Category: First Floor Windows and Doors

Removing, re-framing, insulating, installing, and weather sealing new, efficient windows and an iron front door.

Final Window Removal

April 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments
Last window

Last window

Dean came over and helped me take the last window out of the first floor North wall. Because our house sits so close to our neighbor (less than two feet in places), we decided early on to take out the windows on the North side. Eventually we’ll have a sliding glass door with transom in the back, an entry door with sidelights and transom in the front, and a large solar tube in the kitchen to bring in natural light. For now it’s gotten a bit dark.

Windows removed

Window removed

While the windows on the North wall did bring in some light they had no view to speak of (as you can see) and are a major source of heat loss in the winter. Even new, Low-E windows would lose a lot more heat and air than a solid wall filled with foam. Eriq helped me remove the other three windows on the North wall last year. At the time I was hoping to get an inch of spray foam into the first floor before winter, but for a variety of reasons that didn’t happen.

Frame assembly

Frame assembly

Taking lessons from the previous effort, we assembled the new piece of wall with the sheathing already attached and then fit the complete piece into the wall. The hope was to eliminate the step where I’m hanging from the side of the house trying to jam a piece of sheathing that doesn’t fit into a hole that isn’t quite square. Unfortunately we wound up still honoring that tradition due to a section of sheathing above the window. After we put in the assembled section there was a large gap, so we wound up taking it off and cutting a new one, which of course didn’t fit properly until we’d both spent time trimming it and then pounding it with a mallet at the top of a ladder. Eventually we got it fitted and the result is a solid wall on the North side, at least on the first floor.

Closed up window

Closed up window

With it closed up we then stapled house wrap to it ship-lap style and taped the seams. Since it doesn’t have siding for now I want to make sure it’s weatherproofed. We’ll have more of these to do when it comes time to remodel the second floor, but that’s a ways off. In that case, though, we’ll have to get it right from the inside, because I don’t want to be on a ladder ten feet higher up, trying to jam in sheathing.

Window Removal

October 20, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Winter is fast approaching (I’m intentionally avoiding the Game of Thrones reference) and the house is cold. Actually, it’s especially cold because the boiler isn’t working, but that’s a separate issue. We’re planning to put spray foam into our exterior walls to give us a great insulation value as well as air seal to prevent leaks, but we can’t do that until we’ve run our new electrical and plumbing. Or can we? It occurred to me that we could put 1″ of spray foam in first, and then after we have all the mechanicals installed, put in the remaining 2-3/4″. Not only would that give us better insulation in the short term, it would prevent any insulation gaps due to not being able to spray behind electrical boxes.

Considering this plan led us to a stumbling block: we’re planning to remove the windows on the North side of the house. We don’t get much sunlight from the North, the view is entirely of our neighbors house less than three feet away, and with our plan to move the stairs and put a coat closet on the wall, there isn’t a great place for a window in the finished plan. If we spray foam without removing them, we’d be missing the worst offenders of heat loss. There are several inches of vinyl siding visible above the windows from the inside, because when the windows were replaced with smaller ones, they left gaps in the exterior sheathing.

This put us on the path to start work on removing the three or four windows on the North side of the first floor. I say three or four, because it’s hard to say whether the fourth window that we found covered up in the wall technically counts. We’re going to remove it, so it probably does.

Window removed

My Green credibility took a hit on my trip to Home Depot for supplies. The only pressure treated plywood they had that was rated for exterior sheathing was not formaldehyde-free, and was additionally stamped with warnings that the State of California had found the wood dust to be cancer-causing. With only a one-day window of Eriq and Will over to help, I went ahead and got it, along with over-priced Tyvek house wrap, stainless steel staples, and a bunch of coated exterior screws. Next time, I’ll plan far enough ahead to make sure I can get better materials.

I was covered when it came to framing, since we’d salvaged and de-nailed all the lumber I removed from the first floor. Working with the old-growth, hundred-year-old wood is amazing. All my framing up to this point has been with the warped, thin, junk pine they sell at the big box hardware stores. These old boards are incredible, all straight, strong, and not a single split no matter how close to the end we put a screw. It’s just a shame they had to clear cut the Northwest to produce them. When these trees were cut down, the Conservation movement was just starting in the United States, and there wasn’t a single Forestry school in the country. At least they’re seeing good service. Our hope is that by restoring this house the wood will see another hundred and sixteen years of service.

Windows removed

For some reason the first window took us a long time and we only finished the one after working on it all day. Eriq offered to return the following weekend and we made much better progress, finishing two more windows in less time than the one took the previous weekend.