Fitting windowsill into curved corners
I’m trimming out a house, and I’m to the point of doing the window sills. The windows have drywall returns with radiused corners, and I’m somewhat at a loss for how to make the sills fit tightly with the drywall. I have a couple of ideas:
1) Rather than trying to cut a radius, just cut a 45 across the radiused part and trim back the drywall so the sill can slide under it. The sill would be simple to cut, but I’m not excited about doing a lot of drywall trimming.
2) Come up with some sort of jig to hold the sill next to the window and scribe the path onto the sill, and then trim with a jigsaw. Getting a good radius here would be a challenge, and I’d probably have to use a sanding drum to get a smooth path.
Comments on these, or other ideas on how to do this?
Replies
Man..............how many?
I would think if the width of the sill at the window was wider than at the bullnose, I would be real tempted to cut out the sheetrock and bullnose enough to slide it in. Scribing would be time consuming and if you had to tip it in to install, you'd booger up the sheetrock anyway. Is the bullnose plastic? You could probably cut it using a scrap sill and a sharp utility knife. I might be tempted to undercut it with a Fein Multitool, as it cuts good and quick while being not too aggressive. I don't think it would tear the bullnose up. If doing this again, I might think about installing the sills b/4 drywall finish. Best of luck.
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Thank you both for the suggestions. I think I'll cut the drywall out.
Luckily, it's only about 12 windows.
Cut the dry wall and corner bead and then slide sill in under.
Next time?
make up scrap block to tack in place similar thickness as sill, wrap it with saran wrap, and let drywall finish to it. Then remove it and you have your sill slide space.
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I've done this drill on several projects for the same architect who is real big on that detail. I use a hole saw similar to the bullnose radius in my corded drill.
I do all the sills (more properly called stools, I believe) in a production mode. I go around the entire house numbering the windows and making a cut list. I write the overall length of the piece, then for each corner I write the distance from the face of the window frame to the drywall, plus a sort of code for whether the drywall return is square, or angled in or out.
I cut all the stock to length, rip the width, then I lay out the cut lines for the notch on each end. With a little practice, I can take my hole saw next and cut through so the saw just kisses both layout lines forming the notch. Next, I take my jigsaw, with a fine blade, and finish cutting out the piece. I finish the notch with my trusty Nicholson pattern rasp.
If you try a few of these, they go pretty fast, and you can get them to where you persuade them in with the heel of your hand for a real nice fit. Notching out the drywall can lead to a caulking operation and a less than sharp joint between the stool and the drywall. It's something I try to avoid.
Edited 1/8/2003 12:30:49 AM ET by BEMW
Edited 1/8/2003 12:31:49 AM ET by BEMW
Not a bad idea!
Way to go.
Excellence is its own reward!