Windows and Doors have arrived!

Today the windows and doors arrived from Germany via Asheville NC which happened due to the transportation company refusing to unpack the crate and Eurostar Fenestration having to scramble to get a team to do that and store the windows until shipping them here.  The truck left Ashville early this morning and they dropped off the windows for another job in East Raleigh before getting to our place at about 2:45 or so and the team unloaded all placing them in the appropriate rooms.  These are not your garden variety windows and door so it took anywhere from two people to 6 people to lift them and carry them into the house. The heaviest were the French Door unit, the entry door, and one of the parts of the stairwell window.

We got the Nussbaum (walnut) foil on the windows but the front door is a deep red (brown-red is the translation) - it's a phenomenal color. We didn't unpack the door from the cardboard so we haven't actually seen the entire door yet (one more surprise waiting to be unwrapped).  The window frames add color to an previously concrete and pine color palate - and it's great to see!

The much anticipated window shipment coming down the driveway. 

here's how they made the trip from East Raleigh - they repacked the truck after offloading the other set of windows so nothing shifted during the 45 minute drive.

This is one massive front door - six people had to contribute to lifting it - that rental truck had a power liftgate but every time the "down" function was activated the folks holding the window felt like the floor was falling out from under them. Only one time was there a near catastrophe when one lost his balance and the other nearly went with him and the window onto the concrete porch.

In the previous picture and this one you can see a hint of the brown/red color we chose.  There probably are not too many front doors like this one in the US.  It's all aluminum with a sidelight.  Once we install the door it won't be used for normal construction traffic - we'll have everyone enter and exit the house via the laundry room door which is a standard US door.  We don't want to risk damaging the door or having someone unfamiliar with European mechanisms do something that damages it.

 Jeremy and Armin from Eurostar Fenestration ran a short installation tutorial to train the guys who will install all the windows.  I won't try to go through all the steps but basically you take out the glazing (first removing the sash for windows that open) and then put expanding foam tape on the top and sides.  You then set the frame into the rough opening, position it, drill into the concrete and screw it into place.  You then tape the bottom on both inside and out, gluing the tape to the concrete and foaming before you glue down the inside tape.  The expanding foam tape is designed to work for a 1/2" opening so positioning the window exactly in the correct location is critical.

  We did get some additional information regarding the installation of the doors and windows that are different - for instance the low-threshold doors have a different hinge system than the hidden hinges on the majority of the windows. There is also a 3-piece screw system that is used to connect the transom to the French Door that will require some assistance.