Expert: Dan Griffin - 11/7/2009

Question
i have a 15 year old brick home that has aluminum windows..we live in south Texas...homes here are built with 2x4 exterior walls and usually with 1/2" plywood and some type of vapor barrier like tar paper. A 1X4 is nailed around window openings and windows are then nailed or screwed to this board. Brick then is installed right up to window frame. My problem is i want to upgrade to better windows. Do i need to remove brick to access window frame retaining screws or should i just cut frame from interior side and reframe opening with wood and then install new window.

Answer
Steve, upgrading windows is all the rage.  YOu can order custom replacement windows designed to be installed in the hole after the old window is cut out.  The original nailing flange is sometimes left in the hole or the old jamb is destroyed and removed in pieces.

The replacement window is made to slide into the opening, pineed at the sides, and caulked in.  The may or not be a bit of trim work to do.

If you want to install new windows with nailing flanges, you will be reworking the brick.  This is not the usual way to go about it.  Ask a windodw salesman to come discuss it.  He will probably let a lot of information loose, he may tell you who his installer is, you may like his price better than doing it yourself.