The triple pane
Schueco window and door units were delivered to the site a few Saturdays ago. The delivery crew consisted of two Tennessee bedouins. Sonia and I augmented the delivery crew. Good thing it was saturday so Sonia could help. The main picture windows and doors weighed in at better than 250lbs per unit. Triple panes deliver exceptional thermal performance (best Center Of Glass R-value is approximately 10 for our units) but not without significant weight.
Normally the delivery crew installs the windows. The rough openings weren't ready for immediate installation so my help quickly receded over the horizon. No harm no foul. I needed to examine the windows and doors to tailor the rough opening sill to suit.
Tailoring of the rough openings bought me time to think about just how in the hell I was going to move 250lb windows and doors into position. Installing the 2'x3' and 3'x3' units gave me some insight into what it would take to properly move and position the more intimidating units.
What the large units would take was more force and control than I could generate relying on pure muscle power alone; a situation I've encountered before during solo installations of Chevy V-8 power trains. When the going gets tough the tough chop big unsolvable problems into solvable chunks.
First up, how to hold onto a massive piece of plate glass. What I needed was
Powr-Grip performance at Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) prices. There is only one place to turn at times like these: Harbor Freight. Four
Dual Cup Suction Lifters with 125lbs of pull per seemed like they'd do the trick. And they did. Check out the airborne window below in figure 1.
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| Figure 1: Four Harbor Freight Dual Suction Cup Lifters vs. 250lb Window |
The 2000lb worm drive winch and 450lb pulleys of absolutely horrendous quality were again pressed into service. The framing I attached my lifting rig to had no problem during my monkey swinging load tests so I was fairly confident it wouldn't give up the ghost come game time.
Now, how to shift the massive window from point A to B. The Egyptians may not have had
mover's dollies at their disposal but I did. Included below in figure 2 is a picture of one of the picture windows on wheels.
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| Figure 2: Picture Window on Wheels |
I was a bit concerned about the dollies kicking out from under the center of gravity of the window leaving me with a pile of shards. Slow steady movement and positive control of the top half of the window prevented disaster.
Once the window was below its opening the lift rig was shifted over to the required location. After applying an appropriate number of fasteners to the rig blocks, the window was hooked up and lifted into the opening. Figures 3 through 5 below show the hoisting process.
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Figure 3: Window Tied to Framing Awaiting Lift Rig
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| Figure 4: Lift Rig In Place and Hoisting Window |
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| Figure 5: Window Hoisted Into Position |
First floor complete and in the bank. But what about the second floor? A much more intimidating proposition. Instead of hoisting the windows a foot or two they had to be moved at least nine feet vertically and then into position.
Genie makes material lifts that are commonly available at industrial rental places like United and Sunbelt. The trouble is the lifts typically available are the largest size Genie makes. That would amount to moving a 370lb device into my truck and then from my truck into the house. My motorcycle weighs about the same without fluids and moving that thing around is no walk in the park.
No problem. Just hook my lifting rig to the roof truss bottom chords, apply electrical power, and squeeze the trigger...or not. My Milwaukee 1/2" hammer drill moved the window about four feet vertically before smoke started pouring from the cooling/ventilation ports. I had encountered the same result before while hoisting the roof trusses but kept on going. However, the prospect of destroying a $1500 window that would take months to replace gave me pause. Time to upgrade.
Never one to throw the baby out with the bath water the Milwaukee 1/2" hammer drill was removed and replaced with an
el-cheapo 1/2" Heavy Duty Low Speed Drill from...Harbor Freight. That one upgrade made all the difference and is highly recommended for those cobbling together lifting rigs. Figures 6 through 9 show the hoisting sequence for the second story windows.
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| Figure 6: Window Starting to Make its Way to the Second Floor |
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| Figure 7: Window at Second Floor |
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| Figure 8: Window on Dollies |
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| Figure 9: Window Ready For Installation |
The two main doors were installed in much the same way as the windows. Man-1, Triple Pane Fenestration-0. Figure 10 smells like victory.
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| Figure 10: Windows and Doors Installed |
