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View Full Version : Installing retro fit windows


Doug Crf
Sep 16, 2005, 01:07 PM
I installed our first window.Every thing went OK,it took a while but it was our first one.We will be installing more but first I need to do the trim around this first one first.
Does anyone have any tips? I did not realize how bowed out the sides of the window hole is on the interior side until I got the window in.
I am not sure what would be the easiest way to go about installing the moulding.
I am thinking about getting 2x4's or what ever size it will take and stand them in there and line them up with the vinyl window I put in and I will
have to shim them just like the window and have the wood come out to the same level as the wall and then but the trim up to it.I hope I am explaining
this good.
I need some help,Would that be about the best way :confused:

labman
Sep 16, 2005, 04:25 PM
I don't quite understand. Usually the hole for the window is about a half to an inch bigger than the window. As long as the window is securely fastened in, seal it up, and careful fill the gap with insulation. Seal it good on the inside too. One of the advantages of doing work like that yourself, is that you can attend to the details that can make a big difference.

atticguy
Sep 23, 2005, 11:26 AM
I think I might know where you're going. Just to be sure- when you say "bowing window frame", do you mean that the frame bends inward (or outward) of the window unit opening. Or do you mean bowing inward (or outward) of the room? I think you mean the latter, and that the frame is no longer flush with the plane of the wall it rests in. is this correct?

If so, and the frame is bowing into the room a little, I would plane it down or sand it before putting the trim on. Doing so will make the job more professional looking and easier.

Good luck,

Louie

labman
Sep 23, 2005, 12:46 PM
Are you wanting to say fill a half inch gap with half inch long 2 x 4, fine, perhaps over kill. If you are driving screws or nails through the window frame into the rough opening, you must shim next to the nail to keep from bowing the window out.

Text here can be like the blind men describing the elephant.

atticguy
Sep 23, 2005, 01:09 PM
Good point labman,

Hey doug, are the window frames bowed because of you not supporting the replacemnt unit with shims prior to attachment. Or were the frames already shot when you put in the new units and you are just now realizing it (I think the latter might be the case, because if the frames were shot, the windows were too and people tend to replace shot windows with replacement windows, which is much easier than new construction windows). Either way, one requires a reinstall (no biggie) and the other requires some touch up carpentry, like what I referred to in my previous post.

Hey labman, chemist eh? I'm in the process of finishing up my biochem undergrad (UWM). Oh what fun... I've had enough chemistry for a lifetime! I'll be switching to the business school for my masters...

Louie