How to Install Windows Into Concrete?

Usually window openings in concrete walls are made by putting a window form into the wall form into which the concrete is poured. So after the concrete wall cures it has a hole in it where your window will go. If you already have a concrete wall and you want it to be perfect, and you are convinced that wall wont be perfect until it has a window, you will have to cut a hole in the wall with a concrete saw. And before you buy your windows, you should know that concrete is alkaline and it corrodes aluminum window frames.

Masking tape
Indelible marker
Hammer drill
16-inch-long masonry bit
Concrete saw
14-inch masonry blade
Pressure treated wood window frame
Masonry screws
Self adhering, treated metal flashing
Shims
Bubble level
Stucco

Instructions

- 1
  Mark the outline of your rectangular window on the inside of your wall with masking tape. Mark a window opening that will be about 3 1/2 inches wider than the window you want. The extra space will give you room to install a window frame and flashing.
- 2
  Mark the four inside corners of the masking with an indelible marker.
- 3
  Drill holes through the wall at each mark at the corners of the masking tape rectangle. Drill the holes using a hammer drill and a 16-inch-long masonry bit.
- 4
  Cut halfway through your concrete wall using the masking tape rectangle as a guide. Cut the concrete with a masonry saw with a 14-inch masonry blade.
- 5
  Mark the outline of your rectangular window on the outside of your concrete wall with masking tape using the holes you drilled through the wall as a guide.
- 6
  Cut through the wall from the outside using a masonry saw and 14-inch blade and using the masking tape rectangle as a guide.
- 7
  Push the concrete slab out of the window opening in your wall. Push from the inside out.
- 8
  Screw a pressure-treated wood window frame into the opening using masonry screws and a hammer drill.
- 9
  Flash the sill, header and jambs of the window frame with self-adhering, treated metal flashing. Flashing is a thin sheet of metal that is used to waterproof window and door openings.
- 10
  Fit and shim the window in the window frame. Shims are thin pieces of tapered wood that level windows in window frames. Check the squareness of your window in the frame with a bubble level.
- 11
  Nail the square window to the window frame. Cover the exposed flashing with stucco.
- 12
  Repeat this procedure for each window you want to install in your concrete wall.

How to Change a Rough Window Opening Size

How to Cut Concrete Wall for Egress Basement Windows

Windows