Questions on putting in windows

[southpennrailroad]

I work for a window company and for $100.00 I got two windows. Both casements/vynal double pane. The smaller one I installed in the back where the trailer is parked in the shade and I installed it like an awning window. The second one I installed it tall and opens out in a fashion that when traveling the window can stay opened for air to deflect off the glass.

[lrrowe]

Interesting.
Can you post some photos.

[brandon32689]

I'd like to add a window to my door on my cargo trailer. Where is the best place to order a window?

[sbshaver]

Has anyone ever tried using home depot metal sliding windows on a ct conversion. They obviously arent rv windows but am wondering if it is doable and practical. They are cheaper....

[Doublacola]

I am planning on using this type of window. Is there anything wrong with this type of window. It does have safty glass.And the price seems goo?d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHED-WINDOW-PLA ... 19f379bb47

[Prem]

Regular (untempered) window glass is really bad to put in a trailer because it breaks rather easily and into sharp, deadly shards/blades. Tempered glass shatters in small, round shards but is pretty resistant to breaking in the first place. BUT laminated safety glass is far safer and tougher. It's what your car/truck window and windshield glass is. The larger the window in a trailer that bounces down roads, the more one needs laminated safety glass to keep it together. Laminated means it's got two layers of tempered glass with a really strong, stretchy, clear film gluing the two layers together.

<--- Plastic lenses, not window glass.

[dmdc411]

For windows look on e-bay. Bottomdollar surplus is a good source. You can get a lot of decent prices on supplies, but you do need to know what your paying for with some dealers. Something I thought of after reading this post. I would put a filler around any opening you cut in the skins. RV windows work like a clamp, squeezing the interior to the exterior skin, if you don't have blocking to sandwich the wall space, you'll loose the seal and it will leak eventually. Its also good to keep it all tight. This is my 2 cents of over engineering everything I do!

[Prem]

Measuring for the cut out

Don't use a carpenter's level (with the floating bubble). Measure and mark the cut out down from the bottom of the rain lip/trim edge on the exterior of the trailer.

Why? A trailer is not an immovable carpentry project sitting on a concrete foundation. It's on springs and tires. Level relative to the ground is hard to get on both sides of the trailer because the level changes with your body's weight inside, the trailer tires' pressure daily or with sinking into dirt/lawn. Measuring from the rain lip/trim edge keeps a very parallel line between your new window and the top line of the trailer on the outside.

Best wishes.

[lrrowe]

Great advice Prem,

I had thought of that before, but it escaped my recent thoughts. Escaped sounds better then forgot.

[Prem]

Follow up:

Draw the lines for the window cut out on the masking tape on the outside from measurements made from the exterior top trim. Just inside the top, bottom and side lines, drill 8 holes with a 1/8" or smaller drill bit. This will give you two points on each of the four sides to draw the line where the flat meets the radius corners.

Don't drill holes on four square corners outside the radius corners.

My favorite alternative to this is using a long, metal-cutting, Bosch blade in a jigsaw. It cuts all the way through the skin, a rib and the interior insulation and panelling in one pass. The window and the trim ring fit perfectly. This only works IF you, a) are not cutting through more than one vertical rib and don't have to reinforce it with steel cross members, or b) are installing the 12" wide vertical slider RV windows that fit perfectly in between ribs. With this method, you can wire, insulate and panel the interior walls first.

Best wishes for a successful build.

[lrrowe]

I will use the long metal cutting blade approach. I will be cutting thru both the aluminum siding and the exterior applied 3/8" plywood in my case. Also I have pine board uprights which I have to go thru also. How I approach them will be determined when I get to that point.

Anyone: what am I doing wrong with my jig saw? While it may not be an issue with these side walls, when I cut most thicker boards or plywood, my blade curves and I do not get a straight cut looking down. I have used new blades with the same problem. I am using a good model Dewalt jig saw.

I do not think I want to hijack this post so I will ask this question in a new post. Please post replies there when you do reply. I will come back and edit post a link. Here it is: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=61861

[Prem]

my blade curves and I do not get a straight cut looking down

The Viagra/Bosch blade is stiffer. Cut slowly and go back over the undercut part slowly also. It comes out vertical.

[lrrowe]

[Prem]

P.S. You want to cut it once, so cut barely to the outside of the line you draw. 1/16 of an inch over the actual perimeter of the window is basically the thickness of the blade. This leaves you 1/8 of an inch net of slop side to side and top to bottom. Just right for expansion/contraction. If you have to re-cut for the inner paneling because the blade flexed and angled the cut, use the perfect outside skin cut as a guide, but just barely touch it (if at all) with the blade on the re-cut. Without the outer pressure on the blade against the outer skin, the blade will remain vertical giving you a perpendicular cut and a matching hole on the inside paneling (and insulation, if any). Go slow. Be accurate.

[dales133]

P.S. You want to cut it once, so cut barely to outside of the line you draw. 1/16 of an inch over the actual perimeter of the window is basically the thickness of the blade. This leaves you 1/8 of an inch net of slop side to side and top to bottom. Just right. If you have to re-cut for the inner paneling because the blade flexed and angled the cut, use the perfect outside skin cut as a guide, but just barely touch it with blade on the re-cut. Without the outer pressure on the blade against the outer skin, the blade will remain vertical giving you a matching hole on the inside paneling.

X2 it's even self harder to remove a small amount of material than to cut it right first time.
Measure thrice cut once.
With my doors I sanded the opening down to fit but it's a real pain in the arse if you don't need to