I replaced some windows in our family room with 4 andersen casement windows (CW145), spaced with 2 – 2×4″ between each one.
For the trim I used a 1×6 between the middle windows, 1×4 on the outside of the left and right window, a 5/4×4 stool, a 1×4 flat against the wall underneath the stool with a 1″ cove supporting the stool. On top of the window I have a prebuilt craftsman type molding (similar to the windsor one craftsman style). I planed the 1x material down to 9/16″ because the door header stop only sticks out 3/4″. If I kept the 1x verticals there would not have been a reveal.
Basically what I am trying to get at is a 5/4 x 4 stool sticking out 3-1/2″ from the wall too much? There is no furniture against that wall so I thought it might be nice too do this.
I am just a DIY’r but I enjoy this stuff. Any input would be great. I just want to keep things proportional.
Thanks.
Brad
Replies
From a carpenter's point of view I'd say, ask your wife. LOL.
Really, sills are for putting little flower pots, right? That was their original purpose, so I've been told and shown, in my grandmothers' homes. Therefore, IMO a 3 1/2" sill is fine, nicely in proportion. Smaller may be the norm but so what?
Wouldn't you want to match the rest of the house?
Why match the whole house? In older days, I believe trim in the public rooms would be fancier than trim in the private rooms.
Good point. I've built a number of houses where the trim level in the main level was a notch or two up from what was upstairs. And it's everyday stuff to have a dining room have crown and chair rail but not too many other rooms (if any). OTOH, I've always used the same style of window trim elements through out even if maybe the "public" rooms" as you call them have back band and/or some kind of pediment added over the top. Still all the elements are of the same style. So maybe the word I used previously "match" wasn't appropriate. Maybe "go with", but still, in my way of thinking anyway - I'd still use the same casing through out a room.
So, maybe the Q should be wouldn't he want this window trim to go with the rest of the house, which I assume has some craftsman elements? Or the goal is to be more eclectic?
For me a 3 1/2" projection from the plane of the wall would be to much.
I prefer something in the range of 1 1/2" to 2".
I am replacing all of the trim in the house and this is my starting point. What I do with this window will be my "standard" for the rest of the house. My concern was what dovetail97128 stated about 3-1/2" being too much. I liked the way it looked when I put it in place in that room, but like the others have said, I guess I can change the projection in the other rooms.
Now my next questions...I put the extension jambs in the windows already and now I am going to add the sill across the whole bank of windows. What I was planning on doing was biscuit joining the sill to the extension jamb + screw it in to the jambs and framing. Does this sound right? I was planning on using 5" trim head screws, is this a good choice?
Thanks,
Brad
As others have said, first ask your wife.
If you still need advice after that, just think about how this room needs to match (or not) other rooms in the house.
And if no match is needed, think about how this room and this window will be used.
My most recent window trim project had me using stool stock that was more than six inches wide. And the stools "ears" protruded past the casing by about 6" on each side.
But the windows were in a backyard shop -- a place where extra horizontal surfaces are a very good thing. The windowstool is now home to all of the chargers for all of the cordless tools.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.