Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

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baycitymi
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:38 pm

Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#1 Post by baycitymi »

I've got a home, nearly 100 years old, with single pane glass steel casement windows that look like they are set into the brick walls and sills. HOW in the world do I get them out?? Also have interior sills made of black milk glass, can they be saved? signed, Single But Determined Lady

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Windows on Washington
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Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

The preservation of the glass sills will depend largely on how they were attached to the steel.

You have what is commonly referred to as a steel pan window and the steel that you see is directly affixed to the stud framing of the home and wraps around block walls in some cases. You will need to cut out all the material and given the age of the window, you will be likely impacting lead paint so take the proper precautions.

If you cut the window out in sections, you can probably get the sill section out with the glass attached and try to pull the steel from the glass vs. the glass from the steel.

It is no small task and the new windows will have to be reframed (jamb extensions) and trimmed out.

seadoo
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Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:12 pm

Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#3 Post by seadoo »

I once saw a guy hook a tow chain up to the hitch on his truck and jerk a steel casement from a similar opening. :shock: Hard to believe but true.

baycitymi
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:38 pm

Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#4 Post by baycitymi »

:shock: I have to wonder what else came out with that window! :o I don't think that will be at the top of my strategies but you never know what will be born of frustration!!!lol

seadoo
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Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#5 Post by seadoo »

A few bricks. It could have been worse. Frustration is exactly what led him to do that. It was his own home. The point to take away is that steel casements can be very difficult to remove.

Alsatian
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 9:14 am

Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#6 Post by Alsatian »

There are two possibilities. If the steel casements are original to the house, the frames could have frames that fit into mortar joints as the wall was being built. These frames have to be cut out. In your case though, since your house is 100 years old and steel casements date from about WWI, there's a very good chance your steel casements aren't original. In that case, you have to figure the windows are screwed into the the pre-existing wall. Find the screws and the windows can be dismantled out of the wall without doing any caveman damage. Even if the casements are original, not all steel casement windows had fins set in mortar. Many brands screwed in.

Window4U (IL)
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Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#7 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Hire an experienced window installer. This is no job for a weekend warrior. You could get hurt very bad and/or create a mess beyond belief.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Steel Casement set into brick, how to remove??

#8 Post by Windows on Washington »

+1

Not a journeyman's project.

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