Archive for the ‘doors and windows’ Category

let there be sun!

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Progress, people! On the front of the house, Joe and David made and added the flashing to the upstairs windows and slider to match what they did on the lower level…

new flashing around upstairs windows and slider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now the siding is done, top to bottom…

siding finished

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait, is that SUNSHINE reflected in the upstairs window? IT IS!

The blue tarp that’s been up since well before Thanksgiving finally came down!

One…

blue tarp being removed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two…

blue tarp coming off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three! No more tarp!

no more tarp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t tell you how happy I am to no longer be in the abyss!

Next: the soffit will get closed up…

getting ready to close up the soffit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, David and Joe will turn their attention back to the downstairs. They’re going to install the cork on the floor and ceiling. Then it will be time to rebuild the deck.

I still can’t get over being able to see the view…

 

hey look, the sky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just in time for spring!

 

wall-y!

Friday, January 20th, 2012

As promised, walls started going up today. First Joe soundproofed the gap between the ceiling and soon-to-be-wall with acoustical sealant …

acoustical sealant gets added to the gap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Followed by sheetrock…

the first sheetrock goes up in the hallway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honest-to-gawd walls are happening!

every time a window closes

Monday, December 26th, 2011

… a door opens. That’s what they say, right? So a few weeks back, it may have looked like all the windows were in and we were set for the winter. But no. These two hopper windows have been waiting in a corner…

window1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas week, David and Joe finally unwrapped them (Thank you, Santa)…

windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… and fitted them in over the upstairs sliders where they belong.

windows2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the living area is much, much warmer. Bonus: we no longer hear the constant flap flap flapping of the blue tarp. I can’t wait until said tarp is gone and a trip to the livingroom no longer feels like a visit to the bottom of the deep blue sea.

While the boys were at it, they also tackled installing the new and incredibly heavy aluminum door downstairs. But first they had to get it there…

door1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

door2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s where David takes over:

First we had to remove the old door and its associated framing (which was pretty funky, it must have been installed at 4:20 on a Friday). Once we had that corner of the house open we realized the beam was sitting on just two 2x4s, one of which was split. They missed an opportunity to land the beam on that foundation wall on the left side of the opening here…

door4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concrete under the door was packed in under the old door in a haphazard way, so we replaced that too — remembering to use a bonding agent between old and new concrete so they’d stick together…

door5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put super tape between the new door framing and the foundation walls, and used treated lumber for good measure…

door6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old concrete work is pretty funky, so it took some serious shimming to get the door plumb and square. Then I filled the remaining spaces with low-expanding foam. That will look much cleaner when the walls get finished…

door7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The door hardware is German and super smooth…

door8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The locking system will take some getting used to. The lever throws the bolt and also four pins that lock the door along its whole length. …

door9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supposed to be storm proof or something — with the right glass, which we didn’t opt for since we don’t live in Florida.

Looks hot, doesn’t it? Our front door will be replaced, too. In the fullness of time, of course.

 

flash, flash i love you!

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

I mentioned the other day that our custom flashing deserved its own post. And so be it.

Joe and I examined the details we received from the architect and came up with three profiles to flash all the door and window openings. Joe is an expert at keeping water out of houses and he suggested using metal .040″ thick for its longevity. We chose mill-finish aluminum so it would blend in with our clear anodized aluminum window and door frames. [It’s also available in white, bronze (really just brown) and green — and it’s paintable — we won’t be painting ours.]

I left the ordering of the flashing a bit late and ended up having to pick up 4′ x 10′ sheets of aluminum at Beacon Roofing. Now .040″ doesn’t sound that thick (it’s just over 1/32″), but it’s stiff enough that Beacon couldn’t roll all three aluminum sheets together! I delivered the sheets to James at Renaissance Cornice. We went over the design (drawings below) and he bent them up on his CNC metal brake the night before we needed them. The night before! Man. Thanks, James!

The window flashing turned out pretty great…

window flashing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the concept showing how it will extend over the siding which isn’t back on the house yet…

Window sill flashing.

 

The flashing for the sides and top of the openings will align with the sill flashing and make a frame around the doors and windows…

Sides and top flashing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because the downstairs slider opens onto a patio, we took extra care to install it in an even more waterproof manner. Joe designed a clever interlocking flashing system…

Slider 2-piece flashing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One piece goes up the face of the house and then under the bottom of the slider where it will get bent up to keep out any water that makes it in there…

window2_11

 

The other piece goes down the face of the house and then tucks under, shedding water onto a large piece of lead flashing between the wood framing and the concrete slab. Why lead? It lasts forever. The concern is with the ground so close, snow and ice could build up and then melt and sneak inside. We’ll use this same profile for the rest of the exterior doors on the house.

 

 

window time: day 2

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

This is where we left off with windows. Now here’s where we pick up… The problem with just-in-time construction is it doesn’t allow for falling behind.

Tuesday we tried to stay ahead of the window and door installers by at least one opening. Here’s Joe applying house-wrap over the new foam+plywood and frames on the upstairs portion of the back wall…

window2_3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe installed the custom flashing, bending it up at the inside corners and then sealing it down with super-duper tape…

window2_4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tape? For obvious reasons, you don’t want to put any fasteners through flashing — water has a way of getting into places you thought it couldn’t. The trick to keeping it out is to seal everything from the bottom up in order to shed the water back out. Bad flashing details can trap water and then it’s perfectly happy to cause  mold, mildew and rot — not something we want.

Next up: the two big fixed window frames. Waiting to go in, no glass in them yet…

window2_7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aluminum window frames are thermally broken (they have a non-metallic connector between the inside and outside faces to limit heat transfer) but are ordinarily installed hollow. Joe and I decided leaving them hollow was a missed opportunity to be more energy-efficient, so I ripped 3/4″ EPS on the table saw to fit and we jammed it in there…

window2_8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the window frames were installed level and square (which was easy because we made the extension frames level and square), butyl rubber got applied to the inside face of the frame…

window2_14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close-up of the frame almost ready for the glass…

window2_15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was an honorary glass man for the day, helping hoist the new panels into place with a fancy suction cup handle. Those suckers were HEHVEE….

window2_1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe was the balance man…

window2_2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the glass was in against the butyl rubber, aluminum stops were snapped in on the outside and a rubber gasket was driven in-between the stops and the glass. No fasteners show so there’s a nice clean look.

That slot in the aluminum stop is a weep hole to let water out in case the wind drives it in there…

Glass panel installed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each glass panel has a low-e coating on the inner piece of glass (“lite” in technical jargon). It acts as sort of a one-way system for radiant heat — heat from the sun can come in but can’t get back out…

window2_6

 

The new sliders look great, perform great and slide like butter on a hot pan…

window2_9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bump stop goes in at the top of the slider to keep fingers from being crushed…

window2_5

 

Digging the nice, clean look of the door hardware…

window2_10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, looking great from the outside…

window2_12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wait — not done yet! The gaps between the window and door frames and the house need to be filled. Caulk can bridge small gaps just fine but bigger gaps require that foam backer rod stuffed in. This stops the caulk from falling in to the gap…

Backer rod saves caulk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe picked up a tube of this at Home Depot…

voccompliantmyass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DO NOT use this. It stank to high heaven and smelled up the whole house even though it clearly says “V.O.C. compliant.” Not good. I’ll find something braincell-friendlier for the rest of the project.

So here’s the finished caulking job. The caulk is clear so it’s hard to tell what’s happening but I promise it’s in there. You can clearly see the backer rod!

Clear caulk is freaky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backer rod didn’t fill the really big gaps at the tops of the two big windows so I put blue tape across them, pushed in a bit to leave room for caulk…

Blue tape has SO many uses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I filled all the gaps with expanding foam from the inside. The smaller gaps now have caulk or backer rod and caulk to stop the foam. The big gaps have the blue tape for the foam to expand up against. Soon I’ll strip the tape and caulk them from the outside, easy peasy.

What did we do before expanding foam?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that, my friends, was a long day.

window time: day 1

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Back in the spring we started looking at manufacturers of aluminum windows and ultimately chose Arcadia. About three months ago, we put in our order for the first round of windows. As of yesterday morning, replacement of the windows and sliders on just the deck-end of the house finally kicked off.

Did I say “just”? It took four people from Rhode Island Glass to unload it all…

windows1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the shiny new goods were unloaded, Joe and David got the window wall ready to go by removing the moldings holding in the old wood frames…

windows2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, moldings. I will not miss you. You make no sense in an MCM house that wants a cleaner, simpler look…

windows3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crew from Rhode Island Glass carefully removed the old glass. Mind you, they’re standing on scaffolding one flight off the ground and the glass weighs a gazillion pounds…

window4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like that’s not hard enough, the two panes started to separate from each other. Nice. Somehow they lowered it to the ground and carted the whole business up-slope without injuring themselves. Goodbye, cloudy old glass…

window5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David and Joe worked upstairs, installing the wood frames to extend the openings out flush with the face of the 3″ foam+plywood, while the crew worked downstairs…

window6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newly fitted window box complete. The giant windows on both sides of the central slider were resized about 12″ narrower in width…

window7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… to accommodate future built-ins planned to run along the walls of the upstairs livingroom. The cabinetry needs a solid wall to die into…

window8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the foam+plywood went a layer of house-wrap to keep out the elements. Joe carefully detailed the openings prior to windows…

window9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The house-wrap was then topped off by custom-made aluminum flashing…

window10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The flashing deserves its own post — it’s pretty special.]

The downstairs slider went in and then the window. Full pics tomorrow…

window11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before the day came to a close, Joe and David had all four of the upper window and door extensions fully adhered, leveled and screwed into place…

window11.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there just wasn’t enough time to get windows and sliders in upstairs. Although David wrapped the openings in anticipation of last night’s storminess, at 1:30 the gusts, how you say, compromised the plastic…

window12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… and the storm found its way in. Nothing like fixing things in the middle of the night to make you tired for round two the next day…

window13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can hardly wait to find out how it all ends, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

our own TARP plan

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Rain and wind today. But will David and Joe let that stop them? Heck no. Those clever boys figured out a way to work in a bubble…

tarp from across street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what are they doing under there?

tarp from underneath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good question. They’re really too busy to tell me. The missing slider that leads out to our missing deck is probably a good clue. The living room is very cold, so if you drop by be sure to wear a coat.

monday update

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Ooh, more construction than deconstruction today! Tell us how it went, David…

————————————————————————————–

Today Joe and I started putting the end of the house back to together. First we caulked the uneven joint between the concrete slab and the old plywood sheathing and applied ice and water barrier (a special super-sticky sealing tape). Joe bent up some aluminum into a J-shape which we attached to the old sheathing with a bead of caulk and nails. Then we cut pieces to fit from the 3” foam/plywood panels…

 

monday update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… and slipped them down into the channel.

monday update 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They got attached to the existing 2” x 4” framing with 5” screws. The aluminum protects the foam and plywood from attack by water, ants and termites…

monday update 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ran the aluminum up the sides of the new foam/plywood sheathing at each end of the wall…

monday update 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we taped the aluminum to the new sheathing with more ice and water barrier…

monday update 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see why we added 2” x 4” frames around the window and door openings…

monday update 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… we had to bring them out to the new face of the house, even with the new 3” foam/plywood sheathing!

Once the whole two-story wall has the foam/plywood layer applied, we’ll cover it with a vapor barrier. Then a layer of special breathable mesh goes on which allows air to dry the back of the siding and then the siding can go on. Whew.

Those two black hoses you see trailing down the wall…

monday update 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those and the white PVC pipe are part of the new HVAC system which also went in today. More on that later. Man it was hectic upstairs and down…

monday update 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a good way.

 

friday update

Friday, November 18th, 2011
So what’s the word on this chilly, windy day, David?
———————————————————————————–
Yesterday Joe and I pulled off the vertical beveled tongue and groove siding. Then we pulled off the ledger board that held up the deck…
friday update 1
Behind was evidence of the old deck system that was replaced in the early ’80s. The house wasn’t very well sealed, which explains the dark spots on the wood there — that’s the beginnings of rot. Plus, the tar paper was not continuous and the detail around the big window was odd….
friday bad window detail
We pulled the window out…
friday update 2
… and then installed the new window opening on the outside of the old sheathing.
friday update 3
friday update 4
Next up? Insulating. Then the same procedure on the BIG windows and the slider in the living room. Oy vey.

what are the boys up to today?

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Started on Tuesday. Two days later, David and Joe are busy out there again. Our redwood siding is coming off. Take a look…

deck project on thursday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later.