Hey guys, wanted to pick your brains about an issue we ran into. Pulling wall paneling and moldings off around the bay window, I noticed some wood dust fall... ugh oh... Dug a little deeper and turned out to be a small/old/dead/already sprayed termite damage. Dug even more and found out the wood was actually freezing because the only thing separating it from the elements was a piece of flashing. I'm assuming I'll need a whole new window but was wondering what the proper bottom seat shouldve been. I'm assuming some sort of insulation/thermal barrier shouldve been between the wood and flashing but I don't know.

 

Can you post a picture of the outside please.
Most I've seen used a special plywood with foam sandwiched in between the layers of wood to act like a thermal break.
Google "SIP"

 

Joe, I will when I get home today. From what I seen, it looked like it was plywood right on top of flashing. Thank you for the response.

 

It's hard to say if the problem is from an active water leak- say coming down between the windows- or under the windows, or from moisture/frost from an uninsulated/underinsulated seat, or if it was completely from termites. You never noticed it being wet? There was no insulation underneath it on the exterior? Just a metal cladding?

I will always add a minimum of 1 1/2" of ISO or XPS foam to the bottom of a bay or bow window. Some mfg's sell bay/bow windows with insulated seats, but many are under-insulated, IMO.

Is the head of the window damaged at all? Is it under the soffit/eves of the house or does it have its own roof?

 

Look at the plywood on the left hand side xsleeper.
Looks like classic signs or Termites.

 

Yes, I saw that too. The big wood chip laying upside down right of center also shows signs of water ... and often termites start where there is wet wood.... looks pretty punky at the inside corner where those windows meet. I'm just saying it could be a combination of things.

Looks like a low end Certainteed vinyl window (or similar) to me.