Basement windows :)

[SweetLife]

Hi there everyone :)

Hoping I can get some advice to top off the You tube and online googling I will be doing ... My husband and I bought a house built in 1923... it has all new windows "except" in the basement ... the basement is quite chilly ... I am wondering how difficult it would be (in your opinions) to DIY replace the basement windows? THere are 4 that are the old type and one that is newer but does not appear to have been installed properly as there is cold air coming in from it :(


What do you think?  We live in southern Ontario and the basement is 1/2 underground. So the windows are each approximately 6 inches off of the ground.

And what about finding used basement windows or using glass block??? any opinions???

Thank you for any advice :)  we are trying to do as much repairing as possible ourselves :)

[nosaj]

I don't know about replacing them, but I do remember reading in one of his blog posts MMM said he made plugs for those windows out of, I think, insulated foamboard with weather stripping to seal the edges. And he uses them in the winter. I was thinking of trying it since mine provide very little light.

[Seeking the Brass Ring]

I'd say go for it.  I've replaced a few windows and it's not that complicated.  You do need a few woodworking tools and some common sense but you can work your way through it.  Most home stores will order custom windows for you or you can use a standard dimension window and fill the ledge with a layer of brick or concrete.

One thing to be careful of is to make sure the floor joists are properly supported.  Older homes did not have to comply with building codes so sometimes basement windows were 'supporting' the floor joist.

If you really get stuck it's not too expensive to pay a carpenter to finish the one window you started. 

[Fireman]

Are any of the windows in rooms being used as bedrooms?  If this is the case, they need to be available as a means of egress.  Otherwise, in my parents house (ca 1760's), we covered the two basement 'windows' just as nosaj described.

[Milspecstache]

Are any of the windows in rooms being used as bedrooms?  If this is the case, they need to be available as a means of egress.  Otherwise, in my parents house (ca 1760's), we covered the two basement 'windows' just as nosaj described.

+1.  Egress windows will greatly complicate the problem but you really do need them if you plan on having someone sleep fulltime in the basement (ie create a bedroom).

Otherwise I'd go to Lowes and buy 2" rigid foam insulation and take a drywall knife and cut them to size.  Install in winter and pull them in the summer.  Of course, if you have drafts caulk the small cracks and window/door foam the bigger ones.

[gillstone]

You may want to consider refurbishing the older wooden windows and doing either external or internal storms for them rather than replacing.  Wood windows can be restored, and with proper maintenance, have an extremely long useful life.  In addition, with storm panes, restored wood windows can carry R factors similar to double-paned vinyl.

Your local historic preservation office would have a load of infomraion on how to restore older windows. 

[SweetLife]

Thanks all!!! Of the current basement window there are two that "must" be replaced as several of the small panes are cracked  completely ... none of these windows appear worthy of "restoring" the wood is cracked through in places ... I would rather keep as much light from out side coming into the basement from these windows rather than boarding them up - my husband raises canaries and they are in one area of the basement and lots of light keeps them singing :)

I have read quite a few posts/googled and you tubed ... I think I will buy one window at a time and see how it goes starting with the one that "has" to be done lol... my brother said he would come over and make sure I do it right lol... (thank God for older brothers lol). 

Now I need to start looking for good prices on double paned basement windows :) Big brother said that I could buy them in the USA as they conform to our standards (which is great as prices just over the border are almost always lower!)