The Skyline Canadian: The Basement Window Frames

Most of the work this Saturday was in the basement. We have been pulled in a lot of directions lately, and by the time we reached home every night we just sat still for a bit. But Saturday was productive, and we enjoyed seeing the progress. Maybe the warm weather had something to do with it.

In any case, Andy is applying some caulk around the window frame, sealing the pieces of foam together to keep the air sealed away from the concrete. Air holds moisture and allows condensation to form on cold surfaces. Since we have insulated the interior wall of the basement, we need to keep it protected from that air and inevitable moisture.

This is the craft room window, and through it you can see the mess under the vestibule. Fuel cans, the generators, Andy's motorcycle, 3 sets of summer tires, and various other 'garagy' things are stacked and stored there, yearning to be used.

The craft room wall. This didn't change too much by the end of the day, but the small poured in place window was framed in and the rest of the insulation was put in place.

This is the window frame we built. We used left over pieces of 2x6 flooring to make the frame. The tongues and grooves were ripped off (on the table saw, not with pliers), we screwed the frames together, and used the pocket jig to drill the mounting holes that screw our frame into the existing window frame. It is solid, and we can finish the wall with sheathing now. The window sill is 9" deep as measured from the outer lip to the glass. You can also see the dryer vent installed next to the beam on the left. That was new this week, and nobody misses the way the pipe used to stick out of the window.

Same type of window frame, but in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Yes, the light looks like it's about to fall. It is quite secure, though. When we finish that up this next week, it will be remounted and held in place behind the sheathing boards. We'll probably turn the circuit off when we rewire the connections.

The sill in the craft room egress window is put in place here. Note the solitary screwdriver. As this is a 5' x 19" horizontal surface, do not expect it to stay empty. In fact, I'll take another picture next Saturday, without meddling, and we'll see how many things ended up there in the course of a week.