Transom Windows for Dummies

some transom windows do open, Alex

Among the frequent deficiencies of the freelancers who infested the former eHow.com as the site's "contributors" was a near-total lack of experience with the topics they pretended to address. A not surprising number of DIY how-to posts were written by journalism and English grads who had never even thought about a task before pretending to describe it. Some were so clueless as to not even be able to define the job... some, like returning DotD Alexander Callos¹ and his attempt to tell people "How to Replace Transom Windows" at HomeSteady.com

Alexander's ignorance came shining through in a hurry, just as it had the other eight times he's appeared here. He began by "defining" a transom window:

"Transom windows are typically found directly above double hung or other types of larger windows."

Well, kinda, Alex — and kinda not: many (if not most) transom windows are found above doors. And, although Callos claimed that,

"These windows are fixed and do not open..."

...that's not necessarily true: many older buildings have transoms that open as awnings or hoppers so that a building can have flow-through ventilation even with the doors closed. In the interests of simplicity, however, we'll ignore that and concentrate on Callos' instructions. These began with,

"Cut around the frame of the transom window with a reciprocating saw to free it from the house. "

Yup: that was, according to Alexander, Step 1. The boy was so ignorant that he didn't even say to take off the casing molding first, just to "cut around the window." With friends like that, who needs enemas? He doesn't even know that in older buildings, the transom window may be fixed with nails or screws. Feh.

Those following Alexander's steps would then clean out the space and nail in a replacement window with roofing nails through the flange: Callos really needed to mention removing the molding, otherwise the poor schmuck would be nailing the window to the jambs.

And finally, Callos never mentioned putting the trim back in place. It's pretty clear he had no idea what he was talking about from the get-go... the same as the other eight times he received the Dumbass of the Day award.

¹ Just here yesterday, in fact!

copyright © 2020-2022 scmrak

DDIY - WINDOWS