December 5, 2012

Installing That Pretty Bathroom Window

We had two challenges installing our new bathroom window.

Interior shot of the new bathroom window

Not because of it's shape (octagonal), but because of it's position on the outside of the house, and the window's depth.

Old bathroom window from the outside

Position, because of the new siding we're putting up.

New siding. So far we've only done this section of the house

We're using 4 by 8 foot barn board look panels. The side of the house is taller than the panels, so two pieces are needed to cover the wall height. A 1x6 inch board for trim covers the join at the top. It is painted white, as is all the trim. The problem with the bathroom window, is that its location would be where the trim goes. Not impossible, we could trim out around it, but we really wanted a simpler solution.

The second problem was window depth. Like the long, tall window we installed in the kitchen, this one was 6 inches deep. We have 4.5 inch thick walls. We'd have to do something about the difference.

After much brainstorming about these two things, here's what we did.

This old window was original to the house.
Dan cut away the vinyl siding in order to remove it. 

It removed easily, because it wasn't attached to a header
or framing. It was just stuck into the side of the house.

Hello world

Framing for the new window,
deeper than wall depth

In the above photo, you can see that the framing was made with 2x6s and extends beyond the side of house. With the kitchen window, we made up the difference between window and wall depths with extra trim. With this window, we wanted to bump out the siding to match the depth of the window. This way the window itself didn't need extra trim, which would have been challenging due to its octagonal shape.

Solid foam insulation was added to fill potential gaps.
One can never have enough insulation IMO

Tar paper next

Siding up

Window in 

Trimmed out

Besides solving the problems I mentioned, this achieves a goal Dan had, to highlight the window architecturally. Hopefully (and I'm thinking it will), this will work visually with the rest of the new siding, though it will be awhile before we can get to that.

Window and siding primed & ready to be painted
Porch windows are to the left. Bedroom windows are on the right.

There was a discussion in the comments of my Rationale For A Pretty Bathroom Window, about the relative privacy a stained glass window can offer. In our case, the height of the window and the proximity of our next door neighbor facilitate that.

View of our house from our next door neighbor's. 

On top of that, the street view is blocked by our row of Leyland cypresses and a cedar tree. All of this is why I'm not really concerned about a curtain or blinds.

Happily, we had lovely weather for this project. Next we got to work on the inside. More on that soon.


15 comments:

Sandy Livesay said...

Good morning Leigh,

What a beautiful bathroom window, stained glass windows are one of my favorite things in a house. I wouldn't put up curtains or blinds either. Your neighbor is far enough away, and the window sits up high on the house. Dan did an excellent job installing the window, big kuddo's to your husband!

When we finally purchase our property and get our house going (right now were in a temporary house that were renting), I may have to borrow some of your ideas :-)

Donna OShaughnessy said...

So charming. Love the way you people roll!!!

Renee Nefe said...

I think it looks great!

When we had our house in Wyoming the builder put an octagon window in the bathroom...just plain glass at head height.
At the time my father-in-law was making stained glass. So he made us a nice piece to put in our window. Soon our neighbors were all looking for some glass for their homes as well. Of course ours was so nice we took it with us when we moved and FIL made a plainer one to leave with the house. ;)

DFW said...

It looks great. Good problem solving skills the 2 of you have!

Michelle said...

It's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

NIcely done! Love the new siding and the paint color you guys chose for the siding. Your home is shaping up to be a dream! You both rock!

Leigh said...

Sandy, thanks! We thought the privacy thing wasn't that much of an issue either.

Donna, thanks!

Renee, small touches like that really make a home appealing. If we hadn't found the window we installed, we likely would have gone with a plain one. The only other size that fit the opening was a mobile home window!

DFW, I honestly think having limited funds helps. We have to think things through!

Michelle, thanks!

Martha, I'm really happy with it. It's a shame though, the original siding is in such bad repair. Still, our home is getting snugger by the panel. :)

CaliforniaGrammy said...

That little window is like a ray of sunshine greeting you, it's so pretty. I happen to have spent seven years working for the Judson Studios in Los Angeles (one of the three big stain glass companies in the country) and had beautiful stained glass windows in our dining room in So. Cal. When we put our house up for sale, it was the stained glass windows that SOLD the house. The new owners just love them. Stained glass gives the room an ambiance like nothing else.

Farmer Barb said...

Weighing in at the end of the day here. Maybe the guy who installed my round window did your bathroom. Ours was simply resting on the sheathing. Given the distance of your neighbors, you would have to have a spotlight on your body to be recognizable through that beautiful window. I always say that you need to do what is good for the house first and make it look nice afterward. When you do the future siding, maybe you could continue the feature down the wall and make it seem like a real bump out down to the foundation.

Bootzey said...

I like it. Now that window is a feature inside AND out!

Dan is a keeper!

Unknown said...

Wow Leigh...it's really pretty!

bspinner said...

I just love your new window!!! What a great find.

Leigh said...

Janice I would have loved to have seen that house. Stained glass truly raises a home far above the cookie cutter mold.

Barb, LOL. I've heard so many stories now of that happening. Not only with windows but doors too. Since both Dan and I are artisans, we try to blend structural soundness and function with beauty. I don't know if we're succeeding, but we're happy with the results. :)

Serenity, good to hear from you! Thank you!

Tanya, thanks!

Barb, hurray for Ebay. It was a find because of the good price. It's well made too.

Anonymous said...

Dan is very creative in how he makes these changes fit an older house. Impressive!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

It's beautiful and love how Dan made it fit...perfectly.
Our bathroom window is 5'x4' with no curtains; I time my showers/baths during daylight hours -grin.