Hello,
We have a house from the 70s with a basement, the structure is wood, and the facade is brick.
A craftsman is going to install two 10x4 windows in the basement where there are currently only some glass blocks, which means they will also have to cut the hole a bit.
Normally, I know that you put some form of metal compensation at the top of the window to hold it up better. How do you do it here in the basement? Should a metal plate that goes across the top of the window be installed here as well?
We have a house from the 70s with a basement, the structure is wood, and the facade is brick.
A craftsman is going to install two 10x4 windows in the basement where there are currently only some glass blocks, which means they will also have to cut the hole a bit.
Normally, I know that you put some form of metal compensation at the top of the window to hold it up better. How do you do it here in the basement? Should a metal plate that goes across the top of the window be installed here as well?
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· Stockholms
· 1 555 posts
It seems that you need to cut downwards so the window opening becomes twice as high as it is now, while the width remains the same (considering glass blocks which are 20x20 cm with joints and the new window should be 12x4).
The beam's purpose is to support the weight from the house above, which is why a beam is placed above openings in load-bearing walls. The beam can be made of steel or wood. If you are cutting downwards, it should not affect the load on the beam likely situated above the window. However, if you plan to widen the opening, it might be necessary to modify the beam.
A little off-topic tip too: according to building codes, a window should be at least 50 cm high to function as an emergency exit. Now, I don't know the layout, if there are other larger windows in the room, and if you're considering a window that can be opened, but it might be a good idea to increase the window by another decimeter so you can crawl out if a fire starts.
The beam's purpose is to support the weight from the house above, which is why a beam is placed above openings in load-bearing walls. The beam can be made of steel or wood. If you are cutting downwards, it should not affect the load on the beam likely situated above the window. However, if you plan to widen the opening, it might be necessary to modify the beam.
A little off-topic tip too: according to building codes, a window should be at least 50 cm high to function as an emergency exit. Now, I don't know the layout, if there are other larger windows in the room, and if you're considering a window that can be opened, but it might be a good idea to increase the window by another decimeter so you can crawl out if a fire starts.
Thank you!
The windows are already in the garage, but looking back, I agree that perhaps it would have been better to choose slightly taller windows even though the rest of the basement windows are 9x4. The windows now waiting to be installed are actually the perfect size according to the measurements.
I talked to the craftsman who mentioned that when building the house, as you said, they place a beam above, perhaps siporex, and the glass block is installed later. So there should already be a load-bearing beam, but they will see how it looks when they remove the glass blocks. In this case, it is likely that it is a wooden beam considering the house's structure is wood.
I've seen in some houses that they just have some type of cast iron, and it's quite common for them to rust and need replacing.
There are 2 ways out from the basement, one up through the house where you come directly into the hallway, and one where you come up to the garage. Getting out through these windows would probably be very difficult, especially since they are top-hinged and only open to a certain degree. The advantage, of course, is that there's less risk of someone getting in through the basement windows, which happened to my parents, who have significantly higher windows.
In hindsight, I've naturally wondered if it wouldn't have been better to choose significantly taller windows, but once the windows are delivered, there's not much to be done; they did cost 18,000 - 19,000 SEK for 4 windows.
The windows are already in the garage, but looking back, I agree that perhaps it would have been better to choose slightly taller windows even though the rest of the basement windows are 9x4. The windows now waiting to be installed are actually the perfect size according to the measurements.
I talked to the craftsman who mentioned that when building the house, as you said, they place a beam above, perhaps siporex, and the glass block is installed later. So there should already be a load-bearing beam, but they will see how it looks when they remove the glass blocks. In this case, it is likely that it is a wooden beam considering the house's structure is wood.
I've seen in some houses that they just have some type of cast iron, and it's quite common for them to rust and need replacing.
There are 2 ways out from the basement, one up through the house where you come directly into the hallway, and one where you come up to the garage. Getting out through these windows would probably be very difficult, especially since they are top-hinged and only open to a certain degree. The advantage, of course, is that there's less risk of someone getting in through the basement windows, which happened to my parents, who have significantly higher windows.
In hindsight, I've naturally wondered if it wouldn't have been better to choose significantly taller windows, but once the windows are delivered, there's not much to be done; they did cost 18,000 - 19,000 SEK for 4 windows.
The craftsmen have now installed the windows! However, the seal above the first opening cracked somewhat in the brick. He said he will add mortar there, but I'm not sure if it will really help, I guess it's just for appearances. He has placed the window slightly further out to get better stability, whatever that means. I've specifically asked if nothing is needed to support the brick from below, but he insists that it's absolutely not needed? In this case, the craftsman lives just a couple of houses away, so I obviously want to trust him, but how does this actually work? I know my parents have cast iron above their windows, but that's probably instead of another type of beam (which is likely here in the form of siporex block or wooden beam).
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