Has anyone found a good information resource for constructing window and door extension jambs for an ICF home? 1. I have Nudura walls and Vinyl windows with a U-channel to accept an extension jamb. 2. My exterior door jambs don't extend to the drywall so I have to construct extension jambs for them too. 3. Ideally, I would like to extend the window sill with an edge profile and trim under it for finishing and have the jambs and header flush with the wall - with casing. I've got some trim books but I haven't been able to find anything that explains what material to use and the steps to install in this situation. Thanks in advance. Brian.

bwheeler1,

This is all a matter of the look you want to see in your home. You can simple sheetrock you jambs, use a high quality plywood like Birch, Oak, Maple, Mahogany, or Marine Grade, or they sell MDO in widths you can rip to size. If you choose a solid wood product you have to be careful of the potential to cup and warp. So you would need to employ one of several stratagies that cabinet makers use to create wide boards such as laminating several widths together and/or creating your own veneer.

ICF Contractor

I've done returns with drywall and made my own casings with boards and pocket screws. The Kreg jig is a Godsend. Take into account PLENTY of shims on your sills--being deep people have a tendency to sit on them. I actually had a customer have me use stock oak stair tread for sills in one home and it looked great when stained, plus the thickness gave extra support.

Here's a couple of threads where this issue was beat up quite a bit.

This one has some photos of what I and a couple of others have done. As you will see in the discussion you can go in several directions for finishing the windows.

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/view/topic/forumid/4/postid/52284/Default.aspx


This one has some PDFs of dwgs on how I planned to do mine before I started building. The end result was pretty much what's in the dwgs.

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/forumid/4/tpage/1/view/Topic/postid/31654/Default.aspx