BobVila.com

Matt Alexander is getting ready to install the new Pella French doors. The rough opening is 72' x 82'. Originally there had been a window where the doors will be installed. Matt and Charlie cut it out, put in bigger studs, headed it off with 2 x 10s with a 3/4" sandwich. Bob points out the way Matt and Charlie maintain the plaster in good condition when cutting through a section of old lath and plaster. They take a length of strapping and use screws to firm it up right into the studwork to prevent the reciprocating saw from damaging it. Matt has used aluminum flashing at the base of the door installation to keep water from getting behind and rotting out the house when it runs down. The door comes with nailing fins that fold up at 90 degrees to the door. The installers will nail through the fins to attach the door behind the cladding. For waterproofing they apply a bead of sealant underneath the door at the sill and a bead behind the fin. The most important part of the installation is ensuring that the door is good and plumb so that it will swing properly.

While on the third floor of the Medford house Bob looks at the Pella window installation in the gable end. The architect's original plan called for one big glass triangle but this would have involved a great deal of structural reworking, so the plan changed to installing two smaller triangular windows with 2 x 4s retained in the middle maintaining structural stability. In a flashback to the installation, carpenter Matt Alexander removed the exterior wall covering from the area and used a chalk line to mark the opeing for the new windows. next he cut away the sheathing with a reciprocating saw to create the opening, folded out the nailing flange on the custom Pella windows and nailed the flange to the sheathing. The windows are aluminum-clad, with double glazed argon-filled low-E glass.