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Is foam-only window installation OK?

2175kirby | Posted in Green Building Techniques on

We have a solid (structural) brick house and want to install aluminum clad wood windows without trim. We don’t any buck, flange, clips, or screws to be visible, so we are thinking foam-only between the window and the masonry opening.

Will this work to firmly hold the window in place, and act as a weather barrier?

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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | | #1

    Kirby,
    I've worked on a crew of German construction workers who used this technique: The windows were held in the rough openings with shims, and canned spray foam was used as an adhesive between the window frame and the rough opening. No other fasteners were used.

    When the spray foam was cured, the shims were removed, and the shim spaces were filled with foam.

    If you want to get approval for this technique in the U.S., I would talk to a technical rep at the manufacturer of the canned spray foam that you hope to use.

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