These Windows were too Small

Welcome back to our home renovation/remodel/addition project. 

In the Fall, we framed up the majority of the addition. We still need to add this porch and the bump out on the future dining room so that we can add the roof to the addition. Once the roof is on here, we can start finishing things in the sunroom without worrying about potential leaking. 

Also, we’re going to be increasing the size of the windows on the back side of the great room. As you can see, we have these, almost bathroom size windows. It makes sense for this layout with these bookcases, but we are going to be removing the bookcases and replacing these windows with larger windows. 

So today we’re going to pull out the bookcases. 

We need to open up the wall, pull out the windows, and frame the new openings for those windows. And outside, later on, we’ll be pulling all the siding around the new windows. That’s the plan for at least the next few days. 

This will be a significant difference. The whole header will be going in here, but still a big upgrade. 

Next order of business, we are setting up some pump jacks. 

Now that we have this nice platform system set up, we can start removing the siding. 

So that takes care of the prep work outside. We’re going to hop back inside and take care of prepping the opening for the other window next. When we put this back up, there’s not going to be that much siding to go back up, because these windows are going to be significantly bigger. 

Now that Donavan has set the header and framed the opening, we can start opening up the wall to prepare for setting the window in.

Now that the window is all framed, we can go outside to start doing all the sealing stuff.

And we can set the first window, after making sure it’s level, plumb, and centered. 

First window is in. That is a lot more glass than the old one, that’s for sure. 

Next up (and the next day) we are getting to work on the other window. 

There we go: two windows installed! Quite a big difference from the outside…

As well as the inside. That is way better. Way better. The difference in the amount of light and the brightness in this room is very noticeable. I didn’t know how much of a difference this was going to make, but the extra brightness over here makes this entire half of the room so much less dark and so much more inviting. And now you can see what’s going on outside. With the small windows, you had to get right up to them to be able to look outside. But now we have a nice view of a telehandler. 

This is probably one of the best changes and decisions we made. This was one of the things that Lindsay really, really wanted. She did not like the bookcases, and she wanted bigger windows to be able to see outside and let more light in. And this worked out really, really nicely. 

So that was going to do it for this one. Another thing knocked off the list! Thank you as always for watching, I greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions or comments on the home renovation, please feel free to leave us a comment. As always, we’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. And until next time, happy woodworking!