[Greenbuilding] Window insulation/installation

[Bruce Donelson]

two 'green' homes (to be leed cert) I've recently
worked on did not have trimmers for the most part,
just king studs with sill and head for the window ro.
Headers that need to transfer load were hung on king
studs with metal brackets and or had unique framing
assemblies where the header ran beyond the ro on each
side of the window.  turning the king studs around the
window to trimmers

I assumed this was a new 'standard' in material
efficient framing and am a little surprised to find
you guys talking about trimmers.

Is this just a personal preferance for most of you
(want the nailing area for trim) or is it off the wall
to frame as I've described?

we've used grace's vycor for our window flashing.  we
wrapped the sides and bottom keeping vycor on framing
and sheething under the house wrap, then installed
window, then a strip of vycor along the head of the
window tucked under the housewrap and covering the
window flange.  housewrap goes over the window flanges
and gets taped.  if that's confusing at all just try
to picture the drainage plane and you'll get it.
sound good?


Well, I like the trimmers for a few reasons.
1. They transfer loads well, and don't need hardware, which impedes the
framing flow when assembling and stacking walls.
2. They hold our outside trim (usually a 1x4 of one sort or another) flat
and keep the trim from twisting, etc.
3. They give us a surface that is exactly in line with the window, because
we slide the trimmers over to the window as we install the window. This
really helps if the window is wrapped with sheetrock, because the
sheetrockers almost never will shim the rock over the framing to achieve a
uniform reveal around the window.
4. We dont have to worry about backer rod etc., because there is no space
around the window. Any space is between the trimmer and the king stud, which
we can foam easily without worrying about the foam distorting the window.
I've never seen foam distort a 2x6.

Bruce Donelson
A Better Builder