We wish to add two small "fixed" picture windows (40 x 50 and 40 x 40) to the top floor of
our 5 year old house in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR) near each of the corners.

Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding and each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get anyone to return
our calls up here, so we are considering checking out Home Depot for buying the windows and
having them also arrange for contractor installation.

Has anyone used their contractor installation services for this type of a project?

Also, any "guestimates" for typical material and labor costs for such a project would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Buck

I don't know much about carprentry, but it sure looks like when they remove
a stud for a window they make the rest of the assembly 4 times stronger.
There's a king stud, a double header, a jack stud, and God knows what else.
Buy a book on it, do whatever it says and more.

Tim S.

"Buck Smith" wrote in message
news:qRWWb.292143$I06.3002635@attbi_s01...
We wish to add two small "fixed" picture windows (40 x 50 and 40 x 40) to
the top floor of
our 5 year old house in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR) near each of
the corners.

Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to
match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a
standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding
and each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no
electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get
anyone to return
our calls up here, so we are considering checking out Home Depot for
buying the windows and
having them also arrange for contractor installation.

Has anyone used their contractor installation services for this type of a
project?

Also, any "guestimates" for typical material and labor costs for such a
project would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Buck

In article qRWWb.292143$I06.3002635@attbi_s01,
"Buck Smith" wrote:

We wish to add two small "fixed" picture windows (40 x 50 and 40 x 40) to the
top floor of
our 5 year old house in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR) near each of the
corners.

Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to
match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a
standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding and
each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no
electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get
anyone to return
our calls up here, so we are considering checking out Home Depot for buying
the windows and
having them also arrange for contractor installation.

Has anyone used their contractor installation services for this type of a
project?

Also, any "guestimates" for typical material and labor costs for such a
project would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Buck

If you have nowhere else to go, there's certainly nothing all that wrong
with having Home Depot contracting one of their installers to do the
job. BUT -- I'd first ask how they intend to do that sort of thing,
because, well, studs help hold up your wall and there would have to be
some new 2x4 framing work done to support the windows. You'd also want
to make sure that whoever Depot contracts the job to pulls the proper
building permits from the town.

Matter of fact, why not first check with your town's building
department, especially if you live in a small(er) town? They often have
a list of contractors who are licensed and bonded to do work in town,
and they may have a reputable independent guy or two on the list that
you're not aware of.

AJS

I understand that Home Depot installers aren't supposed to do any structural
work. This would exclude them from this type of job.
You will need to do framing. Header to carry the load of the removed stud
and a sill plate for the window to sit on. Check with the a local lumber
yard for a contractor recommendation.
FWIW If studs are 24 OC than removing one leaves a 47 1/4 space. Close this
in with 2 jack studs and your rough opening is more like 44"

"Buck Smith" wrote in message
news:qRWWb.292143$I06.3002635@attbi_s01...
We wish to add two small "fixed" picture windows (40 x 50 and 40 x 40) to
the top floor of
our 5 year old house in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR) near each of
the corners.

Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to
match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a
standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding
and each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no
electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get
anyone to return
our calls up here, so we are considering checking out Home Depot for
buying the windows and
having them also arrange for contractor installation.

Has anyone used their contractor installation services for this type of a
project?

Also, any "guestimates" for typical material and labor costs for such a
project would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Buck

"Buck Smith" wrote in message
news:qRWWb.292143$I06.3002635@attbi_s01...
We wish to add two small "fixed" picture windows (40 x 50 and 40 x 40) to
the top floor of
our 5 year old house in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR) near each of
the corners.

Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to
match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a
standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding
and each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no
electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get
anyone to return
our calls up here, so we are considering checking out Home Depot for
buying the windows and
having them also arrange for contractor installation.

Has anyone used their contractor installation services for this type of a
project?

Also, any "guestimates" for typical material and labor costs for such a
project would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks ... Buck

Your going to have to add a header above the windows. The size of the header
will depend on what is above the area. Since your close to a corner I would
be thinking of a double 2x8. Then you need to add at least one more stud to
the outside of the ones that the header attaches to again depending on
loading. Either your going to cut a bigger hole inside or outside.
Unless you want to play Tim Taylor I suggest that you hire a contractor.

I once decided to remove a wall in my kitchen. Took the bugger right out. A
friend, a general contractor came over and took one look and said he had
forgot something. About an hour later he shows up with jacks. The ceiling
had sagged over an inch, seems I cut out a bearing wall. I do not remove
anything any more with out "Uncle Jim's" eyeball on the project. I could
have lost the whole roof and that end of the house.

In article FG4Xb.65104$F15.60279@fed1read06,
"SQLit" wrote:

I once decided to remove a wall in my kitchen. Took the bugger right out. A
friend, a general contractor came over and took one look and said he had
forgot something. About an hour later he shows up with jacks. The ceiling
had sagged over an inch, seems I cut out a bearing wall. I do not remove
anything any more with out "Uncle Jim's" eyeball on the project. I could
have lost the whole roof and that end of the house.

There ya go. Same thing happened to me, kinda sorta. The clowns who
owned our 1930s brick Cape Cod before we inherited it (was never
home-inspected before a family member got screwed on it when she bought
it) blew out a huge section of basement wall sometime during the 1980s
and ran a metal fireplace chimney thru it. Just took a sledge to both
the inner and outer layers of brick, shoved the pipe thru, slapped some
mortar on the outside hole and put up wall around the whole ball of wax.
Not only that, but turns out they hacked up one of the floor joists
(which supports the bathroom floor directly beneath the bathtub) and
left it hanging unsupported in mid-air all that time. On top of that
fine indignation, the dumb****s ran the chimney-ducting from the firebox
mere inches below the household gas line. Quite frankly, I'm surprised
that the place lasted 20 years beyond that without the whole place
blowing up or the wall collapsing. If there was a Dumb**** Past-Owner
Hall of Fame somewhere, this would certainly be a contender for it.

Anyway, we just did our basement rehab, and instead of bricking up the
hole, I thought it would be a fine place to put in a hopper window to go
along with the other like-style windows on the opposite walls and
provide more light and vent. Can't have too many windows, you know.
Nothing major, just nice a little 32x19. My contractor cut the brick,
jacked up the joisting, put in a new header and framing, installed the
window nicely, and removed the jack.

A day or two later, when firing up the bathroom shower, I couldn't for
the life of me figure out why I now had a good half-inch gap running
completely around the bathtub where a nice line of perfectly perfect tub
and tile caulk had been the day before.

Just a little anecdote that just goes to show you how ****ing with walls
and the difference between someone who knows what he's doing -- or not
-- can have an impact one way or another on your homeowning life. And
sometimes, even potentially the lives of you and your family. BTW, it
also instilled within me an incredible reverence for the concept of
having a home inspected before you buy it.

AJS

Thanks everyone for the advice.

As a result, we've decided to forget about spending any money on the house as it appears
that even the smallest of home remodeling jobs is more complicated than we thought.

We'll spend it an overseas vacation instead.

Buck

"AJScott" wrote in message
...
In article FG4Xb.65104$F15.60279@fed1read06,
"SQLit" wrote:

I once decided to remove a wall in my kitchen. Took the bugger right out. A
friend, a general contractor came over and took one look and said he had
forgot something. About an hour later he shows up with jacks. The ceiling
had sagged over an inch, seems I cut out a bearing wall. I do not remove
anything any more with out "Uncle Jim's" eyeball on the project. I could
have lost the whole roof and that end of the house.

There ya go. Same thing happened to me, kinda sorta. The clowns who
owned our 1930s brick Cape Cod before we inherited it (was never
home-inspected before a family member got screwed on it when she bought
it) blew out a huge section of basement wall sometime during the 1980s
and ran a metal fireplace chimney thru it. Just took a sledge to both
the inner and outer layers of brick, shoved the pipe thru, slapped some
mortar on the outside hole and put up wall around the whole ball of wax.
Not only that, but turns out they hacked up one of the floor joists
(which supports the bathroom floor directly beneath the bathtub) and
left it hanging unsupported in mid-air all that time. On top of that
fine indignation, the dumb****s ran the chimney-ducting from the firebox
mere inches below the household gas line. Quite frankly, I'm surprised
that the place lasted 20 years beyond that without the whole place
blowing up or the wall collapsing. If there was a Dumb**** Past-Owner
Hall of Fame somewhere, this would certainly be a contender for it.

Anyway, we just did our basement rehab, and instead of bricking up the
hole, I thought it would be a fine place to put in a hopper window to go
along with the other like-style windows on the opposite walls and
provide more light and vent. Can't have too many windows, you know.
Nothing major, just nice a little 32x19. My contractor cut the brick,
jacked up the joisting, put in a new header and framing, installed the
window nicely, and removed the jack.

A day or two later, when firing up the bathroom shower, I couldn't for
the life of me figure out why I now had a good half-inch gap running
completely around the bathtub where a nice line of perfectly perfect tub
and tile caulk had been the day before.

Just a little anecdote that just goes to show you how ****ing with walls
and the difference between someone who knows what he's doing -- or not
-- can have an impact one way or another on your homeowning life. And
sometimes, even potentially the lives of you and your family. BTW, it
also instilled within me an incredible reverence for the concept of
having a home inspected before you buy it.

AJS

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 11:03:31 GMT, someone wrote:

Matter of fact, why not first check with your town's building
department, especially if you live in a small(er) town? They often have
a list of contractors...

An inspector's ofice should absolutely NOT be recommending or
referring contractors. The opportunities/temptations for graft and
corruption are huge, as is the question of whether an inspector would
really fail work by his own recommended contractor.

I am not so naive as to think it is not done. In fact, I had one
inspector say to me, "I see you're gonna need a roof, here, give these
guys a call...." and he handed me his brother the roofer's business
card. Betcha ALL the brother's jobs passed - even if they shouldn't
have???

In most places in the US, anyone with a state license can do work in
the town, so a list of licensed people wouldn't be mich help.

-v.

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:43:35 GMT, someone wrote:


Nothing fancy, just standard white vinyl "new construction" double pane to match the other
windows. Existing walls have 2x6 studs at 24" spacing so we presume a standard 40 (48")
width should fit by removing only one stud. Outer walls are cedar siding and each window
will be located about 24" from an outer corner. Fortunately, there are no electrical wires,
etc behind the cut-out locations.

Surprisingly, it seems like this type of project may be too small to get anyone to return
our calls...

I too would be leery about returning calls from someone so
misinformed, who thinks that an exterior wall structural job is so
simple. I would fear that they would probably get all offended and
think they are being ripped off if something they think is so easy,
costs more than $1.98 and takes more than 1 morning. I also would not
want to have to take the time to give them the eductation they so
obviously need.

They actually sound like they think you just take out a stud and slip
in the window! And they are saying that they expect that removing one
stud when they are 24 inches ON CENTER would leave room for a 4 foot
window?????

Nah, I wouldn't bother either.

-v.