Window Installation
Installing New Window Trim on your new Window installation

New Window Installation

We recently were called in to finish off and paint an exterior new windows installation on a house.

This was an older house that needed all the windows to be replaced. You should make sure though that when you get your windows installed that they are clean, if not you should check out someone like the eavestrough cleaning company. However, this window installer did a good job doing the window installation there was one problem with the interior part of the installation. Since he was on a window installer and not a finish carpenter the finish work on the inside window frame and casing would not fit properly making the window a unfinished looking installation.  On older homes the wall thicknesses can vary even from window to window. A window is set into a window jam and the jam should be the width of the thickness of the wall at the interior wall. In other words the window jam or windowsill should be flush with the trim molding/casing. In this case the window jam was sometimes as much as 3/8 of an inch wider than the wall thickness making the jam stick out past the wall. The finish carpenter that did this work attached the window trim/casing onto the jam creating a large gap between the wall and the casing. Unfortunately the owner of the home couldn't do anything except call Mississauga handyman to come and rectify the situation, which we did. We had to create a wood filler/wedge piece or strip of wood and apply glue the inside part of the wedge that would fit in directly behind the window casing. We inserted the wedge in between the wall and the casing and then nailed the two pieces of wood together. This closed up the large gap between the window casing and the wall. Now all we had to do was to caulk in fine narrow strip between the wood filler (wedge) and the wall. If you have large gaps on your trim between the wall whether it be your window or your door it is best to fill the gap with a solid piece of wood because if you caulk it in or plaster it you're either going to have a untidy looking finish or it will fall out and crack again if you plastered it. Most window installers will be aware of this type of situation, but in this case they hired someone who had no experience or didn't care what the finished product look like. On smaller gaps between your trim and wall caulking is okay but as the gap gets bigger caulking starts looking untidy. What you want is a nice crisp clean line between the trim and the wall but if you insert a large section of caulking it will be hard to create a nice straight line between the two. Another quick and dirty way of fixing this type of problem is first filling in the gap with quick dry plaster. Again depending on the size of the crack this might and might not work. If the crack is small enough it should be relatively easy to fill it in smoothly. Let the plaster dried totally (we usually use sheetrock 20) this sets up quickly dries for sanding it a few hours. This method is a quick and dirty method for filling up a crack between the wall and the trim but the problem is that if the house shifts or moves slightly it will develop immediately a hairline crack at the joint and then you will have to caulk and with some latex paintable caulking.
Mississauga Handyman
Address: 3778 Corliss Crescent
Mississauga, ON L4T 2Z5
Phone: (416) 568-3547
Email: mississaugahandymanservices@gmail.com