How To Install A Glass Block Window

Glass block windows are a great way to add elegance to your bathroom. Not just are they stylish, only also very concealing. The i problem is that they can be very hard to install without the right tools and knowledge. This instructable volition explicate the process!

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Footstep 1: Fur Out the Window

Since the window'south going in, you'll want to exit actress room. Fur out the existing window opening to 2 in. wider and two-1/two in. taller than the dimensions of the glass block console.

Step 2: Nail Terminate Blocks to the Window Frame

Tack stop blocks on the inside of the opening to keep the frame flush to the framing. Assemble the frame, then plumb. square it and nail it into the opening with 8d casing nails, shimming as needed.
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The special-guild fixtures, fittings, shower pan, tile and glass block panel can take weeks to go in hand, so do the necessary legwork and ordering well in advance. Earlier gutting the bath, check to make sure that in that location are shutoffs for all the fixtures or a master shutoff for the unabridged bathroom. If non, purchase ball valve shutoffs sized to fit your pipes. And then plow off the main water supply line where information technology comes into the house from outside, cut the pipes feeding the bathroom and install the new shutoffs right away (encounter Photograph 7).

Disconnect the trap from the tub, remove any clips, fasteners or screws that hold the tub to the wall, and annihilate the erstwhile bandage iron tub with a sledgehammer. Remove the sink and toilet. Plough off the electricity at the main console and remove low-cal fixtures. Cap the wires with wire connectors. Then rip out the wall finishes and surfaces clean downwards to the studs and pull out any insulation. If your ceiling is in good shape, use a utility knife to cut the drywall along the edges so the wall materials will separate cleanly from the ceiling.

How to Society a Glass Block Window Panel
To size the glass block, remove the trim from the existing window and measure the rough opening. Subtract ii in. from the width and the height to let for the frame, then determine the panel size by counting the number of rows and courses that easily fits into the opening. Drinking glass block comes in 8-in. and half-dozen-in. squares and four x 8-in. one-half-block rectangles. Y'all'll demand to cull between real mortar grout joints and clear silicone–joined blocks. Nosotros chose the silicone arrangement considering we liked the clean, uninterrupted expect. Whichever style yous go, buy the panel preassembled and banded together equally one unit, set up to set into the opening. Recall that it's easy to brand the opening smaller by using furring, but it tin can exist an ugly task to brand information technology bigger. When going with mortar-grouted panels, figure each block is 8 in. wide, so add together 1/4 in. to both the total tiptop and width. If you're ordering silicone-joined blocks, figure each block at 7-3/4 in. and don't add the extra 1/4 in.

Step 3: Get the Window Set up for Tile

Rip two 3-ft.-long spacer boards at the same thickness of your tile plus 3/4 in. This will crusade the window to beetle 1/four in. past the finished tile surface. Tack them to the sides of the window opening. Then tack two 2x2s into the boards to hold the glass block panel in the proper position while you push button information technology in from the outside

Footstep 4: Inject the Expanding Foam

Tap shims between the panel and the frame to hold it evenly spaced on all 4 sides while injecting the expanding foam. Afterward the foam cures, cutting abroad any excess and caulk the 1/iv-in. space betwixt the panel and the jamb on the outside of the frame with silicone caulk. Finish off the trim and siding to match the outside of the house.

Step 5: Additional Tips

Converting a bathtub with a conventional window in a higher place it to a shower is dicey business, but the result is hitting. Society a premade glass block window to fit your existing opening . Look under "Glass Block" in the Yellow Pages or online to discover a supplier.

The cardinal to a weatherproof, attractive drinking glass cake window both inside and out is to encase it in a custom-congenital wooden frame (Fig. A) The inside dimensions of the frame should be 1/2 in. taller and wider than the panel itself. That will give you room to accommodate and shim the panel exactly so inject expanding foam betwixt the frame and the panel to lock it into the opening.

To brainstorm, rip the height and side jambs to the thickness of the wall framing plus the exterior wall sheathing. The cement lath volition lap over the jambs. The windowsill should also exist flush with the interior framing, but hang over the outside capsule almost 1-ane/ii in. and accept a v-degree slope toward the outside to aid shed h2o. To go on h2o from running backside the siding every bit information technology drips off the edge, cut a shallow groove (or saw kerf) in the bottom lip. Also, remember to flash backside the trim to keep the window watertight. Trim the window outside to match the house, using caulk to seal between the trim and siding.

It's important to set the panel and then it protrudes 1/iv in. by the finished tile surface. That way, a bead of caulk can seal the articulation between the tile and block to keep water out of the wall cavity.

Tip:

Prime number and paint the window jambs and sill before setting the glass block panel to save time-consuming painting details.