About 7-8 years ago, I broke the window near my desk in my bedroom. My youngest sister from high school brought her friends over again. My mom didn't like them at first. They were different from the friends that she used to hangout with in school. Specifically, they were a rowdy crowd. Ever since she started hanging out with them, her grades dropped considerably. Heck, when she had a one-on-one sit down with her social studies teacher on how she can improve her grade for the semester, he told her that she spends too much time socializing with her new friends.
Other than my mom, I didn't like them. They were loud and came over when our parents specifically told my sister they couldn't come over. They were outside in the front of the house, making lots of noise. I reached the boiling point and snapped for a quick moment. That was enough for me to punch and shatter my window. I had the cuts on my knuckles to prove it. Told my mom I lost balance standing on top of my swivel chair fixing my action figure boxes above my desk. I don't think she believed me. Yeah, I have anger issues, which I'm still coping with to this day.
Fixing the window would have been very expensive. I was a freshman (probably sophomore, depending on how many credits I accumulated) and sure as heck didn't have money to fix it. The least best thing I could do was to cover it up. I removed the broken shards that were already loose and detached. I used the black presentation board I used for my science fair project in high school. It was a bang up job, but it did it's intended purpose. At least, I thought it did.
This was the lower window of the single-hung double pane window frame. The outer glass was still intact, so I had no issues with rain water coming in. I didn't know it was a specially insulated window at time. When I broke the glass, it released the gas (most likely Argon gas) between the glass windows for insulation. The insulation prevented moisture from fogging up the glass and lowered the sound levels from the outside. My cardboard cover-up didn't make the noise any dimmer. The black cardboard also absorbed more heat in the summer.
Over the past few years, I've been looking into fixing the broken window. I'm out of college and working. The only problem is that I wasn't really committed into fixing it. I also dealt with my break up. A few weeks ago, I started looking up ways to fix the window or a replacement. I decided on trying to remove the broken glass shards, remove old putty or caulk, apply the new glass fitted for the exact dimensions (which I thought about cutting myself) and seal it with the new caulk. I bought all the materials I thought I had. On the hardware store, I saw a guy carrying plexiglass. I ended up buying that instead of actual glass.
During my attempt at installing the new glass, I learned that the broken shards are wedged too closely in between the window frame. Fixing this was a lot harder than I thought. My mom told me to do more research on installing a new window. That's how I learned about double/triple pane and single/double hung modern windows. I learned about low-E windows (energy efficient windows), a window's R and U values for insulation and how to remove and insert the sashes from the window frame. I looked up pricing on various hardware stores. None of them are selling single-piece replacements. They also don't have the right dimensions. Our house is 16 years old. The exact model for our windows are probably no longer in stock. The more I looked into it, I realized this would have to be a custom job. I'm ill-equipped to do such a thing. I'd need a professional window technician to do the estimate and measurements, determining whether a simple custom insert replacement window would suffice or a full window frame replacement depending on the wooden frame (will it hold or is it rotten?). I didn't want to make it worse than it already is. Time to call it quits.
Since I removed the black cardboard from before, I made use of the white cardboard canvases I used for my LEGO videos. I cut them to the right dimensions, taped it up and stapled on the window. White should bounce off the heat for the summer. Fixing the window requires a full assessment of all the windows in the house. This will have to do.
I'm done.
Other than my mom, I didn't like them. They were loud and came over when our parents specifically told my sister they couldn't come over. They were outside in the front of the house, making lots of noise. I reached the boiling point and snapped for a quick moment. That was enough for me to punch and shatter my window. I had the cuts on my knuckles to prove it. Told my mom I lost balance standing on top of my swivel chair fixing my action figure boxes above my desk. I don't think she believed me. Yeah, I have anger issues, which I'm still coping with to this day.
Fixing the window would have been very expensive. I was a freshman (probably sophomore, depending on how many credits I accumulated) and sure as heck didn't have money to fix it. The least best thing I could do was to cover it up. I removed the broken shards that were already loose and detached. I used the black presentation board I used for my science fair project in high school. It was a bang up job, but it did it's intended purpose. At least, I thought it did.
This was the lower window of the single-hung double pane window frame. The outer glass was still intact, so I had no issues with rain water coming in. I didn't know it was a specially insulated window at time. When I broke the glass, it released the gas (most likely Argon gas) between the glass windows for insulation. The insulation prevented moisture from fogging up the glass and lowered the sound levels from the outside. My cardboard cover-up didn't make the noise any dimmer. The black cardboard also absorbed more heat in the summer.
Over the past few years, I've been looking into fixing the broken window. I'm out of college and working. The only problem is that I wasn't really committed into fixing it. I also dealt with my break up. A few weeks ago, I started looking up ways to fix the window or a replacement. I decided on trying to remove the broken glass shards, remove old putty or caulk, apply the new glass fitted for the exact dimensions (which I thought about cutting myself) and seal it with the new caulk. I bought all the materials I thought I had. On the hardware store, I saw a guy carrying plexiglass. I ended up buying that instead of actual glass.
During my attempt at installing the new glass, I learned that the broken shards are wedged too closely in between the window frame. Fixing this was a lot harder than I thought. My mom told me to do more research on installing a new window. That's how I learned about double/triple pane and single/double hung modern windows. I learned about low-E windows (energy efficient windows), a window's R and U values for insulation and how to remove and insert the sashes from the window frame. I looked up pricing on various hardware stores. None of them are selling single-piece replacements. They also don't have the right dimensions. Our house is 16 years old. The exact model for our windows are probably no longer in stock. The more I looked into it, I realized this would have to be a custom job. I'm ill-equipped to do such a thing. I'd need a professional window technician to do the estimate and measurements, determining whether a simple custom insert replacement window would suffice or a full window frame replacement depending on the wooden frame (will it hold or is it rotten?). I didn't want to make it worse than it already is. Time to call it quits.
Since I removed the black cardboard from before, I made use of the white cardboard canvases I used for my LEGO videos. I cut them to the right dimensions, taped it up and stapled on the window. White should bounce off the heat for the summer. Fixing the window requires a full assessment of all the windows in the house. This will have to do.
I'm done.
No comments:
Post a Comment