I'm trying to tighten up my garage a little bit... there's two windows
on the lower level that were installed in a block wall with brick
facing. Unfortunately whoever did this didn't have a freaking clue what
he was doing, and to make matters worse, he was using brick with holes
in it, not solid brick, so a lot of the half bricks are really messily
split. There's gaps all around, and they were just shoved full of
fiberglass insulation - the only thing that kept this from being a rot
factory is that the upper level overhangs the lower level by about a
foot. I dug out most of the insulation and spray foamed the heck out of
it. What would be the best way to finish this off - just trim the foam
with a knife and paint right over it, or should I put a skim coat of
caulking over it before paint? I will need to go back and caulk some
places where the gap was appropriate and I couldn't get the spray foam
nozzle in it.

I know the RIGHT thing to do would be to knock out the brick and have a
mason come back and do it right, and then have a window guy put new
windows in (and if I were going to do that, I'd relocate both of them so
that they'd not interfere with walls and/or the stair stringer like they
do now... yeah, really...) but this is a garage, after all, and I have
stuff to spend my $$$ on in the house...

ideas?

nate

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replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
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Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires of
these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your garage? It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why that's a
problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that is bad? Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Dave M.

On Aug 8, 8:13 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires of
these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked on
the inside.

It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why that's a
problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.

Now that you mention it, I wonder if it might not be advisable to try
busting the half bricks out and replacing them; I have never done
anything like that before though so I don't know if this is a fun
afternoon DIY project or a can of worms I don't want to open.

nate

N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 8:13 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires
of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked on
the inside.

It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that
is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.


Maybe some really wide faux trim?

On Aug 8, 12:04*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 8:13 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Nate,

* *Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires
of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. *The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked on
the inside.

It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows that
is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. *The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. *It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. *It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.

Maybe some really wide faux trim?

Hmm, that gives me another idea, I could conceivably built a frame out
of 1xwhatever around the brick opening and then use trim on the face
of the brick, kind of like you'd normally see on the inside of a
window? then the gaps would be small enough to caulk and I'd just
fill the void with foam before putting the face trim on. Maybe...?

nate

N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 12:04 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 8:13 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires
of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked
on the inside.

It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows
that is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.

Maybe some really wide faux trim?

Hmm, that gives me another idea, I could conceivably built a frame out
of 1xwhatever around the brick opening and then use trim on the face
of the brick, kind of like you'd normally see on the inside of a
window? then the gaps would be small enough to caulk and I'd just
fill the void with foam before putting the face trim on. Maybe...?


How about faux shutters? They would certainly be wide enough.

If it weren't windows, I'd suggest the trick that architects use to disguise
design or construction flaws: vines.

On Aug 8, 3:22*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 12:04 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
N8N wrote:
On Aug 8, 8:13 am, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Nate,

Sorry but I don't understand your problems. Perhaps some pictires
of these gaps or whatever would help. Why are you insulating your
garage?

because I am running a dehumidifier in it now to keep my tools from
rusting, car upholstery from mildewing, etc. (I live near DC where
simply leaving something in an unconditioned space will ruin it) and
am considering adding a heat pump to make it a little more usable in
the summer/winter. The walls are already insulated and sheetrocked
on the inside.

It
sounds as if you want to somehow seal around these windows but why
that's a problem is not clear. Is it the framing of the windows
that is bad?

the windows just don't fit their openings. The gap ranges from 1/8"
to 3/4" between the window trim and the brick, and it was never
caulked.

Were
these half bricks installed backwards

Some of them were, yes. It looks like someone started to lay the
brick for smaller windows and then decided to put bigger ones in and
instead of knocking out the brick and starting over they just busted
the ends of the bricks off. It looks "OK but not great" to about 3/4
of the way up the windows (double hung BTW) and then it all goes to
heck in a handbasket.

Maybe some really wide faux trim?

Hmm, that gives me another idea, I could conceivably built a frame out
of 1xwhatever around the brick opening and then use trim on the face
of the brick, kind of like you'd normally see on the inside of a
window? *then the gaps would be small enough to caulk and I'd just
fill the void with foam before putting the face trim on. *Maybe...?

How about faux shutters? They would certainly be wide enough.

That would certainly cover up the ugliness, but wouldn't do squat for
weathersealing which is actually my highest priority. Appearance, eh,
it'd be nice if it looked nice, but I don't really care. The garage
isn't visible from the street (save for the main door) nor is it
visible from the neighbors' yard, nor is that side of the garage
really visible from inside the house or on the deck.

I'm still diggin' the trim idea, I don't know why I didn't think of
that before. In fact, a PO actually trimmed around the roll up door
with some plastic trim boards (and did another half fast job on that
too; he put the boards up but didn't foam behind them or caulk them to
the brick, nor did he install a weatherseal between the new trim and
the garage door...) which might just be the ticket - and I think I dug
some up when cleaning up around the garage. they are these white
plastic "boards" that look like one-bys but are definitely not made of
wood. I think I've seen similar stuff at Lowe's in the trim section.
Anyone use these, and I guess the real question is, are they
homogeneous, e.g. is there any problem with ripping one to make it fit
the space between the surface of the brick and the existing window?
(I guess I can find out myself with a little test later, if I get
motivated...) If those will work well, I could just buy some more of
those, and also some surface trim of similar material to finish off
the face. It'd look a little weird without trim at the bottom of the
window (because that actually has the brickwork done correctly) but
like I said, I don't really care all that much.


If it weren't windows, I'd suggest the trick that architects use to disguise
design or construction flaws: vines.

Heh. That, believe me, would be easy to achieve. I've been ripping
out mile-a-minute vine like mad; it's aptly named.

nate

Nate Nagel wrote:
I'm trying to tighten up my garage a little bit... there's two windows
on the lower level that were installed in a block wall with brick
facing. Unfortunately whoever did this didn't have a freaking clue what
he was doing, and to make matters worse, he was using brick with holes
in it, not solid brick, so a lot of the half bricks are really messily
split. There's gaps all around, and they were just shoved full of
fiberglass insulation - the only thing that kept this from being a rot
factory is that the upper level overhangs the lower level by about a
foot. I dug out most of the insulation and spray foamed the heck out of
it. What would be the best way to finish this off - just trim the foam
with a knife and paint right over it, or should I put a skim coat of
caulking over it before paint? I will need to go back and caulk some
places where the gap was appropriate and I couldn't get the spray foam
nozzle in it.

I know the RIGHT thing to do would be to knock out the brick and have a
mason come back and do it right, and then have a window guy put new
windows in (and if I were going to do that, I'd relocate both of them so
that they'd not interfere with walls and/or the stair stringer like they
do now... yeah, really...) but this is a garage, after all, and I have
stuff to spend my $$$ on in the house...

ideas?

nate


can you post some pictures somewhere? We can give better ideas when we
can see what the problem is.
--
aem sends...

"N8N" wrote in message
...
they are these white
plastic "boards" that look like one-bys but are definitely not made of
wood. I think I've seen similar stuff at Lowe's in the trim section.
Anyone use these, and I guess the real question is, are they
homogeneous, e.g. is there any problem with ripping one to make it fit
the space between the surface of the brick and the existing window?

Most of the faux wood products can be sawn like real wood. Ripping or cross
cutting should not be a problem.


Colbyt

aemeijers wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:

I'm trying to tighten up my garage a little bit... there's two windows
on the lower level that were installed in a block wall with brick
facing. Unfortunately whoever did this didn't have a freaking clue
what he was doing, and to make matters worse, he was using brick with
holes in it, not solid brick, so a lot of the half bricks are really
messily split. There's gaps all around, and they were just shoved
full of fiberglass insulation - the only thing that kept this from
being a rot factory is that the upper level overhangs the lower level
by about a foot. I dug out most of the insulation and spray foamed
the heck out of it. What would be the best way to finish this off -
just trim the foam with a knife and paint right over it, or should I
put a skim coat of caulking over it before paint? I will need to go
back and caulk some places where the gap was appropriate and I
couldn't get the spray foam nozzle in it.

I know the RIGHT thing to do would be to knock out the brick and have
a mason come back and do it right, and then have a window guy put new
windows in (and if I were going to do that, I'd relocate both of them
so that they'd not interfere with walls and/or the stair stringer like
they do now... yeah, really...) but this is a garage, after all, and I
have stuff to spend my $$$ on in the house...

ideas?

nate


can you post some pictures somewhere? We can give better ideas when we
can see what the problem is.
--
aem sends...

I'll try to get some up this weekend... I just foamed up some of the
gaping cavities (I ran out of spray foam last night; I woefully
underestimated what it'd take to do this) so if I take a pic now all
you'll see is gloppy expanding foam all over the place. I don't feel
like going back out there at the moment, either - despite the fact that
I don't have any standing water back there, the area by the garage is a
veritable skeeter-fest at the moment.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel