window wood stops installation question

hello, man, I'm too stupid. and maybe this is a totally stupid question...but I'm toooo dumb right now. :oops: is there a trick how to install the wood stops without the risk to create awry corners or an overall awry frame? I started with the bottom stop. when i now install the left and right stops they'll be fine on the bottom one but when i put the top stop on top of the left and right stops I don't have a clue if it's awry in itself...know what I mean? do you use your window pane to adjust your wood stops? or just a MDF plate? or how do you make this? thanks, carsten

As long as it looks straight you should be okay. Anyway, you need to caulk between the stop and frame to fill any possible air gap.

jbassino wrote:

As long as it looks straight you should be okay. Anyway, you need to caulk between the stop and frame to fill any possible air gap.

Depending on the thickness/weight/mass of your glass, butyl glazing tape is fine as well... You need to be cautious of what type of caulk you use to seal inside the air cavity. You don't want to use anything that will out-gas and fog the glass on the inside. I used SilenSeal, but I think a butyl caulk such at OSI's SC-175 would be fine (if not better). Then seal the inner stop's glass facing surface with glazier tape. Put glazier tape on the outside stops, and then put your glass in followed by your outer stops/keeper plates. On the tracking room side, I ended up with just under a 1/8" gap on the top stop. Just yesterday, milled a 1/8" spacer on the planer and tacked that in with brads, and then applied the finish trim moulding. When I'm done with staining/finishes, it will be fine, albeit potentially visible... but that one little shim isn't going to distract so much that it's a problem.

thanks for the replies. but my main concern was more about the adjustment of the wood stops. due to the framework I did a couple of weeks ago and due to some bad lumber the main window frame isn't properly perpendicular. unfortunately I recognized not until I finished the 2nd layer of gypsum. The plan was to nail the finish moulding into this (now not perpendicular) frame. -> bad idea! one part of the frame is approx 2mm set back. the moulding would lay on the gypsum in one corner and over 3/4 of the top frame and not on wood. even if I'd use shims for the moulding there still will be the problem how to adjust and fix the stops without following the mistake and make things worse when I install the window. some pics: it should look like this: but one corner looks like this: anyway. I used a big MDF plate and clamped it on the bottom frame: here you can see the desaster: now that I have a plane plate I can measure what I need to adjust the wood stops... as I said in the beginning: "...but I'm toooo dumb right now" sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees... greetings, carsten

Not to worry... not everyone has a perfect framing job.... (Especially me!) Try taking a 12.5 degree angle across a 30 foot span, and then rotate it's vertical plane continuously by varying lengths that no one can actually calculate... You end up very appreciative of square walls... :) What you're really faced with right now is planing and sanding that corner, or shimming everything to that "high" corner... tis' up to you. If you plane and sand the corner, you'll have a bit extra to do to get your finish trim to fit flush on the wall. If you shim out the other 3 corners, you have to deal with where the shim needs to taper to the corner and making the shim the same width of your finish trim. That way it will sit square and you wont have odd little angles on your corners. Either way is a pain in the butt. I chose to sand and plane the high corner because I'm making all of my own trim moulding. Since my trim is simple square stock, it was easier for me to mill the back thickness than it was to make shim stock and futz around with mitered corners.

thanks madmax. :D indeed. pain in the butt. i think i will shim the moulding. they are all selfmade btw (like everything). another question :) do you think (or anybody else) stapling fabric between both inner stops may cause coupling? I tried to wrap and glue insulation but it looks like crap. greetings, carsten

No, stretched fabric looks and works good

yeah! phew. that's good news! I spent the last 4 hours trying to get this stuff look neat...no way... i love stapling :) stapling stapling stapling. coool. thanks, carsten

Another way to approach the window trim would be to rabbit out the trim edge to the width/depth measurement presented by the high or widest piece of jamb sticking out from the window. If it is going to be painted then you can caulk the joint that is made from cutting out the edge of the trim to fill it. Can you visualize what I am saying?

xSpace wrote:

Another way to approach the window trim would be to rabbit out the trim edge to the width/depth measurement presented by the high or widest piece of jamb sticking out from the window. If it is going to be painted then you can caulk the joint that is made from cutting out the edge of the trim to fill it. Can you visualize what I am saying?

DOH! Yeah... there's always a 3rd option, ain't there??? This might actually be the easiest of the 3! Easiest in terms of accuracy, time and quality of finish. Thanx for kickin' my brain into 2nd gear! (I needed that!)

That's what I do...kick people in the brain ;)

xSpace thank you, but...erm...to be honest.... nope :oops: to rabbit out means milling? if so, why should there be a joint when I'm milling the trim to fit jamb? greetings, carsten

Carsten, The "way" to do this is to take your trim moulding and set it to the side of your "high" corner. Then mark the outline of the high corner on your trim. Then, using a planer/sander/rabbit bit, etc.... you remove thickness of the trim from underneath the trim until it fits flush and square to the wall. The key is to only remove the width of your frame material... like a a rabbit or dado joint... a notch if you will. Hope that makes sense.

thanks xaMdaM. that's what I thought xSpace meant. I wasn't shure about the word "rabbit out" (haven't found it in the dictionary...). I did this already on one side of my doorframe's moulding. got it. thanks a lot, carsten

carsten, if I could speak your language, I would explain it to you that way :) Your a good guy!