But we are redoing the house windows…which are extremely hard to open and worse to clean. That turned up as it seems the seal on the 8×6 picture window has broken and let water in. Sigh. We found that when we were doing the last of the living room.
The only thing we will say about this job is that we are not doing the windows. Moving a 1700 lb fishtank is one thing. Hoisting a double-glass 8×6 monster into place is another. So we have contracted to have it done. This was not expected, but it will be nice to open and close a window without risk of back injury.
11 windows, six of them fixed-pane glass and no two of the same dimensions..can’t be opened and therefore if we burn something in the kitchen, it’s hard to ventilate the place. Five single-hung windows of varying size. We’ve fixed and fussed with them since we got the house, and replacing that one monster—it’s taking up about a 5th of the window budget all on its own. And is NOT the one we would choose to replace. So we’re doing the whole thing, to get the two we most want to replace. We’re converting two of the fixed-glass ones so they can ventilate.
So the kitchen gets put on hold yet again—it’s the old story with renovating: every step done discloses another problem. Another reason to have the pros do it. Maybe they won’t find anything that needs doing next.
The good news is, the floor is gorgeous. We love it. We love being able to slide on it. So do the cats. I wish I’d had a pic of Shu running to land on a folded fluffy rug we have been using for padding. It traveled, and he was quite delighted by it. He did it again later. Much better than a cat bed. 😉
6’x8′? That’s not a picture window–that’s a glass wall! Seal? Heck, mine were broken for years–it was replacing the siding that finally got them replaced–and accumulated an internal “lace curtain”. Or are you talking betwen the window frame and the house?
It’s the frame. 😉 Ah! New penguin!
Can’t be caulked around? Not a great fix, but even so, an installer could re-set it I’m sure.
Borgish…
it depends on the condition of the frame, whether or not it CAN be caulked. If it’s old or deformed or is evincing signs of deterioration, best to replace, because water can permeate into the structural beams of the walls and/or foundation and make even more of a mess.
It’s a modern aluminum frame set in a wooden frame that I think has begun to separate under the weight of the window—and this house along with the rest of Spokane did have an 4.something earthquake ca. 2004, which may also have had something to do with it. What we’re putting in is going to give a little opportunity to investigate what’s going on and maybe do a little carpentry under it. That one window is [Capt. Obvious, here] the most spendy individual part of the operation. We’re breaking it up into a 4×6 center panel, flanked by two slider-windows each with a double crossed edge strip that is vaguely reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s glasswork…very vaguely: it’s only four double strips crossing at the slider corners. That is our ‘decor’ element. The rest is utilitarian. But we will be able to open the house to ventilate without losing the cats. We like that part.
Luckily the only time recently that any of our cats staged a jailbreak was when Little Brother and Zorro were tag-teaming a large gecko on the back sliding door. I opened the door, intending to rescue the poor gecko, and Zorro darted out to more efficiently terrorize it from that side of the door. I had to shoo her back in twice. A few times, either Froofy or Little Brother has strolled inside when I was going out to feed them, and I had to escort them back out.
Junior, our library refugee, has developed a bad habit in the past few months: he howls. We think it is the beginning part of senility, because he looks about as if disoriented, then proceeds to sing the song of his people most mournfully. The worst part is his timing; his favored time for these pronouncements is shortly before dawn, around 5 a.m. After leaving on lights, a radio, and changing the feeding schedule didn’t help (he’s already on meds for a probable cause), we are resorting to drastic measures. We set up the hated vacuum cleaner in the living room, where the cats stay overnight, and ran the cord into the bedroom and connected it to a power bar. When Junior tuned up this morning, DH flicked on the power bar and activated the vacuum for about 5 seconds. This resulted in dead silence for better than half an hour; the next soliloquy wasn’t until after we were awake. It’s rude, but if it trains him not to howl when the lights are out, it’s better than other suggested alternatives.
One assumes that these will be double glazed windows (two layers with an air gap between the panes. It is false economy to get the energy inefficient single glazed windows in your neck of the woods.
Double-glazing is also very good for noise reduction.
(Utility companies sometimes give rebates for window replacement.)
I hope the center window is locked in place. Mine will move if both sliders are open. I replaced three over three Windows with a picture window and two sliders. Six windows became one unit.
I have been doing clutter work and expect the living room to be 85% clutter free by Derby. Then I will get someone to replace my drapery rod. I need 150″ wide drapes. It will be nice to finally put the good drapes back up. I have cheap smaller ones up now.
When you break up the big window, make sure that there isn’t too much frame between the 3. We replaced a large picture window in the kitchen as part of the kitchen renovation thinking to have a smaller middle with two casements. We found that we lost a lot of window because of the framing and didn’t recognize the issue until installed. Our contractor was great about replacing it for no further labor cost…we picked out a new window that was a larger picture and smaller casement. I’ve found the casement very handy in the kitchen to ventilate quickly. And yes, having pros do it is key!
Cautions appreciated. We’ve seen the design, and think it should be good. We hope!