Tuesday 22 April 2014

windows chapter 2

When we initially designed the house, we wanted steel-framed windows for the brick section, and new timber windows for the plywood section.  However by buying second-hand windows on ebay, and changing what we wanted, we were able to save $27,000 and a truckload of embodied energy.  (more on that later).

However we created a lot of work in terms of sanding, puttying, and glazing, much of which was covered in the last chapter.  But now they are in, and Jess has finished cutting her plywood around the windows, they look sharp.

As I write this, rain is lashing the sides of the house, and Right Now is a good moment to be sure the metal flashings around the windows are watertight.

Theoretically we've designed it so that water is directed around the frame to the sill and then should drip off the corners.  Already I can see that I should have designed in a flashing to the junction of the bottom sill and the ply underneath it.  While we are currently managing with a silicone seal, I suspect we will need to add in another flashings to protect the upper edge of the ply under the window.

I'll update this page when I have been to site after the rain over the Easter weekend...!



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