http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Skoorb100/frame1.jpg
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Skoorb100/frame2.jpg
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Skoorb100/frame3.jpg
It’s now or never, since I’m redoing the insulation before a remodel. The house is four years old. There is pressure-treated lumber only on the bottom plate for the door and window (with sill gasket), the rest is not. There has been a small leak at the window for the four years but no evident rot/mold yet. I plan on at least fixing it before finishing. It seems to me a terribly stupid waste of effort to have made these without spending the extra few cents to use pressure-treated lumber for the contact with the cinder blocks.
I’ve never framed a window or door. If this really ought to be done I will either learn quickly or pay somebody to do it. The small benefit of doing the door again is I can use that as a window of opportunity to get in a one-piece shower 🙂
Only issues I’ve found so far is that one of the non-treated wood strips nailed to the walls to hold up the junky builder blanket insulation had mold on it as a result of being damp for four years. Who’d have thunk, right?
Should I bother redoing these frames?
Edited 11/13/2009 1:41 pm ET by Skoorb
Replies
it's my opinion that there's always moisture present in CC and CMUs in basements so anything touching them ought to be some kind of rot resitant wood or there be a barrier between the wood and the CC or CMUs to prevent water migrating into the wood.
How much gap is there between the 2x's and the CMUs? Able to make enough gap to slip in a piece of flashing? What's on the outside for siding?
Hello, there is no gap whatsoever between the wood and the concrete; not even enough to slide a piece of paper in much of it.Outside at these sections from the outside we have a bare faced concrete wall that they are just holed into. I assume the bottom plate on both frames is pressure treated simply because it had to be.Looking at the window closer I think it's slightly leaking at the bottom not because of a bad flashing job but because there is a crack in the mortar (slight) above it and water is probably seeping in that route to get to it.
if there's nothing on the outside, I'd rip it all out and do it to my satisfaction.
I'd do it over, partly because regular lumber shouldn't be used next to masonry, and partly because I'd be worrying about the possibility of the wood rotting over time.
Spend a few hours and a few bucks now for long-term peace of mind.