How to Remove a Window & Install Glass Block

Remove the trim from around the window with a pry bar. Measure the frame of the window to determine how many glass blocks and spacers you will need. If the opening will not accommodate whole blocks without cutting them, you will need to enlarge the window.

Cut the window seals with a utility knife and carefully remove the window. Have someone standing outside to put gentle pressure on the window so it doesn’t fall out of the opening and onto the ground.

Cut 1 inch by 4 inch pine sections to length to reframe the window. Use a carpenter’s square to make sure the frame is square. Nail the sections together to form the frame, and fit the frame into the opening. Nail the frame to the wall studs. If necessary, insert pine shims to make the frame level and square once it is placed in the opening.

Set a ½-inch thick bed of glass block mortar on the frame sill. Attach foam rubber expansion sealer on each side of the frame. Place an “L” shaped spacer in each bottom corner. Place one glass block in the lower left corner, placing a “T” shaped spacer under the opposite bottom corner of the block. Continue this process to complete the first layer of blocks.

Spread another ½ inch thick bed of mortar over the first layer. Repeat the process beginning with an “L” spacer in the left corner. Instead of using “T” spacers for the interior blocks, use square spacers. Continue adding layers until you reach the top of the window. Insert a foam rubber expansion strip between the top layer and the top of the window frame.