The beauty of folding cranks...

I almost lost the battle for casement windows to double hung windows at the beginning of the project.

Even thought casements are more energy efficient (less drafty), require less maintenance,, provide more air movement in the summer, and are less expensive, it was a tough battle!

I discovered it was the offending crank that was the downfall of the casement window in th eyes of my wife. Fortunately they now make folding cranks so the key problem of the crank... getting in the way of blinds is mitigated dramatically.

It also helped that absolutely everyone we discussed windows said that casements were the way to go! And that the architectural design of the Cottage called for them...

Securing the Cottage...

I key milestone and a nice feeling is reached when the windows and doors are finally in.

At this point:

• The roof is finished and shingles, and
  
• the entire cottage exterior is covered in a waterproof sheet - that is the Tyvek stuff I discussed in an earlier post.

With the windows and doors installed the weather issue - mostly the rain - is solved.

There is also a mental milestone when you have installed locks on all of the doors. It means that who can lock the door when the construction ends for the weekend.

3 Steps to installing an Oval Window

I expected that installing an oval window would present some unusually challenges.

On the contrary the installation was quite easy. The different shape did not make it any more difficult. In fact because the window was the smallest it turned out to be the easiest of all of them. This was many because it was the lightest of them all.

Three step's to Oval window success:

1. Make sure you frame the window opening the right size. The trick is to make sure the window opening is 3/4 inch bigger that the size of the window. The framing is exactly what you would do for a rectangular window of the same height and width.
   
2. Leave the exterior sheathing in place until you receive the window. That way you can use the window itself as the template to mark the cutting oval for the window.
3. Use the window itself as the template for your cutting line. Cut the window opening in the sheathing to 3/8 on all sides.
4. Order the window with a nailing flange. Once the window is placed in the newly cut opening, center it horizontally and vertically and securing it is easy with the nail flange.
5. Use spray foam insulation to insulate around the window. This makes sure the odd shape gets insulated well.
   

While a bit more expensive that an equivalent sized casement windows, the oval window will be a nice architectural touch to the design of the cottage.

What do you think?

5 Options to include which make Installing Windows Easier

Two weekends ago we installed the exterior windows and doors. I had them manufactured by Bonneville, ordered of course through Dale's Home Hardware Building Centre in Otter Lake.

The windows are great! Terrific quality at a reasonable price.

Installing windows is at least a two-person job, and if the windows are big, like ours, then consider three people to do it!

Here is a few tips I learned through the process of ordering and installing them:

1. Fit your wall thickness: Our stud walls are nominally 2x6, hence 5 1/2 inches, but to do it right you need to take into consideration other building material that affect the thickness of the finished wall. for instance the exterior sheathing is 1/2 inch and the drywall on the inside is another 1/2 inch. If you are putting lath on the outside to separate your siding from the wall then you need to add about 3/4 inch more.
   
   The whole purpose of getting the right thinkness of window is to make it easy to finish on the inside. Witht he window structure ending flush with the drywall on the inside installing the finish is just a simple nail on affair!
2. Add a Nailing Flange: An option to consider is adding a nailing flange on the outside of the window. This again is added in the manufacturing process. In makes installing the windows extremely easy. You still have to shim the windows but all the securing is done by using screws from the outside of the window. No blemishes on the inside of the windows.
3. Add Factory Brick Moulding: We are installing vinyl siding, hence, we added the brick moulding feature. This eliminated the added step (and a whole lot of time) in installing J-trim around a window to hold in the ends of the horizontal siding. In essence, it has the j-trim already built-in.
4. Get 100 % Vinyl: Our goal is a near maintenance free Cottage. I have no interest in painting windows every 5-years. Plus the vinyl is all seamless so there is less chance of leaks - they actually melt the corners of the windows together!
5. Energy Conservation: Go for as much energy conservation in the windows as you can afford. Windows are one item you can't update without replacing them and the incremental cost is peanuts. We added low-E and argon. Low-E adds a coting to reflect those bad UV rays and argon provide better insulation value.

BTW: just about all of these apply to the external doors as well.

The Rule of 16

Ever wonder how that handyman you hired always seems to know where to put that nail or screw into the wall?

Well the answer is in the "Rule of 16"!

Virtually all houses, and in our case cottage, are framed using a standard distance of 16 inches from the center of one stud to the center of the next - Always!

This means you can always depend on where the studs are as long as you have a starting point of reference for the first stud - and that is usually in the corner.

There are exceptions to the rule. There can be more studs, like trimer and king studs around doors and windows, but these are always extra studs which may not conform to the rule of 16 because the window or door just doesn't conform. In the above picture one set of king/trimmer studs happen to fit in to the 16 inch center pattern and the other doesn't. Can you determine which?

Another portion of the lakeside wall showing the framing for the patio door, and the window framed for the future basement bathroom.

Framing Windows - No need to rush the view

Over the past 2 weekends we have accomplished much. We have:

• Framed the lakeside walls for the basement
• Installed the floor including the beam, joists and decking
• Installed the plumbing in the basement floor

But I haven't shared much about the framing work.

The basement is a walk-out basement, hence, concrete walls were not used on the lakeside of the cottage. I used pressure treated lumber for the framing of the basement walls that were not poured in concrete just to be sure that moisture did not affect the structure.

This picture illustrates the framing used:

• 2" x 6"Pressure treated stud walls
• Sill gasket between the concrete and the wood
• 5/8" Pressure treated plywood
  

Also illustrated is the framing for a window including:

• Laminated 3 by 2" x 10" header
• Trimmer studs supporting the header
• King studs beside each trimmer stud
• Jack studs (also called cripple studs) supporting the window sill
  

Anchor bolts are a key support feature. These are bolts embedded in the concrete which come through holes in the sole plate. These are secured using washers and nuts which really make the prefect bond with the foundation.

Here is a diagram of the elements of building a wall with a window in it.


Why not rush the view? Well the windows are not arriving for several weeks, and cutting out the plywood where the window goes just isn't needed right now. Besides there a number of benefits to leaving the plywood there:

• protects the basement from the weather
• putting on a whole 4' x 8' piece is just easier and it provides greater structural integrity
• and provides some security if you intend to cover all the openings while you are away.
  

Building Windows in Concrete

The cottage design calls for one window to be placed in a concrete wall. I was curious how this is done.

What happens is that the foundation contractor actually embeds the window right inside the concrete form as they pour the concrete walls. So the window is not crushed by the weight of the concrete and the concrete pouring operation, the contractor takes the glass part of the window out and temporarily replaces them with wooden support.

The whole window assembly is covered in thick plastic to protect it from the concrete.

After the concrete is cured and the forms are removed, the window becomes a seamless part of the wall structure.

The wood supports are removed and the glass parts of the window are inserted, usually after the window opening is used to pour the concrete for the basement floor - but that is a story for another post.