Hi Andy, and apologies for the looooong delay...
What kind of insulation did you use for your guy in Canada - un-faced fiberglass
It doesn't really matter: As far as I recall, we used Roxul mineral wool panels for there, probably around 50 kg/m3. But it's not critical.
Firstly the good news is that I talked to the building inspector yesterday and he confirmed that in Virginia I am allowed to block, fill, or cover the existing basement windows -
Good news! That will make things easier.
My plan is to follow the approach described here in this thread for the window plugs, but was considering using the "Great Stuff" spray foam in place of the EPS foam board. The reason I'm considering this approach is that it would form itself around all of the detail of the existing window (handle etc.) with no board cutting required, and no air gaps whatsoever. From what I can tell it is closed cell, so this is likely the one legitimate use for the product in building studios
So does that seem ok to you?
That sounds like it should work OK, but I'd suggest painting the glass on the inside before you spray; it wouldn't look to pretty from the outside, to see the glass all yukily foamed up... Just paint it black, or white, or whatever color takes your fancy, taking care to leave a smooth finish.
If I look to get a replacement IGU made with laminated safety glass I will have a third leaf scenario. Do you think this will be significant? If so, would I be better off to replace the IGU with a single pane of glass and try to create some kind of spacer to bring the panel up to the same thickness as the 7/8" IGU? Or perhaps you have some other ideas on how to approach this?
Personally, I'd replace the glass with a single laminated pane, thick, for the two reasons you mentioned: acoustic (avoid 3-leaf) and better resisting the attacks of enraged balls! Laminated glass can take more of a beating than IGU or non-laminated glass... You are in a cold climate, so normally IGU would be a better bet from that point of view, but you are planning to seal this thing up with foam, insulation and another thick layer of mass, so I wouldn't worry about the thermal issues.
I was just reading through this thread and coming to the conclusion that I would indeed need to replace the glass with one single pane of laminated glass when it occurred to me that the vinyl frame itself would likely then need replacing with wood or steel too - as the vinyl frame is likely hollow right
Don't sweat it too much: The vinyl is probably fine. But if you could replace the entire window with something that has thicker, more massive frames, then that would be a good option. But once again, I wouldn't sweat it too much: PVC is pretty dense, at about 800 kg/m3, and that framing isn't as thin as you might expect. There are also likely several layers in their, with gaps between them, so it's a lot more complex that you'd think at first guess, and will be pretty decent. Here's a picture I found online of what a typical vinyl frame for an IGU window looks like internally:
PVC-IGU-frame-cross-section-3.gif
Am I totally overthinking this
Yup!
- Stuart -
Hence another point at which it would be a third leaf. I guess I could drill a hole in the frame and fill that too with the closed cell spray foam?
