Windows: In Depth

When installing new or replacement windows, there are a number of factors to consider. For instance, when I bought my new windows, I wanted a model with an insulating quality – many window manufacturers include this as standard now. What this feature includes is essentially two panes of glass with a layer of gas between the two panes – this helps to ward off the extreme heat and cold we experience in Iowa. Some brands will even have a glaze-like property that filters out unwanted (UV) rays that can fade carpets or upholstery over time.

From what we could see, the older windows were replacement windows, anyway. The windows themselves were attached to the trim pieces around the edges, and the trim pieces were nailed to the house which is fairly common practice for this type of installation. Once we removed the trim from the exterior walls of the house, the windows came out fairly easily. We could then reframe as necessary.

In the dining room, the older windows weren’t very solid to begin with – this was because the ORIGINAL, original windows were so much bigger (about 80”!) and the newer framing would have been difficult to put in place given other constraints. Because we had no siding outside and no drywall inside, there were no obstacles to work around!

The kitchen window framing wasn’t in great shape – due to the flat roof over the kitchen, this area of the house had patches of rot here and there that we replaced as they were found.

The Kitchen windows, again.

The other windows we replaced were in the bedrooms. The new window in the master bedroom was taller and thinner than the window before it, so we ended up cutting out several studs and reframing quite a bit of the area around the window. This worked well because Aimee and I were rooting for more symmetry with the bedroom window anyway J Now it’s closer to the middle of the wall, and we installed a header to carry the weight of the roof above.

The Master Bedroom window, pre header installation.

As with doors or openings of any kind, it’s important to have the proper structure (ie. a header) installed above to carry the weight of the roof assuming the weight of the roof actually falls on the opening. In my house, one easy way to tell is to look at the roof…duh! On the gable ends, there isn’t really much downward pressure from the weight of the roof – the weight falls on the walls to either side of the gable.

A poorly drawn illustration showing the downward pressure on the walls supporting the "ends" of the roof. Think of laying an open book down on a table..it falls flat. Same with this..there really isn't downward pressure on the gable end of a structure - it's carried by the adjacent walls!

There are other factors to consider when removing and adding structure, but that will get you started!

When actually installing the windows, it's important to have the "hole" properly prepped. There is some debate about whether you should flash the sill before installing the window: one school of thought says yes; another says if the outside of the window is flashed properly, what you do to the sill shouldn't matter. We went with the latter. 

Windows will come stamped with measurements for the openings they will fit into. Assuming you've framed your raw opening to match these measurements, the next thing is to make sure the window unit rests 1/4" above the sill...in the event the flashing we discussed doesn't, in fact, work out, this will help to prevent moisture from hanging around in that opening. Once the unit it centered side-to-side in the opening and leveled up, you're ready to nail the strips to the wall.

Once this is done, take a weather/moisture barrier tape and run a strip across the bottom of the window, over the nail strip. Repeat on the sides, and then the top. This creates a watershed...if water gets behind the siding, it will roll over the tape on the top, down the sides, and over the bottom without getting into the structure of the window and causing rot.
 
Now, I’m off to hang more drywall…I got a ceiling last night!! J

It's getting hot in here..

With a heat wave sweeping the Midwest and much of the East coast, I think today might be a good time to concentrate on the blog! “Fun” fact: Knoxville, Iowa was noted as the hottest part of the country yesterday – yay?

Anyway, the house continues to buzz with activity. We’ve nearly finished drywalling the front half of the house, which means all the new electrical lines have been run, new insulation hung, and structural issues dealt with – I’ll show more detail on these items soon. I have the pictures, but not the TIME!
The next phase will include work on the back half of the house. We’ll be demo-ing down to the studs to deal with electrical concerns here as well, but the truer reason for the gut job is because the roofline will be undergoing some pretty drastic changes. Part of said changes will include a new ATTACHED two-car garage!

As we’ve talked about in previous posts, the original garage was in a bad way…crooked, cock-eyed, lop-sided, and Wizard-of-Oz-esque would all be equally fitting descriptors.

The original intent was always to tear down the garage and rebuild a new, squarer version on the property. Well, one beer lead to another and before you knew it we started thinking “If we’re going to the trouble of pouring footings and building a whole new structure, why not put it where I might actually want it as opposed to where they put it 80 years ago?” The initial rationale included saying things like, “It really won’t cost that much more,” and, “Well, while we’re at it…”

Dangerous.

A couple hours and one truck later.

While the total cost of the garage project will probably be slightly higher in the end, it’s going to be infinitely better to be able to walk to and from my truck without getting drenched in a rainstorm, my pants soaked up to my knee in a snowstorm, or just generally inconvenienced by the outdoors.

After all, a gentleman can't be bothered with the out of doors, Lovey.

Not to mention, I really don’t know how long I’ll live here: it could be five years, it could be 30 years. Bottom line, I want it this way as will most potential buyers somewhere down the road.

I did have to go through the proper channels in order to rebuild in a new location. Upon applying for a building permit with the City, I was notified that I would also need to be granted a variance because the new structure would sit too close to the alleyway and the neighboring property. I walked around, meeting my neighbors and asking for their support. I found that many of them will be building new garages soon, so it helps to have empathy on your side! After that, I had to wait for the Board of Adjustment to hand down their verdict before I could begin any work in earnest.

Once that was completed…

To meet with City code, the footings must be dug to a certain depth and poured a certain width. Once these dimensions are inspected, the cement contractor can back his truck up and begin the pour. In my (very positive) experience, the cement contractor started digging around 9:45am and was driving on the hardened concrete by 5 o’clock the next day. Small town service at its finest J

Once the footings had ample time to cure without totally drying, my contractor returned to set a few rows of concrete block on top. This way, he can fill that area with gravel, steel, and cement and we’ll have a slab in no time! The other benefit is that there will be a small gap between the floor of the garage and any wall material I may want to hang in the future, cutting down on moisture issues.

But now we’re back to the heat wave. It’s too hot to make the final pour, so we’ll wait it out. Once the slab has been finished, we’ll start framing the walls of the garage and relocate the electrical meter to be closer to the pole in the alley – loves me some buried power lines!

See the neighbors house?

One cool thing to note: since we've been busy at my place, the neighbors have decided to spruce up their house with new insulation and siding - it's contagious! (You can see their house, sans siding, in the second to last picture)

There are literally hundreds more pictures to come, so stay tuned! J