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shit.cx

Shed Windows

2021-01-03T08:34

This weekend I have finally (almost) finished my shed windows and it's been a very long time coming. I started it probably three years ago, and for the last year all that's been lift is to give it a coat of paint; but as all exercises in yak-shaving, it wasn't quite as easy as it first seemed.

For context this is how the wall is constructed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
             ┌──┐ ┃  ← Container Wall
 Stud Frame →│  ││┃
             │  │└─────┐ ← Flashing
            ┏┿━━┿━━━━━┓│
            ┃│  │     ┃
            ┃│  │     ┃ ← Window
            ┃│  │     ┃
            ┃│  │     ┃
            ┃│  │     ┃
            ┃│  │     ┃

The window is mounted to a stud wall. The top of the window is weather-proofed with flashing and the edges are weather-proofed using Fomofill — not a good long-term solution but it's worked fine for the past few years.

The first job was to borrow a ladder from at the house.

I really should put a roof-rack on my car, but that's a job for another day.

And this is how it looked before I started.

Before painting I needed to finish mounting the upper architrave. Is that what they're called when outside a structure? I don't know. Anyway that's what I'll be calling it.

A year ago I made an architrave to fit but never got the chance to install it (rain, dark, COVID lock-downs, lost interest, competing priorities, keyboard building, etc.)

It wasn't an overly difficult problem but it did require me to bolt some wooden blocks to the wall to secure the architrave to. The container is pretty old and dinged up, so each needed to measured and cut to different sizes. I had already drilled the bolt hole in the blocks before it occurred to me that the head needed countersinking. The only drills I have which are big enough to do that are augers and spade bits; neither of which will drill into a pilot-hole. Instead, I knocked a channel across the top using a saw and chisel. It's an ugly hack but good enough; no-one ever need to know.

A happy little friend that hung out while I worked. No idea what it is but being Australia, is probably deadly.

The architrave I made a year ago.

The blocks needed for securing the architrave.

The blocks installed.

Ready to measure the blocks before trimming to size.

All installed.

From above.

Then I needed to cover up an unsightly seem between the door and window frames. I found a piece of moulding I must have bought for the job and since forgotten about. A little scrub with the rasp shaped it to complement the bullnose edge of the architrave. The other end got a few passes on the shooting board¹ to trim it exactly to length.

To avoid splits when nailing, I drilled some pilot holes. A trick I learnt from somewhere to make perfect pilot holes is to remove the head from a nail and use it in your drill. It works just like a square awl, only cheaper and faster.

Before.

After.

Close up.

I then gave it some gap filler and brushed it over with some sealer/primer/undercoat all in one stuff.

Now in white.

I still needed to close the gap on the sides of the window. I didn't have what I needed so I took a drive to the hardware store for some sausages and tin of some sort.

I came home with a full belly and these.

I sliced them in half, clamped and screwed them onto the container and nailed them onto the architrave.

Marked up for cutting

Clamped in place. I was a bit paranoid of getting struck by a lump of iron on the back of the head, but all was okay.

All secure

And the other side.

And then I ran around with a tin of paint for a while putting on the colour. It needs a little more still but the rain came. Hopefully, it wont be another year before it's done-done.

With almost all the paint.

Also, please don't confuse anything that I say for advice. I'm not qualified to do any of this and am pretty much making it up as I go. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that most of what I'm doing is wrong. Ultimately, what I'm making is a shed (albeit a rather nice one) so I mostly haven't taken the time to learn how to do it the right way; there are enough obstacles preventing me from finishing without also trying to be correct.

¹ Shooting Board

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