HOW TO Remove a Steel Basement Window

Do you ever think that Glass Block windows would be a good addition to your basement? We do!! Watch this video and get a good idea on how to REMOVE a STEEL framed basement window.

Transcript: 

How to Remove a Steel Basement Window

Do you have a basement window that looks something like that and you would like to remove it? Maybe put a glass block window in? Well, let's watch Jeff as he removes that steel window, and he can show you exactly how to do it for yourself. In fact, muster up the courage if you have a task like this, and let's just do it, but let's do it together as we watch Jeff remove this window.

Tools: So, this is a metal window frame. This old frame – sometimes you'll have wood frames in an older house, and those present different issues than metal windows do. So when metal windows are harder to get out, and we're going to step through that and show you how we do that. But some of the tools we use – we've got a lot, actually, because outside the house is not siding; it's a brick house. So everything inside is concrete, and outside is brick, so we have to handle this in a different way.

So what I have is two different types of grinders. I have one that will cut metal, and then one with a diamond blade on it to be able to take any mortar that I have to take off the brick once we remove this window. Then I have a couple of different-sized pry bars – actually three of them – because once I cut this, this is set in mortar. We have to pry and pound with a hammer, bend it to get this old frame out. These old frames have fins on the inside, and there's actually a slot between the block and the brick that that goes in, so it takes a little work to get them out.

But we also have this mortar that I'm using today because we're not building these windows. So I can go ahead and I'm going to use these. If we were building the windows, we would use a different type of glass block mortar. But this Quikrete mortar mix is appropriate for the job we have. I'm using straight knives today to be able to put the mortar in the joints that we do. We have a mixing bucket, I have a level to be able to plumb the window once we get it in. I have a couple of two-by-fours that I also bought that I'm going to have to rip because I want to reframe before I set the window on the inside here. And we'll see how we do that. I have shims; shims are necessary. Sometimes you don't need them, but we have to have them just in case we do, to firm that window before we start putting in the mortar mix.

And here's the window we have here that we're putting in today because this is a dryer place where the dryer goes. But we got a window that has a built-in dryer vent. So when you order a window like that, they're going to ask you where you want that vent, whether it's up here, whether it would be down here or any other place that would be necessary. But it's got to be specific to your need, and this one is going to be up on the left-hand corner where the old one is.

So we have everything we need. The mixing drill – I don't know that I mentioned that. So those are all the things that we're going to have to have to do this. I have a Little Giant ladder so I can get up and give myself support once I'm ready to do that window. That helps me to stand safely, and those are good to use for this. You can use a stepladder, but I prefer this. So I'm going to get started, okay?

Window Removal: We're ready to take this window off now. These windows – they have these slide bars, and with this when you lift it, this is an old rusty window. We there are slots at the end of the slot; it's open enough to get that notch out. So I'm going to try to pry this up with the bar because it's giving me some difficulty. I'm going to get under the loose side. There we go. I'm going to get that so that loosens up. Be very careful with the broken glass.

So I can take that. See how it came out the hole there? So this is working well so far. Do that with the other side here, and there, the window's out. All right, so now what we have here, this is metal, so to get this out, I have to cut this in half. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to get my grinder, I'm going to put on my goggles, and I'm going to cut that. I won't be able to cut it all the way through yet, but I'll show you what I do. Because once I get this cut, I can hammer it out, lift it, and then finish my cut.

Okay, so I've got my cutting wheel, and I'm going to cut this. Okay, so I put that that way. If I had it flipped the other way, the sparks and the particles from that metal would have been coming at me. So I put it that way; the wheel spins there and it takes it all out away from me. Just I don't like getting all that in my face.

So I'm going to take this chisel and I'm going to – like – two-pound hammer. Came off pretty easy. In fact, if you look at that, it's rusted. It'll probably – I probably won't have to cut that anymore. It'll probably bust right out of there. Again, you want to be careful because anytime you do anything, especially with a rusty piece like that, you don't want to cut yourself, you don't want things in your eyes.

So I'm going to take this other side out. Go right out. Now that's loose. You can take this pry bar, now underneath there, pull it to the side, and it just fell right out. Look at that. Well, that wasn't too hard. A lot of times, when we have these, they're harder to get out, but this one, because it's so corroded, was easy. So now what we have to do is we have to clean this all up here.

And there's like a half inch drop behind the basement wall here, so that won't affect how they make the windows because these windows come in specific sizes. All right, so very important that we clean this brick up. And if you notice here, you see the old mortar that didn't come off, we have to make this all clean so that because I have to frame this to a degree to get that window in.

So I've pre-cut some wood to do that, and you'll see how that all goes in, but we have to clean up the sides also so we have a nice clean surface. It's not going to allow obstruction to the framing we're putting in. So what I do is I have this chisel and I take my hammer, and we just clean this up. If I have to use that grinding wheel with the stone wheel cutting wheel on it, that's what we'll do. But I don't know that that's the case.

Clean Up: I have to go from the outside on this one. A little more over here. Looks pretty clean. Okay, so what I'll end up doing is vacuuming this really well with my shop vac. Clean some of this up. That's coming up pretty easy. Now we can see why that window was getting replaced, so that's a real issue.

Okay, so this is cleaned up. We're going to – there's a little rise here in the mortar that I'm going to clean that up with my grinder and just make sure that we've got a good smooth surface. So here we go, make sure we're all good here. I think that should be pretty good.

Outro: And again, this is Dennis. You've just got done watching Jeff with Home Rehab Pros remove that window. You know what? You can do that yourself if you have that task. Get the right tools, educate yourself, and let's just do it because I know you can. You know what? We appreciate you watching. We appreciate our viewers, and we hope you come back for the next video. In fact, one of the next videos will be installing that glass block window. So thanks again for watching, thumbs up if you really liked it, and subscribe if you haven't already, and we'll see you in the next video.