Wood or no wood ?

[block]

We are building a concrete block house. Any particular reason we cant just have the windows and door sized to a replacement window rough opening size and then install window and attach straight to concrete block then caulk ?
Treated lumber is better than regular kiln dried but eventually will have to be replaced if not properly dried, treated and then wrapped.
It seems to be a good idea to install vinyl replacement windows directly to the block and then seal.
Thanks

[TnAndy]

Here's a few issues I see you might wanna consider:

1. Replacement windows, being custom built to order, are generally more expensive than "stock" windows of the same quality.

2. Installing a window directly in a block opening is NOT near as easy as in a wood opening.......you're talking Tapcons thru the sides, and in addition to the extra drilling and fooling with them, they just don't hold near as well.

3. Yes.....I guess there probably IS some life span on treated lumber used to frame an opening in a block wall......but I'd worry more about the vinyl going brittle in the sun in 50 years or so than I would the likely 500 or so years it would take CCA treated lumber to even start to deteriorate( assuming it's in a window opening and not even exposed to the weather)......not that "I" would spend a lot of time worrying about either.... :lol:

4. If by "doors" you mean a wood framed entry door of any kind, again, installing in a wood framed opening is easier than directly in a block opening......and I'd be worrying more about the fingerjointed poplar or pine they used on the brick moulding or jambs than I would the treated lumber behind the jambs.

[block]

Thanks for all the advice.
We'll be using pressure treated lumber.
We will have a steel door and I guess it will have a buck on the top and sides and not the bottom.
Thanks again.

[VALENT]

thats some good advice TnAndy

[TnAndy]

Well, among other little enterprizes, I've installed somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 replacement windows in the last 15 years in about every conceivable situation know to man including installing them directly in block openings IF that was the only choice........and if I were personally making a new block opening, I'd make it 3" bigger side to side and top to bottom for 2x treated framing before I installed a window......same on a door, except as Block said, not the bottom....... you'll just flat find it easier to deal with in my opinion.

As daddy used to say..."Son.....there's PLENTY of work around without you having to go invent MORE of the dadgum stuff !"

ahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa

[VALENT]

Wow! 25000 windows! And your Dad sounds smart.

[TnAndy]

well, the 25k figure is a guesstimate, but I'd say it's close......first year I installed was 1989 and I know I did just shy of 2000 that year because I worked for a window sales outfit and kept a copy of every contract where I did the job. I sat down at the end of the year, divided the number of windows into the total price of the contracts and came up with an average of 354 bucks a window. They were building their own windows, a really crappy mechanical window that I figured they had maybe 75 bucks/window.....figured another 75 for overhead and sales commission, the 35 they were paying me on average, and I figured the guy that owned the business was clearing 100 bucks or better per window ! And I was just one installer at one location and there were 4 locations in East Tennessee...

Wow......what a racket !!

So I went out on my own......never did hit that 2000 figure in a year again, but I've done alright.....under cutting that kind of place by about 30-50% and paying myself a lot better.

After a few years, I worked from refferals only.....never advertized or made a call since......and worked as much as I wanted.

:lol:

[block]

Well this is not your first rodeo.
Is the difference between new construction and replacement windows is that new construction nail to the outside end of the buck board and replacement windows nail to the inside/side of the board ?
I know the new construction also has that flange for if your going to install vinyl siding for example but since we are going with concrete block and we are not quite sure yet of our exterior (brick, stone, stucco, ect..) then wouldn't it be better for us to use replacement windows to start with ?

[TnAndy]

Yeah, the basic difference in the two is one has a nailing flange and part of the window jamb is forward of the flange to the outside and the replacement has no flange, and you screw thru the sides to mount it.

Some new construction do also have a built in "J" channgel for vinyl siding...some don't.

You can use either....it's up to you. The flange on a new construction can also just be trimmed off with a ultility knife if you wish to mount them like replacements.....so basically, I'd look at cost of the window, and how you want to mount it.

IF you going with brick or stone on the exterior, you will have to have some kind of "stop" at the window.....since the NC window has about 1-1.5" sticking out past the nail flange, this portion is used as the stop point for brick/stone just like wood brick moulding on a wood window.

Don't deal with stucco much, but I assume you would also need some sort of positive "stop" point at the window for this as well......if I were using NC windows for stucco, I would probably avoid the kind that have the J built in......with brick or stone, you could brick right up to the J and not see it any more....with stucco, it would still be visible and probably look sorta odd.

You CAN use replacements in new construction......I do all the time, but I also then frame around the window outside with a wood 2x2 and wrap it with aluminum trim to simulate a built-in moulding look.

I use replacements simply because I buy mis-measured windows at the window place CHEAP, then I frame the wood hole to match the window size, where as replacements are normally built to match an existing hole size. I can buy a mis-measured replacement for 1/2 the price of a new construction window.....sometimes cheaper. I bought a couple pallets of mis-measures at HomeDespot for 50/window and they sold for up to 200 normally.......but you have to be in the right stop at the right time to get them......AND you have to build your hole to fit the window. Since I knew I had a couple rental houses coming up, I bought them, stuck them away until I needed them.

[block]

Sounds great. Thanks for the help.

[Bakerdog]

yeah, those missized windows at the lumber yard are the bomb. i got a really sweet weathershield for $20 once.... :D