How To Install Glass Block Basement Window

Most people install glass block windows in their basements and bathrooms. These are translucent, thick blocks of glass that permit lite rays to laissez passer through them while distorting vision. But the privacy they offer isn't the only reason why you may want to learn how to install drinking glass block window.

Since these windows are fabricated of thicker glass than regular windows, y'all can count on them to heighten the overall security of your home. They are usually sealed in the wall with mortar to eliminate the risk of air leakages and improve your habitation'due south energy efficiency.

How to Install Glass Cake Window

Follow these steps to install glass cake window on your own:

Footstep 1: Gather the supplies

You lot're going to need the following tools to stop the job with perfection:

• Measuring tape
• Prophylactic gloves
• Circular saw
• Dry vacuum cleaner
• Pry bar
• Utility knife
• Cedar shims
• Cement and sand
• Trowel
• Caulking gun

Stride 2: Size the glass block window

Apply a measuring tape to size the current window frame. Brand sure that you measure down to the masonry and not just the frame. Accept pictures of the entire frame and take them to the vendor if y'all're unsure where the frame ends and the masonry starts.

Measure twice to ensure that the dimensions are spot-on every bit getting them right is crucial. So subtract ½'' from both sides (width and length). This volition let y'all to compensate for the mortar joints which exist on each side of the console.

Footstep 3: Buy a new glass block window

Take the measurements you have noted to a vendor. They will show you several designs to aid you select the one that meets your eye. If yous're going to take the console home in your car, asking the vendor to place band clamps around the window. They will keep the blocks of the larger panel from snapping off as you're transporting the window.

Step 4: Remove the old frame

Provided you're going to break the old window, wear safe gloves. Use a circular saw to brand the offset cut into the old frame equally it will brand it easier for y'all to pry out the frame later on. Afterward, vacuum the entire area with a store vac to safely remove all the shards.

Footstep five: Rip out the erstwhile frame's jamb

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The material of construction of the frame will determine how easy or otherwise this process is going to be. In almost cases, you'd just need a elementary pry bar to rip out the one-time jamb. However, if the jamb is secured in place with mortar or concrete, you might have to chisel some of them away.

Step 6: Remove caulking

Since you're going to demand the entire frame as make clean and clear as possible, you lot cannot permit the old caulking stay in place. Also, the new frame will crave you to add new caulking, which won't be possible as long as the old caulking stays in place.

Identify an old newspaper or any cloth beneath the frame to collect the falling caulking. Then, utilize a utility knife to chisel away and remove caulking.

Step seven: Install cedar shims

Cedar shims are required for the even placement of the new window'due south panel in the infinite. Install them at the lesser of the frame, starting from the corners. They should exist about ½'' in width and must be placed at 3'' intervals from each other. The shims should be long plenty to remove once the start coat of mortar has set in.

Step 8: Mix mortar

Mensurate 4 parts sand and one part cement and mix them dry out. Use a shovel to create a crater in the middle of the sand-cement mixture. Add a total bucket of water on top of the crater. You can also add advisable amount of mortar additive or lime afterward to strengthen the mortar.

One time you lot have prepared the mortar, employ a trowel to add a minor amount of it to the bottom of the frame. The layer shouldn't be thick as its only purpose is to help the shims form a base.

Step ix: Place the console over the shims

Every bit you lot might accept gauged during its transportation, the panel is heavy. Go a helping hand if you are having problem lifting it on your own. Some of the shims might motility while you're setting the panel. Reset them while y'all're tilting or sliding the panel in place.

After placing the panel in identify, you might notice a few gaps at the bottom. Pack them with mortar using a trowel.

Step 10: Mortar the sides

After the mortar at the bottom has become hard to touch, showtime applying the mortar to the sides. Once information technology has ready in equally well, commencement removing all the shims i past i. Give the mortar at least three hours to dry before using a hitting tool to smoothen it out.

Step 11: Caulk the top of the window

Caulking the top of the window will identify downward pressure level on the entire console, thereby helping information technology set firmly in place. Use 100% silicone caulking to fill the entire gap at the pinnacle. To utilize the caulk, remove the cover on the inlet of the caulk gun, place the caulk tube inside, and and so screw the cover back.

Slightly squeeze the gun's handle to attach its plunger cap against the rear of the tube. Then, use a utility knife to cut the tip of the tube at a 45-degree bending. Printing the tip you've just cut against one corner of the window, and start applying the caulk in a continuous bead.

Conclusion

Are you unhappy with the (lack of) privacy your bathroom window provides? Not certain why your abode'southward energy bills are going up all the fourth dimension? If your answer to either of these questions is in the affirmative, then you tin certainly do with a drinking glass block window.

Sure, the unabridged process of removing the old window and replacing it with a new one requires a lot of time and effort. But the benefits that a glass block window provides in terms of energy savings, enhanced indoor appeal, and more privacy make it a worth-having choice.

Please feel complimentary to arrive touch if y'all accept whatsoever questions.

Source: https://www.wcmanet.org/installing-glass-block-window/

Posted by: martinproming.blogspot.com

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