Anybody ever make a window??

[Bruce Volden]

I don't know what I'm getting myself into!! My wife won a bid on a pair of stained glass windows a while back.
We plan on removing a door and closing up the void and installing these windows--I think I can do this easily?
She wants the pair of windows joined together, a frame made around them and a piece of quality glass on the outside.

I have lotsa WW'ing tools at my disposal as well as wood. The window/s will be on the west side of house under the front porch and out of the elements. The house we live in was built in 1897 so we will be tearing out plaster/lath and insulating as well as moving a few outlets and switches (I can do this too).

Where I'm "stuck" is knowing the "typical" depth of windows or will I learn this by demo'ing the wall for the install? Any special tips/tricks? Any advice will be MUCH appreciated!!

Bruce

[Andrew Joiner]

My first woodworking job was in a millwork shop making custom windows. Think like a water droplet when designing the outside. You want to shed water. All horizontal parts need to be sloped away from the building to shed water out. The sill is the the most obvious part that needs this slope. Cut a groove on the bottom of the sill for a drip edge, so water won't cling and creep along the bottom into the building. Look at old wood window installations to see if they are rotting. Copy the details on the ones that are holding up well to the weather in your area.

Ask me more details if you like.

[James Conrad]

If you can do mortise and tenon joinery, you can build a window. If you have wood windows in your house already take a look at them for some clues on construction. I've built and restored dozens of windows in the West End of Portland, Maine where the historical commission is fanatical about details. Some of the existing windows where of pine, fir and even mahogany. The depth measured from your finished interior wall surface to your outside sheathing will determine your thickness, where you have an older home judging from the P&L interiors, stock window depths including the extension jams probably won't be of help.

Your local glass shop will make you double pain insulated glass panels of any size. If you can make the frame and exterior trim out of Azek or other PVC material you can make a pretty water tight and rot resistent unit and then wrap the inside area with wood to match, if that goes with your house style. So if you have the time, inclination and skill go for it, lots of information around the net as well.

Best of luck,
JC

[Peter Quinn]

Are these windows meant to operate? If not, its a pretty easy affair. Most windows have a jamb just like a door, its thickness is determined by your building. In an old structure you might have 1" plaster+ 4" studs (true full thickness lumber) +1" diagonal sheathing, so you would need 6" wide window and door jambs. In fact you should be able to measure your door jambs to get this number for your home. Typically a fixed sash will be held into the jamb with stops. You can foam the gap between jamb and framing, you can calk any minor gap between jamb and sash or use a gasket which gets hidden by the stops. A jamb around 6" will give plenty of room for your exterior sash and your decorative stained glass panels. You could run dados into the jamb to hold a "parting bead", or a stop against which your window will be held to keep them in place.

Tips? Use either laminated or tempered glass for the exterior layer. Check out http://www.conservationtechnology.com/building.html for glazing gaskets, weather seals, etc as needed. If they are well covered it may be easier to make fixed sash for the exterior glass, set them in silicone, and use applied wooden stops than to actually glaze them, but either is certainly an option. Laminated glass has a plastic layer between two sheets of glass, and this acts as an insulator. I'm told the U value of laminated is approaching that of multi pane insulated, its what gets speced where I work for most exterior door and sash work on older homes in my area. Insulated glass may have the performance advantage, but its not a great look in front of a beautiful piece of stained glass.

Sash construction for fixed sash is similar to cabinet doors with glass; if you've made those a sash is a small leap. I assume you will want to minimize the muntins to maximize viewing areas which keeps things simpler.

[Jamie Buxton]

Sealing exterior wood against water is a challenge. Folks did it for a long while, but if you examine old windows, you see many of them are deteriorating. You might consider making the outer layer of your window from a commercial non-operating window. It can have metal cladding on the exterior, double-glazed glazing, and all the modern techniques. Then the inner layer is the antique stained glass.

[jared herbert]

Second to Jamie Buxton. We have several stained glass windows that are hanging in factory made Pella windows. That way you have the benefits of a modern energy effecient window and the stained glass is not exposed to the elements, can be taken down, moved or cleaned as you need to. It is much simpler this way also. Jared

[frank shic]

Second to Jamie Buxton. We have several stained glass windows that are hanging in factory made Pella windows. That way you have the benefits of a modern energy effecient window and the stained glass is not exposed to the elements, can be taken down, moved or cleaned as you need to. It is much simpler this way also. Jared

how did you attach them? pics would be great too :)

[keith micinski]

I agree with attaching it to a modern window. It sounds like you won't see it form the outside so the real beauty of the window will be from the inside. This way it is protected and you actually have a a thermal, weather resistant window.

[jared herbert]

I made a wood frame to mount the stained glass section in to, then hung the fore mentioned wood frame with screw eyes and hooks that were screwed into the top jamb of the window.

[Bruce Volden]

Wow!! I never thought about using a "ready made" commercial unit--I'll have to see whats available when I get the size of the stained portion assembled. I see many windows on CL that are quite affordable and most of them are new. You guys are great--what's the saying,".....heads are better than 1"

Bruce