House Progress: Dining Room Windows

This is one of those projects that serves a purpose all by itself, but is also one step toward accomplishing something else. In this case, installing a larger rainwater catchment tank. The tank is large enough that it only makes sense to finish the exterior of the house behind where the tank will be placed. It will be too heavy to move once it gets put into service! Of course nothing is as simple as it sounds, and in the case of the house exterior, we need to replace the old windows first. Dan already replaced the one in my studio, next he needed to replace the windows in the dining room too.

With most of our seasonal chores behind us, plus a few extra days off for Thanksgiving, Dan was able to make some progress on this very project. Needless to say, there were challenges.

The first challenge was finding the proper size replacement windows. I suppose we could have custom ordered them, but we can get more for our money by buying them at an area surplus building supply. Because it’s surplus, inventory is sporadic and unpredictable. We felt fortunate to get three brand new energy star rated windows for a total of $50.

The first step was to remove one of the old windows. Unfortunately, the new windows are not the same size as the old.

The new windows measure 27″ x 71″ and the original rough opening measured 37″ x 66″. We could add length, but what were we going to do with the extra 10″ of width? Challenge number two then, was to figure out how to fill the gap. Paneling? Wide trims? Or how about more window?

We were able to pick up a couple of thermal entryway side light windows for just 15 bucks each. Their height was just half an inch difference from the lower side of the the arch windows. Challenge #3 was how to pull it all together.

A whole lot of thinking and calculating went on after that. We ran out of time before we finished, so I will have to live with a boarded-up window for awhile. Hopefully our mild weather will last until the project is done.