How to Install a Recessed Window in a Stucco Wall

Scan interior walls with a stud finder to locate wall studs or framing. Cut a peephole to see if any wiring or plumbing runs near the planned window space before continuing your work outside the building or home. Route plumbing or wiring away from the space before starting outside work.

Measure the exact wall space your window requires on the stucco wall's exterior. Allow room for the window, its framework and the stucco border you will need to add back. Pencil the corners of the opening first by drawing tiny circles. Mark the exact shape of the stucco you will remove by snapping vertical and horizontal chalk lines between corners, if the window space is large. Ask an assistant to help you hold the chalk box and snap the string. Check that the lines are level and plumb, using a 4-foot carpenter's level.

Drill holes at the corners of the window space with an electric hammer drill and masonry drill bits. Take out the stucco section of wall to make room for the window by using a chisel and hammer along the lines you've drawn. Remove the stucco section using an air chisel, as another option.

Cut the stucco using an electric circular saw and a masonry blade if the stucco is decades-old and extremely hard. Treat stucco like cutting stone if it was installed in the early 1900s, for example, given that more lime was used in concrete during that time. Watch to see where the metal lath begins, so you won't cut away the metal you will need for attaching a new stucco border. Cut the metal with the saw, leaving about 4 inches of wire in place around the window. Expect to see sparks when the saw hits the metal. Take out stucco with a pry bar and keep working until you reach the wall's wooden framework.

Move to the interior of the house. Measure carefully to build a window-opening frame that will fit the manufactured window you will install. Cut a header to fit over the window opening, along with cripple studs above the header. Cut jack studs to fit on each side, along with trimmer studs to support the window opening. Nail cripple studs into place under the window opening to reach the bottom floor plate.

Replace insulation in the interior wall as needed. Screw drywall or apply plaster over the studs and finish the wall space surrounding the window.

Dry fit the window into place. Nail or screw the flange areas of the window into place after setting the window on a level, rough windowsill. Cut a continuous strip of wood to rest the bottom of the window on instead of using wooden shims. Complete the exterior of the window and all stucco components, saving the interior windowsill and trim for last.