Rework of our Window Replacements

It's been more than a minute since I've updated anything here (over six months!).  Renovating is very slow going with two toddlers, who knew 🙄. 

The current status of the world right now has been hard on everyone, and one of the smaller things that has helped me mentally has been to organize/write-up the progress of our projects.  It's not to say everything is "fine" over here, or that we're flying through projects.  More that sharing the completion and organizing thoughts on upcoming projects helps to relieve some of the stress of having so many projects on our plate.  With all the additional stress of the current social, economical, pandemic crisis right now, finding small things that bring joy and focus go a long way for my mental health!  We don't have a lot finished, but we're finding a little bit of a groove now and since this is also a bit of our home diary, I wanted to share the things we've done and catch up to what we're currently working on.   

When our new windows were installed, I was the only adult home trying to get two tiny toddlers fed and out the door.  There was some miscommunication and our windows were installed flush to the inside drywall.  I've seen this done, actually my sister's windows are mostly like this, but we didn't care for the look and wanted to be able to have a sill on the inside.  Since this was done by some of the guys who technically work for my company, Mike and I didn't want to make a big deal about it and decided to fix the issue ourselves. 

Since we were opening up the house for 6 difference windows, we waited until a decent day early spring, back in March.

I didn't grab any photos of the windows as they were installed, but the outside had a very large reveal, while the inside was flush with the drywall.  The photos I did get were all from my phone since I was helping during the whole process.  They're also from different windows because the process went pretty fast.

EDIT: I did find some photos I took right after installation (unfortunately, they were both taken at night).  These show the interior window flush with the drywall and the large ledge on the exterior.


Mike was concerned with the larger ledge on the exterior catching water and allowing snow to sit on it with the potential for issues later.


Mike also wanted to add some window flashing to better seal the sill plate, so this was a good excuse to move all the upstairs windows 2-3"!  We started by removing the window and trimming the siding which prevented the installers from pushing the window out further.  I vaguely remember one of the guys talking about this and giving me the option to install it the same way the original windows were.  I definitely remember having at least one kid in my arms for the conversation and figured they knew best, so whatever they wanted to do was fine.  I've since learned to slow down and actually pay attention to what's being said, I promise!

The opening after the window was removed.

Trimming the siding to allow the window to set back.

We tried to do everything during naps, but sometimes we got lucky and had extra help.


The kid loves any reason to wear ear protection.

We then added the flashing tape which added a waterproofing and air/vapor seal. 


We also attached and sealed the top trim piece which the previous installers didn't.  The window sits in this, so it wasn't noticeable on most of the windows, but where some of the openings weren't the exact same size, there was a bigger gap at the top.  Mike used sealant at the top and then screwed to the the frame.  We also added some insulation tape to the top of the window (inside the time piece) for better air seal.


Once that was complete, the window was ready to be placed back in and reattached.


I did make sure to borrow some vacuum cups from work for handling the glass.  These were invaluable for this!


Each window only took about 30 minutes, but each window was pretty heavy and trying to do this with toddlers under foot was ridiculous so, we only got 1-2 done per day.

This project put finishing the master bathroom on hold because we had to move the window before finishing the trim.  Once we had moved all the windows, Mike was able to finish the trim in the bathroom and bedroom.  I didn't take long to paint and finish the final touches to the bathroom. 


I took some after photos of the bathroom and will share that reveal next!  It's officially our first completed renovation in our new house, and feels really good to mark a major project off the list.  Not to mention actually getting to enjoy the new space!