Savvy Spex: DIY Internal Windows

Recessed vs Flush window

COLLECT IDEAS FIRST and adjust to your situation

The "L" steel mounting frame is probably the best and easiest and I got more interested in the "recessed" window solution than "flush" (on top of the wall so to speak). In "Flush" you need additional weight support at the bottom while in "Recessed" the acrylic sheet will be naturally supported within the wall.

When I first considered internal window and searched for information I stumbled across
a website about sound proofing but unfortunately the supplier was in California. Magnetically attached windows are common practice in the US and UK and this was and example of one very well explained.

PREPARATION THOUGHTS

The first thing to remember is to clear the space in the recess of your window so if you have roller blinds like in this example here:

you have to take them out of the recess and mount them on the wall above it.

If you need to know how to do that, detailed description will be HERE later.

Once this is done, you can move to wooden framing. Wooden frame will need to be put inside the recess, the main reason being: There is a good chance the window will be pretty far from having same measurements for vertical sides and horizontal sides. My unit was made in 1976 and I don't know - they may have been still drinking at work in those days - the windows are simply crooked.

Here is what I mean:

Uneven surface will be a common problem

Right angles? Look at the gap

The gaps are sometimes necessary to achieve same side lengths

These imperfections need to be fixed by wooden frame inside the recess.

Also, the wood needs to be leveled (ice cream sticks available in craft shops are great for that):

Ice cream sticks used to support the wood

The gaps will later be filled like so (more on which later):

Miraculously, I found exact size of pine beams in Bunnings:

110mm fit perfectly inside the recessed wall. You have to find the right width for your window.

What to be careful about:

Make sure that you end up with the same vertical and horizontal measurements when you fit the wood on the wall. The two opposite sides need to be the same or be as close as possible because when you have the acrylic cut to rectangle shapes, there would be gaps when you finally put it in place.

If you can't achieve that, you can have the sheets cut by laser: say your upper side is 5mm longer than the lower side, you cut the sheet accordingly, but:

- there will be additional cost of about $270 for setup and laser cutting

and

- your window will not be rectangular which might not be good aesthetic.

You need a good measuring tool. I found BOSCH laser measuring tool extremely helpful. You need to measure again and again and again and this thing is doing it in a matter of seconds.