Does it really matter what nails (or even screws?) i use on the fin when adding a window in the side of my house?

Also, is there a preferred silicone I can get at Home Depot/Lowe’s?
@two_labs

Use stainless steel screws.

And polyurethane is better that silicone.

This?

Is the window vinyl? If so it will need to be able to move a little. Use roofing nails and do not drive them down, just firm. Most vinyl windows will not want nails in top. Waterproof flashing tape over flange and nails.
This is the general idea.

Good info, thanks
Yes, vinyl - Pella

Remove old window.

I use zip flashing tape and flash the bottom sill and up the wall about 6 inches.

I start by using 1/16th plastic “U” shape shims and get it shimmed up using a stabila level. I find the high point and put one shim there. Then proceed to use other or more shims the rest of the bottom. Once you find the bottom level you’re ready for the window.

Set it on your bottom shims, put a few roofing nails in to hold it in place then make sure you’re square. (Measure top left corner to bottom right, then top right to bottom left. Use shims if necessary and put a few more roofers in. Once all squared up, put a few more roofers in and make sure the window opens and closes good (with ease).

Go ahead and finish putting your roofers in. The. Flash the two sides with zip tape, and do the top last. I make a “channel” on the top piece so it sticks on the wall and the top of the window so rain flows over the window vice behind it (hopefully that makes sense).

I haven’t done windows in a few weeks but off the top of my Friday night head that’s my process.

ETA: I use spray foam at the very end to seal everything up

ETA 2: this is a process for siding. Brick I only use zip take on the bottom sill and up a few inches and then use poly (caulk) to seal it in after we foam it.

@bradpierson26

Is this in brick or siding?

Siding

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No way to tell what "dynaflex technology" is.

Just find a brand that actually declares it is polyurethane based.

I have not seen one that can be cleaned with water.
They usually require some potent solvents.

Many of them will also stain your hands so use nitrile gloves.
Once cured there is NO solvent that will remove them.

Screws with an actual drill driver still beat nails.
If you hunt around you can even find stainless steel washer head screws that make more contact.

If you must use nails at least get some stainless steel ones.

Quad max is my go to for poly sealant.

GRK 2" screws
Quad OSI caulking

These?

And this?

Only time you should use screws in a vinyl window nail fin is if you need to “pull” it one direction slightly. Vinyl needs to expand just like j channel and siding. I highly recommend against using screws but to each their own

Ok
Link me to a nail you’d buy from Lowe’s

Can’t remember the last time I bought roofers from Lowe’s but just search their website for “roofing nails”.

I Nail every other hole on a nail fin. That includes the best Marvin windows has to offer. Believe me, the window isn’t going to move.

That’s the right sealant. That’s white colored, which probably works for your house. They make other colors. I’ve used a gray before that might be good for you.

I wouldn’t use trim head screws for a window. Right brand, wrong type of screw I’d say.

What’s the difference between a nail and a screw when it comes to the window expanding and contracting. From the window’s point of view, they’re both a post. The screw just has more holding power.

I agree with this. Screw won’t back itself out over time either.

The Pellas I bought and installed in my house even came with the screws. (I wouldn’t suggest Pellas for other reasons unless it’s a flip house but I digress)

2 inch galvanized roofing nails under good butyl weatherproofing tape that is properly flashed will not rust or move for far longer than the life of the window.

Pella makes a good window. They also provide installation instructions that are specific to the product and are much more accurate than the suggestions made in this thread.

That shit goes in the garbage

You hope.

And only if the moisture is coming from the outside and NOT the inside.

A large problem in older structures.

Over-driven nails or screws are about the same problem.
Neither allows al that much movement anyway.
It the manufacturer had half a brain they would have made the holes larger.

The movement is more in the larger dimension of the vinyl though.

So up and down on the sides and side to side on the top and bottom.

Fiberglass windows are a lot better than vinyl.

Along with the manufacturers warranty.

What he said except I think I use 1-5/8”. Use zip tape to flash properly and the roofers will outlast the window.

For you guys recommending screws, why don’t you screw in siding? Or shingles for that matter if it holds them in place better? Hell, your walls and trusses are held together by nails.

I’m one that tends to “overbuild” things but again, I was just telling you how I do it. To each their own and maybe different parts of the country do things differently. I’m in the Midwest where we get 4 seasons.

I use whatever the manufacturer recommends or calls for. Pella says to use the supplied screws.

The next guy who replaces them in 15 to 20 years will thank me, too.

We mostly do Marvin’s. Flat bar takes out 30 year old roofers easy. Again, I’m talking a nail fin.  If no fin then I use screws into the sides

You should see some of the idiot methods I have on Masonry houses.

They often have NO WOOD in their exterior wall.
Just masonry.

One of the worst ways is to install wood bucks.

It reduces the usable size of the opening, and creates another place that requires maintenance and eventually rots.
The moisture WILL get into the wood through the masonry.

The oldest windows I ever saw dated to the mide 1800s in a stone house.
They had lead sheets around every window's perimeter to separate the wood from the masonry.

The lead was one piece all the way around each window with an actual 'burned lead' joint at the middle of the bottom of the window.
Mulled multiple window units had a single piece around the entire assembly.