Install interior windows to lighten a dark room.
Windows built into walls that do not face the outdoors may seem like a strange design idea, but they were actually quite common in the past. Interior windows were common in crowded city apartment complexes at the turn of the 20th century, and inside large walk-in closets and pantries up until the late 1940s. Interior wall windows can bring natural light into an otherwise light-starved room. If you have a room that is uncomfortably dark, or if you just want to open up a view to another room, installing an interior window is a worthwhile project.
Instructions
1. Determine the location of wall studs. Studs are usually set on 16-inch centers. Use a battery-operated stud locator to find the studs and mark them.
2. Consider potential electrical lines that may be hidden behind the drywall. The presence of an electrical receptacle near the area where you want to install a window is a tip-off that wiring will be somewhere behind the drywall. Hand-held devices are available to help you detect electrical lines, but using them isn't mandatory as long as you proceed cautiously. Just be aware that electrical wiring could be in the area as you remove the drywall.
3. Measure the window. Add 1 3/4 inches of "extra space" to all sides of the window. These dimensions equal the size of opening you must make in the wall.
4. Draw the outline of the window on the wall. Use a level to make sure your lines are level to the floor, and perfectly straight vertically. This forms your cut line guide.
5. Punch or cut an entry hole on a cut line guide and in a section along the line where you do not believe a wall stud is located. Punch all the way through to the drywall on the other side of the wall. Use this entry hole to insert a hand-held drywall saw. Do not use a saber saw unless you are absolutely certain there's no wiring behind the wall.
6. Cut or saw the drywall, both layers, along the cut line guide. When you reach a wall stud, change your cut angle so you won't cut through the stud, but can still cut through the drywall. Cut slowly and try to pull away chunks of drywall with your hand so you can get a better view of what is located behind the drywall. If you feel any snagging or resistance to your blade, stop cutting. You might be coming up against an electrical wire or some other buried equipment. Remove all the drywall inside the cut lines and otherwise clean up your cuts on both sides of the wall.
7. Relocate any electrical wires that may run through your window area. You or an electrician may need to shut off the power, cut the line and create a splice with a junction box that detours well around the window.
8. Mark any studs that must be removed and modified to accommodate the window. Cut out these unwanted portions of the studs using a saber saw or a circular saw.
9. Hold up the window against the hole you made in the drywall. Use one or two assistants to help you. The hole should be 1 1/2 inches larger on all four sides than the window itself. These extra inches will be "filled in" with the framing you must build next.
10. Frame out the window opening using 2-by-4-inch lumber. Your frame must be attached to existing studs and have four sides, including a horizontal "header" board, a horizontal "footer" board and two vertical side board supports between the header and the footer. This roughed-in frame should resemble the shape of the window. It must be level and square at the corners.
11. Test your window for proper fit inside the framing box. Make any adjustments necessary in your framing box.
12. Insert the window into the framing box. Use shims to center the window inside the framing if necessary. The window should fit tightly inside the frame.
13. Nail or screw the window to the framing where indicated on the window sash by the manufacturer. Test the window if it is designed to open and close. The window frame should not move or shift inside the stud framing when you open or close the window with force. Add more screws or nails if the window frame seems to shift. It should be "rock solid" inside the structural frame.
14. Install trim around the window to hide the seam between the window and the drywall.
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