Installing Windows – Large Ones
AdamT
| Posted in Project Management on
I’m calculating the weight of some of these large triple pane windows, some of which can weigh more than 600lbs!
Have any of you installed these monsters, even on second floors? If so, how’d you do it? Any recommendations to help me and my crew be safe and successful?
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Same issue summer before last. 6060 casement for second floor. Double pane vinyl clad wood, so lighter than a Euro style triple, but still a beast.
We used specialized suction cups and a block and tackle. It worked okay-ish.. The nailing fin (which your windows might lack) helped, as we clamped onto that to lift and just used the suction cups for handles. Pretty sure I wouldn't use that method with something any heavier.
Since then, I've purchased aluminum pump jack scaffold to do siding, which I ultimately intend to resell. Wish I had bought it at the beginning of the project, as it would have made a lot of things easier, including all the 2d floor window installs.
Yeah, I've heard of the pump jack method as a suggestion. If you're reselling, I might be a buyer (though I'm in CT).
What did you attach the block and tackle to? Assuming it was exterior to the building...
Shipping to CT would prob. not be worth it. I got my stuff (Titan brand) from Badger Ladder out of WI. Better deal if you go direct than thru their Amazon store. Think I paid ~$3500 for 24'.
My building has almost no overhangs, so I ran a line between trusses, and tied off in the attic. This was before soffits or ceiling were in, but after the roof.
Again, I wouldn't recommend that method. There's a certain, shall we say, pucker factor. If you're doing a whole 2 story house with you and a crew, you'll use the pump jack scaffold for a lot of stuff. Prob. worth the investment. I rented pipe scaffold for a lot of the early construction, or worked off ladders, and much prefer the pump jacks. YRMV.
Yeah, one idea is to hire a team of moving guys, the type that moves grand pianos, inground swimming pools etc., and have them move the windows from the onsite container to the proper floor in the building. From there, window material handling equipment can take over.
If you are talking about tilt and turns, the operable element comes out esaly and the fixed glass is pretty simple to remove once you get the hang of it. To remove the operable you only need to pull the top hinge pin (comes out with a flat head) and lift it off the bottom hinge. For fixed section the glass retainers inside are snapped into the frame and can be removed using a sharp tool of some kind (I use one of those 7 in 1 painters multi tools). The glass is not glued in, simply sits on a bunch of spacers and can be lifted out. Speaking of spacers don't loose them and mark which one goes where as these need to go back.
The frame on these is reinforced, so you can install the frame no need to try to manhandle the whole assembly, plumb, square and level and re-install the glass/operable section.
For lifting random heavy items, I have made a DIY version of a roofing trolley hoist. This is a budget 120V hoist mounted on a set of trolleys in a heavy duty barn door rail suspended bellow a long length of 4x4. The 4x4 is mounted to the top of a scaffold section so the material can be pulled onto the scaffold once hoisted up. I've used this for lifting everything from 4x8 sheets, windows, doors, long spans of LVL/I-joist and even kitchen cabinets.