Windows and door

This weekend we installed the three clerestory windows and the door.

Clerestory windows

The shed next door proved to be a handy platform for installing the windows. I built a sturdy scaffold from extra 2x4s and plywood and leaned it onto the shed roof.

The windows are of the awning type, which means they are hinged at the top and open with a crank. The screens go on the inside, though they aren’t installed yet. I will install them after construction is complete so they don’t get torn. They are aluminum-clad wood windows and very energy efficient units. Installing them was pretty easy, except that the self-stick flashing doesn’t stick to tarpaper very well. Nothing a few staples couldn’t fix.

Door viewed from shower area

The door is really pretty. The light that comes through in the morning is very cool. I can’t wait to take my morning showers in here!

The door is extremely heavy. It is a fiberglass door (we didn’t want a wood or steel door in a shower area) but the weight comes from all the glass. It is triple-paned, which was necessary to meet energy efficiency requirements. Since I was careful to make sure the stud on the hinge side was plumb during framing, the door was not difficult to set. The hardest part (other than wrastling its bulk into place) was installing the lockset, which required some modifications to the stock bore.

Well, as of today, the addition is “locked up”… literally. Hooray! A major milestone achieved. Next week: lots of foam insulation.