Boarding up windows

Gary Fowler · Oct 17, 2019

3Ts said:
If you can't replace the window and you can't nail or screw into the siding/framing beside the window, I'd remove the window and cut a piece of plywood a little larger than the opening and use a carriage bolt thru the plywood in each corner so that it is inside the rough opening and use a 1x on the inside in each corner that the bolt goes thru and put a washer and nut on it. If need be, you can also use a foam gasket on the top and sides of the outside plywood for a better weather seal. That way there are no holes in your building and is about as secure as you can make it.

Good answer. Short of replacing the window, this seems to be simplest.

EddieWalker · Oct 18, 2019

Plywood or OSB are going to require something solid to anchor it to.

Instead of dealing with that, I would get a roll of ZIP Tape from Lowes for about $26. Then cut some foam and tape it in place.

Edit. After posting I thought that you could just tape the glass into place and not cut anything to fit the opening. If the glass is still there and it's not broken, then ZIP tape it back into place an deal with it in the Spring.

ZIP tape is pretty impressive stuff and it will easily stay in place for years, if not forever. You will only need a little bit of the roll for this, and then you will find that it's what you use for everything else, all of the time.

LouNY · Oct 18, 2019

I'd be tempted to pull the window and trim, measure the hole and get a piece of lexan cut to fit and install it,
that way you will still get a bit of sunlight thru and into the building.

bigtiller · Oct 18, 2019

posted by Eddie

Edit. After posting I thought that you could just tape the glass into place and not cut anything to fit the opening. If the glass is still there and it's not broken, then ZIP tape it back into place an deal with it in the Spring.

I wish I would have known about that tape YESTERDAY, I could have been done with it for a few months. :laughing:

After reading all the posts and looking at the forecast, I went to Menards yesterday and bought some ceder 8" siding. That great big you-fix-it store doesn't sell any thing to match what I have.

The only beveled siding they sell is ceder. Everything else is ship-lap.

If I can get the glass out without breaking it or bleeding, the rest should just about fall out with a little nudge. So with my luck, I'll be working till dark just to get the old window out today.