Not only were the windows ugly, they also had no dressings and everything in the basement could be seen by anyone that walked by. This was especially bad when Mike stored his tools in the basement during the garage build, not to mention whenever I would run downstairs and change in the laundry room after washing my favorite pair of jeans. Let's just say I got really good at dressing in the dark.
Mike and I knew we wanted to replace the old (and non-efficient) windows for some fancy glass block windows. We really lucked out when, during our door-shopping trip to Building 9, we found these bad boys for sale:
Not only were they the right size (fist pumps), came pre-made with a vent, they were only $60 a piece! We were fully prepared for a $100 plus cost per window.
The first step was to remove the old window and sills.
Then Mike had to use the partner saw to cut the opening a little, because although the windows were the right size, window openings that are 83 years aren't exactly the most square.
We then dry-fitted the window in the opening and used plastic shims to level the block, (sorry no photos, as there were only two of use, we had our hands full). We then mixed up some grout and used a bag that looked like an cake icing bag to squeeze grout along the edges to hold the window in place.
After the window received the grout and a good cleaning we left it over night and the next day we mixed more grout up to create a sill.
We did this for all 4 windows in the basement and the difference is huge! Not only can I get dressed in the laundry room without fear of public indecency, but taking out all of the wood trim actually allowed more window and in turn more light. We probably won't notice the energy savings since we haven't lived here in the winter yet, but I'm sure it's going to help out too!
Here is the same angle as the first picture to show how nice the basement looks without the maroon trim.
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