Casings can dress up a regular drywall window nicely and aren’t very hard to install. Here, our home improvement experts explain how to case a window if you’re interested in doing it yourself. If you’d rather us do it for you, don’t hesitate to contact us and make an appointment.
- Measure the width of your new wood casing.
- Then, measure the width of your existing window stool.
- If your existing stool doesn’t extend past the drywall in the same measurement as the new casing plus 1/2″ (on either side), you’ll want to remove it.
- Use your utility knife to cut through the caulking and then use your pry bar and hammer to remove the stool and apron.
- After that, cut your new stool to the appropriate length (so that it extends 1/2″ past the casing width).
- Center the new stool along the opening and mark the edges of the drywall return.
- Then, measure from the window to the wall and transfer the measurement to the inner side of the stool and cut notches to fit.
- Slide the new window stool onto the window and use your hammer and nails to nail it into place.
- After that, mark 1/8″ past the width of the casing on each side and use that measurement to cut your top piece of casing. (Be sure to cut the edges on a 45-degree angle.)
- Align the top casing 1/8″ above the opening and nail it into place.
- Next, measure from the window stool to the top of the casing to determine the length of the side casings.
- Cut one side of the side casings on a 45-degree angle and the other side square.
- Align and attach your side casings using your nails and leaving 1/8″ reveal between the inside edges and the drywall.
- After that, cut your apron to the same length as your top casing using 22-degree cutting angles.
- Center your apron below the stool with the long edge facing up and attach it to the walls with your hammer and nails.
- Set the nails below the surface, then use painter’s putty to fill in the gaps.
- Next, use your caulk and caulking gun to fill in any gaps between the molding and the wall. Also fill in any corner gaps.
- Sand down your filled-in nail holes and then prime and paint your new casing.