damp condensation issues. If you can add some insulation board, extend the cill with nosing may improve thermal properties a bit.

Tried the magnet trick, it's definitely metal

Mairi wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2025 9:23 am

Rockburner wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 7:06 am Pre-prepared armoured sniper position? What's the view from the window?

The houses across the street and the tennis club

It probably dates back to Judy Murray’s tyrannical regime of leading Scottish Tennis training…

so, on top of that the window directly under that window is the living room bay window, the metal is there under the middle part under the window too. Maybe its just reinforcement?

Mairi wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2025 4:00 pm so, on top of that the window directly under that window is the living room bay window, the metal is there under the middle part under the window too. Maybe its just reinforcement?

You've moved into a 'safe house'.

It's all a Faraday cage to prevent electronic eavesdropping.