Windows 2.0

I did the 2nd window over the last week. On Thursday, I tore out the old window and installed the new. Yesterday I finished the brick outside. I still need to install the sills and brick molding for both windows. I decided my 2x6 was dry enough to finish on Sunday so I slapped it with some polyurethane. I'll give it another coat tonight and probably one more after that and install it during the week. The poly, by the way, is just as an alternative to painting them. I like the natural wood look.

So all that remains on the window project is the sills and the brick molding, and of course sealing, caulking, and filling the gaps inside with expanding foam. (Important note there: you HAVE to be careful when doing this or you can mess up the frame. Expanding foam is powerful stuff - it's easy to overdo it on windows and push the window frame in onitself, which will cause problems with the operation of the window). They make foam specifically for windows that expands less than general-use expanding foam, but even with that it can be overdone.


This is the 2nd window from the inside. The tarp is just covering the gap outside (since filled) in case of rain.

I didn't take a picture from the outside (it's pretty much the same as the other one) but there was one little difference. This window is over a stairway that goes down to the rear entrance of my house. It was a @!&*# pain in the neck to get a ladder situated properly to access it from below. And there was an air conditioner venting on my head the whole time I was working. Nonetheless it still went faster than before... practice makes perfect. Though I have to admit, I stopped caring so much about making the brick patterns being perfect on this one. It's all the way in the back corner of my house and way up high, you really can't see it from anywhere. And the original masons obviously didn't care as much back there either, it was pretty funky already.

Note the "insulation" they used last time around! I think that expanding foam will give me a better seal than crumpled newspaper in the new windows.