Replacing steel framed windows in 1950s stucco covered cement block home (1 of 3)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ธ.ค. 2021
- This is house was completed in 1953. It is entirely stucco covered cement block construction. This video shows me replacing the 14th of 18 steel framed windows. Number 18 was replaced with a door but I didn't get video of that one.
1953 Tucson house over here
Thank you for the video!
This was just what I was looking for thank you. Also the cat did a great job assisting.
Assisting? He’s the boss.
Congratulations on 100 subscribers!!!!
Spent a stupid amount of time reglazing my windows. Never again! Gonna try just replacing. Apparently, someone recently tried to pry open this old window from the outside so...out with the old and in with the new! Thanks for the video!
Glad it helped!
Our local glass repair guy is the one that recommended replacement. He said the time and money to reglaze and repair the other damage would end up costing far more than the new windows.
Great job. Have a home built in 1954, it seems it was built as tornado proof. The windows are just like this you showed. Thank you, now I know what I'm up against.
I really appreciate that. The whole reason I made the videos is that I didn’t find anything quite like what I was dealing with on TH-cam.
I talk more about how I arrived at this method in the other videos. The bottom line is at first I tried using a portable band saw & then a grinder with cutoff disc but they just weren’t the right tools for the job.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW another was saying i just gotta get the window out of the channel, but i thought i could do it like u did it, which way u suggest? he said its called retro fit...?
@@Eastbaypisces The method I used would only apply to a house built like this one. I jabber on about the technique I arrived at in the other two videos. The walls are cement block all of the way through. A lot of houses have the similar appearance but are wood framed on the inside. In that case I'd go with a more typical instal.
For future reference, you can basically deburr or square off the outside frame corners of vinyl windows and even remove flanges or ribs, it’s a lot more efficient than modifying and repairing the stucco. Or masonry on brick homes. 👍
You know that didn’t even occur to me. 🤦🏻♂️…but it’s all good. The only repair necessary was on the inside of the house & I’m using plaster for that.
We have windows like that in our home. It was built in the 50s here in southern New Mexico. I'm hoping to be replacing the windows soon. Thanks for the video. I'll be going about getting the old ones out in the same way. And DeWalt is my preferred brand of tools as well 👍 haha.
I hope the videos help. I tried several methods on the early windows but settled on this method by the time I got around to these. I made a video of it because I didn’t find anything quite like it when searching TH-cam. Much of the other work I’ve been doing I’ve found good videos & didn’t want to replicate them.
I will be videoing how I am cutting grooves into the walls to run my wiring when I get to that point. If you’re looking into that search “wall chaser” it’s an amazing machine that seems to be largely unknown in the US. Mine is a Tableau:
Wall Line Cutter Wire Slotting Marble Concrete Cutting Machine - Dustproof And Infrared Sighting - AC 110V www.amazon.com/dp/B07WWSM25N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZZCAX9VJERVZHYWQ0QWC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW yeah this method seems pretty efficient.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW what Dewalt tool was that and what was the name of that chipper bit for the concrete?
@@Eastbaypisces
The SDS-Plus (small) rotary hammer drill:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YDZI9BA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
The SDS-Max (large) rotary hammer drill:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NB018XZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The chisels were just SDS-Plus or SDS-Max from Harbor Freight.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW thx
Very helpful. Might be applying this to my 1935 house in Tucson soon. Thanks much for recording it!
I’m getting ready to take a load bearing wall out. Hopefully have a video before too long.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW whoa. I looked into replacing a load bearing beam on my porch awning years ago. The building code requirements were so onerous (and contra-indicated!) I decided to let it go. Respect from here.
@@biersquirrel We're in rural Mississippi. Building codes aren't really a thing out here. Home inspections are only done to get a mortgage.
I do research codes to find best practises but if I can't be convinced of a reason why it's necessary I'll go with my own opinion.
The wall in question is only load bearing on one side, the ceiling joist go the other way on the other side. I've already placed a makeshift beam in the ceiling that is more than enough to get the job done.
Nice. ♥Mississippi. Took a vacation up Hwy 61 in mid-90s. Interested in the beam video. Best regards from Tucson!
@@biersquirrel Ahh, the blues trail. Been meaning to do that myself, one day.
Excellent, thank you sir.
Great video! What screws did you use to go into the concrete? Were the heads of the screw painted with the same color as the window?
thanks a lot
Great video thank you! I have the exact same steel windows that I was hoping to repair because I love their low profile but I prefer the noise and temperature improvements of newer windows. I have never replaced a window before so this really helps me a lot. How do you know what the house is made of before starting? Mine is 1950s California but definitely not cement block as walls seem much thinner than yours.
If the house isn’t obviously cement block, I’d say it’s almost surely standard wood frame construction. That being the case, while the windows may be the same, the construction matters more than the type of windows you are replacing when replacing the windows.
I’d probably go to a window in the backside of the home and pry around it on the inside with a pry bar to confirm they are framed out with wood which is highly likely.
Search for videos about replacing windows in a 1950’s home. A house that old may have some rotted wood that’ll need replacing. If it were me I’d replace it with treated stuff to avoid the same problem in the future.
As for installing windows in a wood framed home my experience is limited to new construction, which is quite different from a replacement.
Given the state of the supply chain I’d at least check & see if there are ready made windows close enough in size (the same size or slightly smaller than your openings). Our windows took over six months to come in when the old lead time was 8-10 weeks & we were quoted 10-12 weeks at the time of ordering.
Also, whatever you do: DO NOT REMOVE ANY WINDOWS UNTIL YOU HAVE REPLACEMENTS ON HAND.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW thank you so much! Noted! We are looking at like-for-like steel (some beautiful new stuff out there if you can justify the $$) but like you say the lead times are coming in at 16-20 weeks. Nuts!
We looked at metal famed and loved some of the available options but the price was far more than we could afford. We weren’t even going to replace the windows but found that the vinyl windows were surprisingly affordable.
Good luck to you! The remodeling/renovating game can be quite the headache.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW thank you and yes, I agree, it's an expensive headache that we are tepidly excited to begin out of necessity due to the cost of labor in our area! Take care.
I have the same type of construction in my house but built in the late 40’s. We had new windows installed in 1988 but the installer didn’t remove the metal frames from the house. Now I know I can remove them. What brand were your new windows? Where did you buy them? Thank you!!
I want to say the brand was Atrium but I’m not positive. I just got the cheapest ones the local hardware store could get.
On the top of the window opening did you have a solid cement header beam or a steel plate to support the blocks above the steel framed windows?
It’s a rebar reinforce solid chunk of cement.
Great job ! I was wondering what product you used to fill in the the cavities where the stucco broke off ?
I used windows & doors great stuff in the window gaps & stucco repair mix for the exposed portions. I’m still working on it. I’ll try & get video of some of the stucco repair but I’m not expert & there are other videos on TH-cam of people that are far better at it than I will ever be.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW Thanks, I figured that would be the best thing. My old windows look just like yours and I also have stucco covered block from the 50's. You are the only person on youtube that shows how to remove them quickly and easily. Very helpful. I am going to pick up a hammer drill at harbor freight this week. I've got 20 windows to replace here in sunny central Florida😂
In recent years I've come to look on TH-cam to see how to do things I haven't done before. When I couldn't find a video of this I figured I'd make one to help the next guy out. I hope it does.
Nice job, I just ran into a customer with the exact same windows with cement/ stucco structure. The sills are rotting out though. What was the material used for the sills on the house in the video?
It’s 100% cement block & stucco, inside & out. There was nothing else there to rot.
After the video I sealed them up with windows & doors expanding foam and caulk.
What do you do if you add a screw then the window doesn’t open or close properly?
Just shoot it down a little tighter being careful not to break the window frame.
Thank You Let's Build Something!
Yesterday we looked at one of our church members homes for helping with window replacement. They have the exact same construction of concrete block and steel framed crank out windows here in So Calif, your video's show we can perform this service team project after first praying for guidance from Jesus!
Please tell us what model window series from Atrium that you used on this project.
Thank You in advance, Lee🌲
Proverbs 22:6-7
I have no idea what the model of the windows is. I just placed the order with the fellow from the hardware store for the most cost effective windows they could get me.
I would love to know how you went amount measuring for these windows.
A couple of the 17 windows were unique. For those I measured the opening at the outside & subtracted half an inch from each dimension.
For the windows which I had several of the same size (true of the ones in these videos) I measured all of them & then went with the smallest measurement. The reason for the variability is that the stucco was done by hand (as all stucco is) & made the openings all slightly different.
Of course, I could have made unique measurements for each window but I didn’t want to have to sort that out when the windows came in. That’s why you see me shaving some material off while installing them. There were others (not in video) that needed shims to hold them in place.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW also how heavy were the big ones? cuz some of mine are wide like 90" and 70", do they deliver to ur house? or u pick up??
@@Eastbaypisces If you go to my channel page you'll see a triple hung that was 90" wide. It was the heaviest but my wife and i handled it just fine. It was the only one that I absolutely could not have done alone.
The hardware store where we placed the order delivered the windows.
I’m have those same windows. Do you need to waterproof after before putting in the new windows?
IMO, it depends. If your house is of standard wood construction you need to extensively waterproof.
If is of stucco covered cement block, like our home in the video, I believe what we did was more than sufficient.
What we did:
1. Use windows and doors "Great Stuff" to close fill large gaps and wait a day.
2. Trimmed, or tucked in any of the foam that had expanded out of the the seams.
3. Caulked over over all of the seams.
4. Thoroughly cleaned the windows and rest of the home exterior.
5. Masked the windows in such a way that there would be paint on the edge window frame covering the caulked seams.
6. Painted ALL of the exterior with at least two coats of premium exterior paint. (Some areas got extra coats.)
7. Carefully de-masked the windows.
Window tape?
Negative, given the 100% cement block construction, I simply used windows and doors Great Stuff and some premium windows and Doors caulk and then applied a couple of coats of Sherwin Williams exterior paint. I am confident in the results.
I Have the exact same window.... I'm thinking of restoring it, keep the vintage look.... what is the meterial used to stick those glasses.
It is window glazing putty. There are quite a few videos showing how to reglaze windows.
Are you the guy that has the 1958 encyclopedia on Antarctica and the firmament? Because you have the same voice!
That’s not me. Would you mind send a link, I’d love to hear what you’re talking about.
why aren't more houses in the US built using cement blocks? I see people punching through "walls" that aren't really wall
It’s all about cost. I’ve talked to people about new houses they’re building & the cost to build a single room like our house is built is ridiculous.
@@letsbuildsomethingNOW wow! I didn''t know that. I always thought that cement blocks weren't used because of building regulations.
How to strip steel door frames
I’d use a 3 1/2” angle grinder with wire wheels. Others might use paint stripper. The latter would be better if you don’t have any to make a huge mess.
^^^This. If you are living in it the house stripper would make less mess but put off strong fumes.
You are very calm cool and collective.Very Good informative, professional video.You are Aces.Like to drink a Beer with you. If Biden Fuel was not $ 4.99 a gallon.I would visit you in my motorhome. You have a Radio voice. You missed your calling. Though its never to late. You should do a Pod Cast. You and me. Mr, Cool and The Collective.Your Mr Cool. Top Billing
Thank you for the kind words. I’m actually pretty self conscious about my own voice, but I have thought about doing a podcast. The trouble I have with podcast, or TH-cam videos, for me is having something new to contribute or add. I don’t feel I have much unique to add.
Dave Smith and Tom Woods cover my thinking on politics. Jack Spirko covers my thinking on prepping. There are tons of great videos on most home improvement or remodeling that I’m working on. I videoed the windows because I couldn’t find anything quite like it. I have some videos to process that are fairly unique because of our house’s unusual construction.
The other reason not to do more videos, or a podcast for that matter, is there already aren’t enough hours in a day to get all done I’m trying to do.
I have these windows, but on a stone house with cement sills. You have convinced me to not replace them! What a hassle. Pluse, casement windows are so much better than double hung. You or the owner regret that change.
I am the owner. I have no regrets.
If I’d had the time & money to restore the existing windows, I might have. I’d have wanted to replace each individual pane of glass with insulated ones & finding the hardware & replacement sections for windows that had been butchered to install window units would have been difficult, taken time I didn’t have, & ended up being far more expensive.
For 17 of these window, including a triple hung it was only about $7500 (in 2020) & the install of all of them, by ourselves, only took a couple of weeks.
Not sure who’s doing the math, but it’s always more cost efficient to restore your existing windows. It’s also important for maintaining the home’s architectural integrity. “Replacement” windows are called that because they will have to be replaced over and over again.
The windows in these videos are the best of the lot because they have been under a carport that was added 40+ years ago. The others were in much worse shape. Only a very small number of them had functioning opening mechanisms. I spent a great deal of time trying to identify a source for replacements mechanisms for them. Also, several (one in almost every room) of the windows had large sections cut out of them to accommodate window unit ACs that have been there since the 70s or 80s. Those would have had to have been replaced regardless of my resources and matching the old windows would have been next to impossible.
Because we are trying to do this on a modest budget, I did originally intend to replace the individual panes and re-glaze the old windows. I talked to my local glass guy about it. He gave me a ballpark estimate on what he'd charge and suggested the vinyl windows, that he does NOT sell. Replacing the windows, including the one replaced with a door, came in under $8000 and we were able to do them ourselves in just a couple of weeks.
As for structural integrity this house is more solid than most safe rooms. All of the walls, interior and exterior, are stucco covered cement (not cinder) blocks that extends far into the ground. The cement floors are poured within these walls. Above and below the windows is 12-18 inches of solid rebar reinforced cement. So, replacing these windows has not affected the structural integrity of the house. Besides, even if I could have afforded to rehab them into like new condition they'd never have been as energy efficient as the new windows.
100% agree! check out the work they are doing at Seekircher. Everything you need to know about why restore instead of replace is there.
Also the old windows don’t have screens and bugs get in the house and they are single pained with metal frames and you get ice all over the windows in the winter and drafts and heat in the summer.
You pay someone to go and properly restore those windows then outfit them with insulated glass units per lite it will cost you more to do one window than to replace with modern vinyl windows if done properly.
It’s not even close. If you’re talking about historical buildings in the downtown area of a major city then they might opt for restoration but outside of that it is always more cot effective and energy efficient to go the replacement route.