Category: Basement Windows

Basement Front Window and Back Door

March 29, 2016 / / 0 Comments

With the floor in, the first order of business is to close up the basement. I put in most of the new basement windows a few months ago, but we couldn’t put in the door until the slab was in, and we left the front window open so that it could be used as a makeshift door during the work. I installed the buck for the front window first. It was a rare case where I could put the box together first and then put it into place whole, instead of assembling in place. The issue with the front window is the outermost wythe of bricks is a smaller opening than the inner two, leaving a gap to either side of the window.

Buck installed
Window installed
Gap mortared

I got the buck into place and secured it with Tapcon screws. I’ve learned a trick with Tapcons (at least when it comes to brick). I use my rotary hammer to drill the holes using an SDS bit because it’s much faster than my regular drill, but then I circle back with the regular drill and the drill bit that comes with the screws because it does a better job of removing the dust in the holes, so the screws will go all the way in. I’ve actually sheared off screws trying to force them into holes that have brick dust. I also use my cordless drill with a spade bit to drill about a half-inch into the buck so that the head of the screw is counter-sunk, and I use the impact driver to actually put in the screw, so I wind up with four power tools arrayed around me, but it gets the job done.

Footing repair

Footing repair

I rebuilt the bricks around the back doorway when I was working on the side windows, but my masonry skills aren’t so hot and it wasn’t very even. I used the laser level with a vertical line pointing toward the house to cast exactly on the brick that needed to be removed and used an angle grinder with a masonry disc to straighten it out. I did this grinding a few weeks ago before the new floor was poured because the grinder throws a lot of dust that we didn’t want all over our new floor before we’ve stained and sealed it. Once the floor was in I needed to address the footer area below the bricks, because we removed the original stone door sill and the opening was wider at the bottom. I used mortar to fill the gaps at the bottom and let it set up overnight. I used the leftover mortar to fill the gaps on the sides of the front window buck.

Installing the buck
Buck installed
Door installed
Plywood installed

With the doorway (mostly) even, I cut pressured treated 2×6 boards to build a buck for the top and sides, with sill gasket behind the sides. I used a router to cut dados from the side pieces at the height of the top of the door frame, since the doorway is a bit taller than the door. The left side fit great, but the right side had some sizable gaps behind the buck. I thought it would still work and screwed everything in place, but when I went to test fit the door I realized I was off by about a quarter-inch. I took the right side buck back off, and rather than grind the brick I planed the back of the buck so that it contoured to the bricks. This achieved the same effect and I was able to get the door installed.

There was still the matter of the rectangle above the door. Our plan is to cover the buck with PVC trim, and have a light fixture above the door. I needed a solid base to attach an electrical box, but it needed to be flush with the buck so that the trim would look right. I screwed some scrap 2x6s into the either side of the buck, recessed to accommodate the plywood. I used leftover pressure treated ¾” plywood from the first floor windows. With a little bit of adjustment I got it attached and screwed into place.

As usual, I still need to go around and seal with backer rod, caulk and spray foam, and I still need to get the deadbolt installed (once I re-key it). We’re planning to replace the satin nickel handle and deadbolt at some point with oil-rubbed bronze, but that can wait. These locks are ultimately destined for the garage (which we don’t have yet). This summer, once the PVC has dried out, I plan to go around and install PVC trim on the bucks of the windows and doors. For the first time since we bought our house, nothing is boarded up and we have proper windows and doors everywhere.

Back Basement Window

November 24, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The most complicated window installation was the one at the back of the house. The side and bay windows are fairly narrow and the top of the window is at the top of the basement, meaning there are no bricks above the window since the rest of the house is frame. The back window in the basement is over five feet wide but it’s short, with two courses of bricks above it. I was able to remove the existing window buck without the bricks above falling, but redoing the upper brick and installing a steel lintel seemed like the smart way to go. The existing window opening also didn’t have a sill, maybe because it used to be covered by the porch. I wanted to add a sill so that rain water would drip clear of the brick, preventing damage.

Removing the upper courses was a challenge because I didn’t want them to fall on me, so I wound up sitting on the new retaining wall and prying them loose (as seen in the video above). As expected they came down a dozen or two at a time, so it was a warranted precaution. I decided to go ahead and remove the second course as well, also captured on video. Once I removed everything and was down to good brick, I started with the lintel and upper bricks instead of the bottom so I could still put weight on the bottom as I worked. I bought and painted three six foot pieces of “angle iron” L-shaped steel. Our basement wall is three bricks thick (multi-wythe) so without getting a special piece of steel this was the easiest way to do it. I anchored the lintels in with brick and mortar on each side and then put in the middle course first, then the outside and finally the inside.

Demo complete
Installing the lintel
Laying the upper courses
Upper courses complete
Sill and sides complete

The next day I put together the sill, rebuilding the damaged courses and installing the limestone sill. I forgot to center the sill under the window, so it’s not perfectly symmetrical by a couple inches, but I can live with it. Then I rebuilt the sides where the center wythe of brick had erroded. Unfortunately I still wound up having to grind the sides to get it flat enough to fit the bucks. Since I bought my windows months ago with little to no clearance, I needed the rough openings to be big enough, which meant the sides had to be perfectly flat. On the side windows I did a lot of trial and error with test fitting the buck, but by this point I’d realized I could use my laser level to cast a vertical exactly where I wanted it, then grind away the red line.

Initial profile
Grinding…
Grinding…
Done!

Once the sides were smooth I installed the bucks the same way I did the side windows: pressure treated boards (though I increased to 2x10s in this case) with sill gasket installed using Tapcon screws. With the buck in place I slid the window into place, shimmed it on either side, and screwed it in with vinyl window screws. 

Window Installed


In the photo I took there were some shims underneath, but those were removed. On a horizontal slider you want it to rest on the sill. The final steps are sealing: backer rod, caulk, and spray foam. Once the pressure treated wood has properly dried (next summer) I’ll come back and paint the bucks. I plan to eventually clad the bucks on the outside with PVC trim boards, which will further protect the wood and make it look nice.

Side Basement Windows

November 11, 2015 / / 1 Comment
Old basement window

Old basement window

About a month ago I decided it was time to finally put in the side windows in the basement. The first step was to remove the existing windows and the “bucks” or the wooden frames that are attached to the brick basement wall. Unfortunately on the first window I found that the brick around the window was crumbling or straight up missing, and the stone sill was disintegrating. Realizing that I now needed to get the masonry repaired before I could install the window, I checked the others and discovered they were in similar condition, plus the back doorway needed some work as well.

We had the inside of the basement tuckpointed back in January, so I called up the masons and left a message. When I didn’t hear back I sent them an email. Finally I got a call back and set up a time to meet, but they never showed up for the appointment,or called. I contacted another mason but there were some communication difficulties and I went back to looking. I contacted two other masons, both of which came out to look, said they were interested and could do the work in a few weeks, and said they’d get me quotes in a few days. I never got quotes from either one, and with the declining temperatures (masonry should be done above 40°) I didn’t want to wait any longer. I decided just to do it myself.

Original sill
Sill and brick removed
Building up the wall
New sill installed

I took some time off work, picked up new limestone sills, tools, and a bag of mortar, and we already have a giant pile of bricks from taking down the chimney, and set to work. I knocked out the existing sills and took the brick down to a layer that was in good shape, scraping all the old mortar off. I was able to build the new sills up to a slightly higher level to prevent water from coming in off the sidewalk while still leaving enough room for the windows. The brick work was slow. I’m not very experienced, I had to run out in the middle to get another 80lb bag of mortar with my motorcycle, and there was a lot of time spent chiseling bricks into shape to fit. I also used the plastic bag method to squeeze mortar into some of the crevices in the sides of the walls, which worked surprisingly well. I also had to spend a fair amount of time grinding down existing bricks and mortar to get the openings the rights size, especially the back door, as well as one of the windows that had been previously repaired with concrete. The end result wasn’t beautiful, but it’s solid and it’s all getting covered up by the new bucks anyway.

Back door before
Filling gaps
Grinding down one side
Not pretty, but better

I let the mortar set up for a few days before I started on the windows themselves. I framed new pressure treated bucks and put them in with sill gasket and Tapcon screws. Sarah helped me fit the windows and shim them, then I went around and put in backer rod, caulk, and spray foam in all the crevices. I plan to install PVC trim on the exterior at some later date, but we need to figure out what we’re doing about the parging that covers the outside walls, if anything. The side windows are all fixed picture windows so they don’t open, but they let in a lot of light, especially in the case of the back side window that’s been boarded up since we bought the house.

Grinding the edge flat
Buck framed
Installed
Exterior (before caulking)

I still have to tackle the back window, but it’s a bit more complicated because it has courses of bricks above it, unlike the other windows that go up to the underside of the first floor framing. That means I need to put in a steel lintel (three actually, since it’s a three-wythe wall). I plan to tackle that this coming weekend.

Basement Side Bay Windows

August 22, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Original window

We bought our new basement windows over six months ago, and I’m finally getting around to installing them. When we bought the house, one of the very first orders of business was securing the exterior from rats, weather, and intruders. The two windows on either side of the bay in the basement were in terrible shape so we just boarded them up and they stayed that way until we had the tuckpointing done. We had the tuckpointers put in new concrete sills on the bay windows, but on the two sides we still needed to replace the lintels and add a tier of bricks to either side.

Boarded up
Before tuckpointing
New sills

Dean came over and helped me mortar in the bricks on either side of the windows and position the new lintel. There’s no brick above the lintels, since the windows are at the top of the basement wall, but there is a floor joist that rests on the middle of the window, so I wanted to make sure it was supported by more than the buck.

Dean brick laying

Dean brick laying

Because we added the bricks, the already not 100% square opening was made less so, so when it came time to build the bucks we wound doing a lot of careful measuring and shimming. The finished openings were a bit smaller than anticipated and I had to make the sides of the bucks out of 1″ instead of 2″ pressure treated lumber. I secured it to the brick with Tapcons and filled the gaps with backer rod, sill insulation, and canned spray foam.

Rough opening
Buck detail
Buck installed

The windows are Newtec R-5 triple pane. We chose casements for the sides so we can direct airflow into the basement. The center window will be a fixed picture window. They’re vinyl, unlike the fiberglass windows we put in the first floor, but they perform better and cost a lot less. The basement windows aren’t especially large, so I’m not too concerned with the vinyl expanding and separating from the glass.

Left side installed
Right side installed
Left window exterior

After Dean helped me install the first buck and window last weekend, I installed the one on the other side of the bay on Wednesday and got everything caulked and sealed. I missed one spot on the right window with the Great Stuff that I’ll catch when I’m doing the next one. For now we’re not installing the middle bay window so the opening can be used by plumbers and concrete guys. I’m planning to switch to 2×8 bucks instead of 2×6 for the remaining windows so that they will be flush with the inside of the wall, which will simplify framing and trim later.