Sexy Windows ~

Having recently discussed the cabin top paint project in my last post, I felt it fitting to share a little more on the lovely design aspect of the cabin top. This particular segment is on the big windows that are so recognizably Downeaster. Lets call them the "sexy" windows...


For this project I simply, removed the big windows, cleaned them with buffing compound, cleaned off old caulking, painted the cabin top, built an inner window framing, and re-installed the windows.  Easy as 1. 2. 3... right ?

Heres how it all came together, or should I say,  came apart.

Port side forward cabin window.

Port side forward cabin window removed to show inner window sill.

Another view of port side looking aft.

And now a view from inside.   Here you can see just how thin the inner window sill is. About 1/4 inch.  I have seen other Downeasters that do not have this recessed lip or window sill to receive the window. In that instance the window seems to be caulked directly to the outside cabin top.

One of the main features of "sexy" windows is their lack of fasteners. They are simply held in place by a super thick bead of caulking.  If fasteners are used during installation, they are simply removed and the holes are filled with caulking.  This is the method I used to install my windows. However, one thing still plagued at the planning for this project...  my concern with the thin fiberglass window sill being to thin.

This begins the inner cabin top framing project.

Another aspect of this inner framework was to have a place to mount the new interior siding. The previous interior was constructed of a few thin strips of wood and some foam glued to the cabin ceiling walls, followed by some vinyl material stapled to that.  It looked fine, but had stains and rust spots where fittings had leaked through the deck. All interior headliner and ceiling liner were removed to properly seal up leaks in the deck.

 Here you can see the foam and wood which was glued and taped in place. The vinyl is the material hanging down with the stained up corner.  Someone had spent alot of time or money having this headliner built, but forgot to seal up the deck leaks first... sadly, I had to rip it all out!

Here is a view of the cabin top ceilings before removing the headliner. It really did look decent and I was pretty gutted to have to remove it all. I saved all materials of this headliner and siding not knowing if I would use it again or not.

After extensive research I decided to abandon the old stuff and replace it with new teak plywood. I love the warm look and feel of wood inside the boat and have decided to use it as much as possible to restore the interior.  I found a wonderful distributer of these fine materials locater in south florida called  World Panel . They were very helpful in selecting the product I needed and after shelling out a few $$$ I had a stack of beautiful teak ply sitting at my door. I will resume this topic in another post on the new teal interior.

I began the cabin top inner framing project in the galley and worked my way around the inside of the boat.

 Galley interior with wood framing pieces cut and ready to be epoxied in place.


This interior framing will actually serve two purposes. 1 being an interior structure to mount the teak siding onto. 2 an interior strengthening structure to give the cabin top more rigidity and solid feeling.

Here is the v-berth area before framing is installed.

Here are a couple shots of the framing epoxied in place.

I had to use a thinner strip of wood for the areas around the bronze portlights since they are nearly flush mounted to the cabin top ceilings. 

This is an image of the bronze portlight and the template I made to cut the holes for the teak siding.  More on this later.

This is the area near the galley and the big window holes. 

 Here you can see the inner framing or window sill framing.

This step of framing was necessary to allow a smooth transition from window to teak siding. Also giving the window frame more strength.

The big windows being prepped with masking tape and dry  fit in place.

 

Port side view of the cabin top and windows being masked.

Dow Corning 795 Silicone Building Sealant commonly used to install big panes of glass in buildings.
The screws were used to hold the windows in place while the caulking cured. The small black rubber rings were used as spacers to hold the windows off the surface about a 1/4" to allow for a thick bead of sealant.

Massive amounts of sealant laid into the window recess to build up the 1/4" bead.

I used a suction cup window holder to position the windows in place while putting in the screws.

After fitting the windows with screws the sealant was squeegeed smooth to fill all voids.

Lindita sitting dockside looking good with her big "Sexy" windows!

 All sealed up and ready for the next rain shower ~