How to Judge a Builder: A Guide to Recognizing Artisanship in Window Installation

The home represents the largest investment many of us will make. But how to choose a builder? We could throw our lot in with the contractor who offers the most featuresthe latest appliances, the high-end countertopsand just assume the essential but hidden details have been addressed. Or we can become educated consumers and learn to judge the quality that will last long after the warranty has expired. Fortunately, the care with which windows have been placed is readily visible during several weeks of construction, and these instructions will allow the discerning home buyer or the householder needing a major home improvement to gauge their proper installation. The carpenter and the avid do-it-yourselfer, can follow along and use the latest developments in weather protection technology to update their skills. Safety note: instructions are limited in scope to observation. Please understand the risks before physically engaging in building construction. Building codes govern windows for reasons of life safetyemergency egress in event of fire and the use of safer glass in high-traffic areas. But codes have only lately begun to address flashingthe critical work of integrating windows into the exterior building envelope, and no job-site inspections are required. Yet in rainy Oregon, the potential for water intrusion and subsequent mold issues are unparalleled. While building scientists devote careers to developing and testing the components, a well-detailed window installation can be admired by anyone having read through these instructions, and the carpenter need not spend more than one half hour per opening on both window and flashing.

Parts and Pieces: A Bit of Building Terminology

Rough Opening: with wall framed then sheathed with inch plywood, the specified size of framed opening has been created to accommodate the window. The sill is the horizontal portion that the window rests on. Siding: may be the horizontal wood or fiber-cement courses known as clapboards, or siding can be shingles. The contemporary method of stucco (the plaster look) has been made illegal in the state due to water management issues just like the ones we are addressing. Use of the popular plywood panels that resemble vertical siding (T1-11) is NOT recommended as there is no satisfactory way to flash windows. FlexWrap, StraightFlash: both shed water away from building components. A DuPont product, StraightFlash comes in a roll and has excellent sealing properties, sticking tenaciously and self-sealing around nail holes. Other brands may work as well as StraightFlash, but none equal FlexWrap for its ability to mold to and seal surfaces in three planes as we will need to at the sill. Window flanges: integral extrusions project a couple of inches from the sides of windows, by which installers fasten windows to framing and apply flashing.

Setting the Stage: Housewrap

Inevitably siding allows some water entrancejoints between components shift over time and overwhelm the caulking intended to accommodate the movement. Wind-driven rain proves a factor, and the warming and cooling of weather patterns drives in water vapor. At the same time, gaps in the wall assembly allow moist air from the interior into the wall cavity. Housewrap, applied to the exterior of the wall like wrapping on a giant present, addresses all three, permeable enough to allow water vapor to dry to the outside but blocking water in liquid form from penetrating. LOOK FOR: 1. Quality brand housewrap. Market leader Tyvek is recognizable for its white color and prominent logo. Other brands may suffice but woven varieties and those with visible perforations are understandably self-defeating. 2. Housewrap should be applied BEFORE windows and doors. Moisture penetrating siding around windows must be allowed to drain out onto the surface of the housewrap. 3. Rolled out over our framing, housewrap is cut in an inverted wineglass pattern to expose the rough opening. Housewrap is cut diagonally from the middle of opening to the bottom corners, straight up to top of opening and horizontally to either side of top. The bottom and sides are folded in and stapled in place. At the top, short diagonal slits are made in the outside corners and the resultant flap temporarily tacked up so that the window's top flange can slip in underneath.

Water Runs Downhill: First Flashing, Then Window, Then Flashing Again
LOOK FOR: 1. FlexWrap applies to the rough opening sill, folding out from sill over the housewrap and up the sides of the opening six inches or so. 2. Window goes in next. After installation, the window's bottom flange will be visible overlapping the FlexWrap. Rogue water intrusions can now run down and out. 3. StraightFlash is applied to the window's side and top flanges, covering them and overlapping onto the housewrap on the side and onto the wall sheathing at top. 4. The housewrap flap at top of window can now be folded down over the top flange's flashing and secured with housewrap tape. Those slits at the corners must be taped as well.

Finishing Touches: Graduating the Observer to Expert Status

LOOK FOR: 1. Common enhancements include wood trim applied around the window unit. In this event a Z-shaped piece of metal flashing must be applied at top, one leg of flashing flush to wall, overlapped by StraightFlash as we did at top of window flange, overlapped with housewrap, and sealed with tape. Bottom of the flashing overlaps the trim a fraction of an inch, keeping water on its proper course. 2. Showpiece windows will feature an arch across the top of the window. Because water will run along the curve before falling away, the Z flashing should visibly extend onto the siding abutting the window before the arch begins (see photo.)

Conclusion: the Durable, Healthy House

That's it! The process seems a reasonable standard of care we should ask of our builder. It is details like these that should leave you assured that your project will be executed well. -Author Lorne Curran, formerly owner/operator of Sunstone Building and Renovation Company, now studies science at Lane Community College. April 4, 2011