The Window Swap has Started

I seriously thought I was going to pass out today.  Between not sleeping well......I think I have another gout attack coming on......and the temperature being 96 degrees, and having to work in the sun...it was rough.  I had the garden hose on the deck and just kept spraying myself to cool off.  I grabbed my water bottle to take a drink and it was not warm but hot.  So we called it a day at 5PM.  We were at a good stopping spot so that was a factor, too.

We had the delivery guys put the windows on the deck.  That will help us alot.  I think the lifting of the windows into the opening is going to require a floor jack, milk crates, and a lot of muscle on my part.  Floor jacks and milk crates I got but my shoulders are not the best.  

I injured my left shoulder 3 months before I retired.  But both of my shoulders have had injuries over the years that I just lived with until they healed.  The last injury wasn't getting better so they did an MRI on both shoulders.  They suggested surgery to repair multiple tears, remove a cyst, and remove bad cartilage.  

I talked with some co workers who have had the surgery and they said their shoulders were better but not perfect. Since they only do one shoulder at a time I would be out of commission for a year.  Yea right, I have a year to just waste.  So I know what aggravates my shoulders and I just don't do tasks that make them hurt.  I think lifting this double window might be one of those tasks.  But I'm biting the bullet in the name of ugly window removal.

The first window will probably take the longest time to install as we figure out our procedure.  Today it took us 3 hours to remove the old window which is actually two casement windows and a picture window.  

The new windows are about 6 inches shorter and overall 4 inches narrower so the next step is building the rough opening to the correct size.  The top will stay the same but we will build up the bottom of the opening and the sides.  We saved the interior trim and will cut it down to fit and then reinstall.  

We chose the window size of the single window on the southside to make up these double windows.  It was important to repeat the size to eliminate a look of haphazardness and make people think that the windows are original. 

We moved the umbrella over to the opening to give us some relief from the sun.  R also brought out a big fan which helped.

I was in such a hurry to get started I forgot to take a before photo.  But trust me when I say there was so much ugliness. 

Big gaping hole looks better than the old windows.

We wrapped the windows in a tarp JUST in case it rains.  Of course we needed to close off the opening to keep the cats in and the wildlife out.

We unwrapped the cardboard tube off of the concrete base for the support post.  It looks pretty good and by late afternoon was almost entirely white.  I used a piece of brick as a file to round off the top edge as it was sharp and a little jagged.  We will let it cure until this weekend before installing the post.  We still need to do more backfilling and leveling of the dirt and we will do that after the temporary posts are removed.  

 Summer is winding down and we are under the gun to get some projects completed before the snow flies.  Grrrrrr  Not looking forward to snow even though the 96 degrees was rather unpleasant today. Winter is just so dreary and driving in the snow can be stressful because you are at the mercy of drivers who have no idea what they are doing unlike during the summer when people are on their phones and no idea what they are doing.  So I guess it is the same but different.