How to Build a Wall of Windows

Purchase windows that are 22 inches wide or less if your wall is not going to be a load-bearing wall. If you plan on having your wall of windows as a load-bearing wall, you need 12-inch windows.

Measure the height of your windows. Add 1 1/2 inches to the measurement to account for the brace under each window. Label this number "N." Subtract 1 1/2 inches from the planned height of your wall to account for the top of the wall frame. Label the result "H." Divide H by N. The result is the number of windows that will fit between each pair of studs. If N does not divide evenly into H, use different windows or a different wall height.

Set a 2-by-4 on the floor where the wall of windows will go. Screw it into place. Lay additional 2-by-4s end to end to equal the length of your wall, screwing them each firmly to the floor.

Set additional 2-by-4 boards down side by side with the row you just laid, so that their ends match up. Draw a line across both boards, 1 1/2 inches from their ends. Use a carpenter's square to make the lines straight. Make another line as many inches from the first as your windows are wide. Make another line 1 1/2 inches beyond that. Continue making lines in this pattern along the entire length of the boards. The large gaps are where the windows go. The small gaps are where the studs go.

Cut as many 2-by-4s are there are small gaps. Make them equal in length to the height of your wall minus 3 inches. These are the wall studs.

Screw the wall studs into the gaps that you marked for them on the row of boards screwed to the floor. After the studs are in place, pick up the other boards that you marked, flip them over, and place them on top of the studs. Make sure that the tops of the studs fit into the small gaps marked on these boards. Screw these boards to the tops of the studs.

Count the number of gaps between studs in the wall frame. Multiply this number by one less than the number of windows that you can stack vertically between studs. The result is the number of braces to cut. Cut this number of braces, each equal in length to the width of your windows.

Screw a brace in between two studs. Make the bottom of the brace as far from the bottom of the wall as the windows are tall. Screw another brace above this so that its bottom is as far from the top of the first as the window is tall. Continue in this fashion until all of the braces are in place.

Insert a window into one of the spaces between studs and braces. Secure it to the wall frame by driving small nails through the window frame into the wall frame, or by using whatever method the manufacturer requires. Repeat this procedure until all windows have been installed.