Skip to main content

Windows and Doors Arrive!...Windows Installed!

We ran a little behind on the framing stage so my windows and doors have been stored at "The Window Shop" for about a month now.   They were finally delived (Photo 1-1 to 1-4) and we started with the installation right away.

All windows for the house are triple glazed Energlas Plus HSG (high solar gain) on the south side and LSG (low solar gain) on the north. The window R-value is about 5.5. This is not your ultimate european passive house window but its not too shabby for the price.  The LSG windows provided a slightly better result for the calculated yearly energy demand in the PHPP software.  This is not surprising since the R-value is marginally higher than HSG windows and solar heat gain is about 50% that of the HSG windows.  The house is sitting about 15 degrees off geographical south and in the summer the sun rises slightly behind the home which will cast some sun light into the north facing windows in the mornings.   The LSG windows will definitely help with limiting the solar gain early in the day.

I ordered my Kohler windows with a nailing flange to make installation fairly easy.  I opted to leave out the j-trim since I would be installing wood trim and siding around the windows.  Kohler provides several options for installation.  Their instructions for new installations specifically says that the steel window clips only need to be used if the window is larger than 20 square feet.  This being said, it appears to me that these installation clips are really only effective in tension which is only kind of useful.  It seems that the flange nails and sill shims do most of the work for holding the window in place.  In any case, once spray foamed they won't be going anywhere.    Having shims extend to the inside of the window frame would make it hard to seal around the window with backer rod so we used Plygem vinyl trim cut to specific thicknesses as shims at the edge of the sill.  The window was tested in the opening and the shims were cut to fit the window level.  The back of the window flange at the jambs and header was caulked with silicone and the window was tilted into place once we determined that the window would fit properly.  The windows were slightly shifted from left to right to center them in the buck as best as possible.  There were some non uniform gaps along the edge of the window and buck but should be easily tackled by using spray foam, backer rod and caulk.  The flanges were nailed in place using 1.5" roofing nails (Photo 2-1, 2-2).  Photo 2-1 and 2-2 also illustrates my window taping detail shown in a previous blog entry.  This surface allows to flash the exterior of the window to the previous taping detail.  Once completed, a drip cap flashing will be added to the top of the window and the weather resistant barrier (WRB) will taped to it.  The WRB will extend down the sides of the window jambs and be taped to the 3M 8067 jamb flashings.

Finalizing the window flashing is fairly simple work.  I have become very well versed in taping.  The tape is so expensive that mistakes can be come costly.  I cut the flashing tape about 8" inches longer than the jamb/header. I take some time to roll the tape into a nice tight roll.  I peel back the first couple of inches of backer and align the tape to the window so it rolls straight.  I use one hand to guide the roll as I pull the paper backer.  The edge of the window frame keeps the roll aligned as I unroll the tap.  Only slight modifications need to be made as I unroll the tape to keep it strait (Photo 3-1).  After the tape is unrolled, I use hand pressure to flatten the tape evenly then go over the tape with a j-roller.

With the window installation complete,  its time to move on to the door installation....


Photo 1-1 Doors


Photo 1-2 Large window for the living room


Photo 1-3 windows for the house and porch


Photo 1-4 more windows for the house and porch


Photo 2-1 Nailing flange detail on the kitchen window header.  1.5" roofing nails were used for attaching he flange.  Notice the the silicone caulk squeezing out above the flange.  Also notice my taping detail.  This now provides a smooth taped surface to flash the window against.


Photo 2-2 Nailing flange detail on the kitchen window jamb.  1.5" roofing nails were used for attaching he flange.  Notice the the silicone caulk squeezing out above the flange.


Photo 3-1.   Setting up to unroll the tape along a window jamb.


Photo 3-2. Window header completed.


Photo 3-2. North facade windows installed


Photo 3-2. South facade windows installed



Comments

  1. Absolutely stunning! Love it, love your blog and your beautiful photography!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building the Air Tight Barrier: Door Flashing Details.

It took us a while to wrap our heads around the door details on my plans.  The main exterior wall is composed of 2x8s.  The rough stud opening was substantially larger than the door.  Because the walls are much deeper than a standard door frame for a 2x6 wall, the interior of the 2x8 opening was studded with double 2x4s.   Outside of these 2x4s, there is 1.5" of foam and another 2x4 on face which brings the door frame opening flush to the exterior 3" of EPS foam.  The brick mould of the door will sit against the exterior of the wall.  The ganged 2x4s which define the opening will allow the door to open a little further than that of a 2x8 wall.    With the door details finalized, I had to flash the opening as per the plan.  I specified the size/shape for aluminum sill pans and CBS Eavestroughing made them for me.  The sill pans have a kind of end dam to prevent water from entering under the under the stud opening should the door ever leak. (Photo 1-1).   After verifying t

Introducing: The Flatrock Passive House

So...after 8 1/2 years in our home, we have decided to move on.  Well, not right away! We have quite a bit of planning ahead of us.  With the likely onset of a 233% hike in the cost of electricity from Muskrat Falls (when compared to todays rate of $0.0972/kWh) we decided it was time to take energy consumption seriously before its too late to do anything about it.  The land has been acquired, the planning has started!  I am planning on nipping my energy bill in the bud before it becomes a major sinkhole in my pocket book. Upon investigating current building standards, I realized that the Canadian Building Code is below the standards necessary to really make a difference in energy consumption.  There are some standards like R2000 which can make a difference to total energy usage.  A R-2000 home can use up to 50% less heating energy compared to a code built home; if built properly!  A blower door test will reveal the truth about that. Now....Imagine living in a home where you have em

Choosing an HRV...My Thoughts....

So, which HRV do you want for your home?  This is a question not often asked by the homeowner.  When the house is built, somebody installed an HRV and that was it.  The home owner is rarely involved in anything other than turning a knob on the HRV wall control if they dare fool with it at all.  An HRV is probably one of the most important appliances in your house;  it expels moisture, eliminates odours, evacuates stale air from bathrooms, provides clean air to keep you healthy and it recovers a lot of heat that would have otherwise been blown out through the vent on the house.  It serves three main functions: 1.  Supplies the home with fresh dry air. 2.  Removes stale air and removes excess moisture. 3.  Recovers heat or heat/moisture For a low energy home we need an HRV that is as efficient as possible.  With the ventilation unit taking care of exchanging most of the air in the building, having an efficient one will pay for itself in the energy saved over it's lifetime.  Zeh