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right way to do a half fast fix? Nate Nagel 08-07-2008
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Posted by Nate Nagel on August 7, 2008, 8:28 pm


I'm trying to tighten up my garage a little bit... there's two windows
on the lower level that were installed in a block wall with brick
facing. Unfortunately whoever did this didn't have a freaking clue what
he was doing, and to make matters worse, he was using brick with holes
in it, not solid brick, so a lot of the half bricks are really messily
split. There's gaps all around, and they were just shoved full of
fiberglass insulation - the only thing that kept this from being a rot
factory is that the upper level overhangs the lower level by about a
foot. I dug out most of the insulation and spray foamed the heck out of
it. What would be the best way to finish this off - just trim the foam
with a knife and paint right over it, or should I put a skim coat of
caulking over it before paint? I will need to go back and caulk some
places where the gap was appropriate and I couldn't get the spray foam
nozzle in it.

I know the RIGHT thing to do would be to knock out the brick and have a
mason come back and do it right, and then have a window guy put new
windows in (and if I were going to do that, I'd relocate both of them so
that they'd not interfere with walls and/or the stair stringer like they
do now... yeah, really...) but this is a garage, after all, and I have
stuff to spend my $$$ on in the house...

ideas?

nate

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Posted by David L. Martel on August 8, 2008, 8:13 am


Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires of
these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your garage? It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why that's a
problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that is bad? Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Dave M.



Posted by N8N on August 8, 2008, 10:10 am


> Nate,
>
> Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires of
> these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked on
the inside.

> It
> sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why that's a
> problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

> Were
> these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.

Now that you mention it, I wonder if it might not be advisable to try
busting the half bricks out and replacing them; I have never done
anything like that before though so I don't know if this is a fun
afternoon DIY project or a can of worms I don't want to open.

nate

Posted by HeyBub on August 8, 2008, 12:04 pm


N8N wrote:
>> Nate,
>>
>> Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires
>> of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
>> garage?
>
> because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
> rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
> simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
> am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
> the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked on
> the inside.
>
>> It
>> sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
>> that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that
>> is bad?
>
> the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
> to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
> caulked.
>
>> Were
>> these half bricks installed backwards
>
> Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
> brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
> instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
> the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
> of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
> heck in a handbasket.
>

Maybe some really wide faux trim?



Posted by N8N on August 8, 2008, 12:20 pm


> N8N wrote:
> >> Nate,
>
> >> =A0 =A0Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictir=
es
> >> of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
> >> garage?
>
> > because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
> > rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
> > simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
> > am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
> > the summer/winter. =A0The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked o=
n
> > the inside.
>
> >> It
> >> sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
> >> that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that
> >> is bad?
>
> > the windows just don't fit their openings. =A0The gap ranges from 1/8"
> > to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
> > caulked.
>
> >> Were
> >> these half bricks installed backwards
>
> > Some of them were, yes. =A0It looks like someone started to lay the
> > brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
> > instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
> > the ends of the bricks off. =A0It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
> > of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
> > heck in a handbasket.
>
> Maybe some really wide faux trim?

Hmm, that gives me another idea, I could conceivably built a frame out
of 1xwhatever around the brick opening and then use trim on the face
of the brick, kind of like you'd normally see on the inside of a
window? then the gaps would be small enough to caulk and I'd just
fill the void with foam before putting the face trim on. Maybe...?

nate

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