Installing windows in cement wall
jimhamster
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I got drafted by my brother to build and install some replacement casement windows for his basement. I have a couple of questions for anyone out there.
1. I’m putting these in an 8″ cement wall. Can I make the jambs out of Doug Fir (the wood of choice here in the NW) if I use a sill plate foam gasket between the jamb and the concrete? Or do I have to go with treated wood?
2. What’s the best way to attach the jambs to the concrete? Ramsets or predrill for those blue cement screws or ???
Thanks for any advice you may have. Working with concrete is not my speciality so I can use any advice any of you might have.
Jim
Replies
I'd use pressure treated lumber drill 1/4" holes every foot and drive two 3" ACQ Ramset nails in each hole may take a little practice driving two nails into the same hole at the same time. Make sure it's in the right spot when drilling and driving the nails you'll have to pull the board off the nails if its in the wrong spot. A little PL between the lumber and the foundation will keep water and wind draft problems down.
I did this recently -- here's a few hindsight pointers. pick yourself some real nice straight and dry pressure treated material. if you have the room in your rough openings, this will just be framing -- your finished jamb will probably be more like 'door stop' on both sides of the window.
-- anyway, start off with your 3/4" flat bottomed pilot hole in the PT about 1/2" deep. that'll accommodate the washer you'll want to use with your tapcons. use the big fat tapcons - not those wimpy, snap if you look at them wrong screws. hex heads are the ticket here as well, you can't get enough torque on a screwdriver head. (I like to use an old 'brace and bit' as my tapcon driver -- the sensitivity is amazing, you'll never snap another )
Pete;
Are you suggesting that the pressure treated wood, which is attached to the concrete with tapcons, is then completely covered by my jamb? That is, am I using the pressure treated wood as a nailer, completely encasing the concrete opening and "shrinking" my opening by twice its thickness in both directions?
that's what I'm suggesting if you can get away with it.
Thanks. That' sounds like a good plan.
Jim