DIY Home Improvement: How to Install New Windows

Are the old windows in your house an eyesore? Do they let the heat out of your house faster than your furnace can keep up? Installing new windows in your house can not only improve the appearance of your home, it can also save you tons of money on your heating and cooling costs. Installing new windows doesn’t take very long and doesn’t require too much knowledge, it just requires a little patience and effort.

Materials and Tools:

Square

Caulk Gun and Caulk

Drill

Screwdriver

Foam Insulation

New Window

Shims

Sand Paper

Small Finishing Screws

Important Note: These directions are just a general guideline, most new windows come with installation directions, be sure to follow those directions when installing your new windows.

Installing Your New Window:

Assuming you have already ordered your new window and removed the old window, you are now ready to install your new window. Make sure that your old window opening doesn’t have any uneven parts or holes. Sand down the uneven parts with sand paper and fill in any holes or gaps with caulk. Once you have prepared the opening, you will want to install any insulation at the bottom of your window that you wish to do.

Hopefully when removing your old window you left the exterior stops in place and saved the interior window stop. If you didn’t you will need to install a new exterior window stop before continuing to the next step.

The next step to installing your new window is placing the new window into the opening. Assess the situation and see if their are any large gaps etc, and make sure that your window will fit in the opening. Now you will need to move the window sashes towards the center of the window. Now move the bumper stops towards the center of the window so that the four mounting holes become visible. Now remove the window unit from the opening.

The next step is to install the header to the top of the window. Use the included screws and some caulk at the top of the header. Note: Headers are often called expanders.

The most important part of installing your new window is making sure that the window is plum. Plum simply means level and squared off. If you window is not plum, it will not function properly. To make sure that your new window is plum set the window unit into the opening. Use you square and check that all four corners of the window are square, if they are not use your shims to square the window. After you have made the window square, you will want to use mounting screws to screw the unit into the side jams. Your new window should come with mounting screws to do this.

You will now need to move the header up to the top of the window unit and secure it to the frame with screws. You are now almost done. Test the window sashes by moving them up and down. Is everything sliding smooth and correctly? If it is move on to the next step, if it isn’t there are adjustment screws that can be adjusted. Fiddle with them until you get the window to move smoothly.

Once the window is moving correctly you will need to reinstall the inside window stops that you saved when removing your old window. You can reinstall them using caulk and small screws.If you did not save your old stops you will need to install new ones. To completely weather proof the windows you will want to caulk up all edges of the window and fill in any gaps with insulation foam.