Open a New Window ...

The doors of the second floor all have transoms above. they all are still working and even though I don't use them as much as I wish, I like that I can use them to balance out temperature in the house.

The room where a transom would help the most is the bathroom (original bath). Sadly, in the late 40's the transom window was removed and covered over with gypsum board and tile (plastic tile). From outside the bath in the hall the transom was clearly blocked up.

I have wanted to open it back since the day we looked at the house—even before buying it. With knife and pryer in hand, yesterday (finally) was that day.

I knew there were a few layers of drywall and gypsum over top of the window frame and I didn't want to damage the walls, so I carefully cut the drywall with a knife to pry it out.

Once some of the drywall was removed, I could see the gypsum and plastic tile adhesive layer. Again, I carefully cut through the adhesive and gypsum to keep the edges as smooth and damage free as possible. The work progressed slowly, but seeing the window frame in great condition was worth the careful journey.

The first corner off - Yippee.

So interesting that the folks who removed and threw out the original sash, unscrewed the hinges, then took the time and effort to put the old screws back into the wood. 

Half of the covering came off easily. The second half was glued in place and  required a little more effort.

It's interesting to me to see the original construction methods that are hidden behind the walls. Hopefully, rebuilding the trim will be straight-forward.

From the Bathroom-side the plywood is clean of all the layers of overlay.

From the hall way-side, finally some light can shine through and brighten up a rather dark space.

We put the board back in (it is, after all, a bathroom—the one room you want some privacy in) as we wait to build a new movable sash.