UNITED HOME EXPERTS | OCTOBER 28, 2020
This post is a story shared by one of our very own team members.
She bargained for more than what she imagined when attempting to replace a window in her home. Have you ever attempted a DIY that was just too much to handle?
When the time came to rehab our basement apartment, complete with replacing a window, instead of calling our friends at UHE and armed with past DIY success, we decided it would be a fun project to accomplish on our own.
Over the years, we’ve attended YouTube university and watched numerous DIY videos that have helped us tremendously! So, we set aside an evening and went down the rabbit hole of 8-minute videos that turned the daunting window replacement project into something we thought would be easily attainable.
Saturday morning we stopped at the local big box hardware store, picked up a window of the appropriate size, plenty of caulk, and sill tape. We were ready to go.
Or so we thought…
We knew we were in the deep end as soon as we moved furniture, the drywall crumbled in our hands. To our major surprise, the existing window had been leaking.
Pulling back the sheetrock revealed eaten away insulation, rotted away plywood, and studs. When the full wall was pulled down and we were staring at holes coming through the house, there was the consideration that perhaps we were in over our heads and we needed to call in a professional.
Much to our future self’s chagrin, we decide to plow ahead.
Pulling out the window and dropping in a new one had turned into replacing all of the exterior plywood, which meant starting with removing the siding. Of course, the 20-year-old cedar clapboard did not pry off evenly with several pieces cracking and splitting. With the rotted wood, we needed to buy new plywood, house wrap, studs, and a bottle jack. Picking up replacement siding was just something to add to the list.
After another trip to the hardware store, we were prepared for the next step, pulling off the plywood and rebuilding the studs. Of course, that meant another hour of us attending YouTube university (watching DIY videos).
Well into the 6th hour and grateful for our recent investment in an oscillating head saw and pneumatic air nailer, we began cutting out the rotted material, measuring, remeasuring, building, and installing a header and king jacks. At the crest of a 10-hour day, we finally decided it was time to tarp the exposed opening and try and start fresh in the morning.
Sunday morning, instead of driving out to our inlaw’s pool as planned, we found ourselves, again in the basement. With the rotten wood removed and the new framing in place, it was time to rebuild the wall. Installing the plywood required more careful measuring and cutting for the window opening, and creative running of exterior extension cords.
After the plywood but before the window we knew that house wrap and tape needed to be installed. Again we dove into the internet trove of advice. Unlike the instructions on the framing, there did not seem to be any singular direction. Tape three sides, four sides, bottom only. Wrap around the stud, cut before the window. No two videos were the same.
45 minutes of debate later, we took a gamble and picked the instructions that made the most sense and moved ahead. Our window didn’t have some of the parts they used in the video but some awkward sanding, uncertain shimming, and a LOT of caulk and foam insulation later, we had a working window installed in the exterior wall.
We clapped ourselves on the back and managed to finish installing the replacement siding around the window before sunset.
We clapped ourselves on the back and managed to finish installing the replacement siding around the window before sunset.
The next week I went to open the window as we worked in another area of the room. Something was off. It had been square when we installed it, but it wasn’t sitting that way anymore; there was an angle to it. Not enough to notice at a glance, but enough that it required a little extra effort to pull the sash open.
Concerned this may be a sign of a larger problem, I finally called in a consult with Mike at United Home Experts. One look at my project photos and he was able to point out that we used the wrong window for the job. Our framing may have been solid but the window will continue to shift out of alignment and, despite our careful taping, it will eventually leak; probably before the end of our sporadic (and wet!) New England winter.
A lot of wasted time, material, and effort for something we need to rip out and start over. This time I’ll be calling in the professionals; Mike says they can have a window done in less than a day. I’ll spend that time now heading to the pool.
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