Not a great look on the outside.
Doing it your way you would end up with an uninsulated outside wall.

 

Not a great look on the outside.
Doing it your way you would end up with an uninsulated outside wall.

<<<<<<????????>>>>>
Always negative.
How about some input on how it could be achieved?

 

Not a great look on the outside.
Doing it your way you would end up with an uninsulated outside wall.

It can be done, and be insulated, although it won't have as much insulation as the rest of the wall. Spray in would be best, but the cost/benefit wouldn't be worth it for that small area. I think the small niche he's trying to achieve will look good if it's what i'm thinking.

The biggest questions here that will help a lot though...
1) this brick wall, what's the total thickness of it?
2) how much of an inset are you wanting on either side? if a lot, it might be more beneficial to just have it on one side just so you can have more insulation there. I'm thinking small here, 1/4"? On the inside you can build a shelf to stick out from the bottom to place a vase or even just hang a picture.
3) what are the dimensions of this opening?

 

Putting your general location in you profile would help in knowing what type of climate your in.

 

Thanks for the quick replies, all - I've tried to post three times, and it keeps disappearing. Location is Long Island, NY (modest neighborhood, fixer-upper 1950s ranch) so weather isn't that much of an issue - especially because the window fronts the breezeway, which is somewhat protected from the elements. Thanks for mentioning the insulation aspect though - I hadn't actually factored that in yet. I tried to upload some jpgs, but they keep failing. I will try and explain the way the window is situated. And by the way, for the record, nothing could look worse than this window looks at the moment, so anything will be an improvement. The window as it faces onto the breezeway is inset 3 inches. I don't know the correct terminology, but there is a single course of bricks running front to back underneath, giving the appearance of a small decorative ledge or sill. The sides and top of the inset area are finished off with a thin wood trim. The outside dimensions appear to be approx. 36 wide by 53 high. On the dining room side, measuring inside the mouldings, the actual window area is approx. 31 wide by 48 high. Not sure why there is a difference in measurements, but I guess it's because of the trim on the inside of the window on the d.r. side. Hard to tell, because to be honest, we haven't touched this window in ten years, and I didn't get accurate measurements because there are things living in that window that scare the heck out of me. (This He's a She, in case you haven't figured it out yet, lol. I've kept this window covered on both sides with blinds, because we couldn't agree on what to do with it. But for the record, I'm the one who cares the most about things being level, plumb, and square.)
Dwillems, I would guess the total thickness of the brick wall is approx. 5-6 inches, give or take. 3 on the outside, and 2-3 for the window to the moulding on the inside. I had already figured that I'd build this so that there'd be more depth on the inside for a shelve (decorative use, etc.), and the outside could even be flush with the brick for all I care, as we are definitely going to hang something decorative out there, be it mosaic, fountain, wrought iron hanging, etc. I just didn't want that tacky "let's-brick-it up-but-the-mortar-won't-match-nor-will-the-bricks" situation I've seen other people try. It looks like someone tried to brick a body up in a wall or something, when people do that! Anyway, hope I explained things a bit better - sure wish I could post pics here, as you'd easily understand why I'm trying this niche concept...thanks so much for the help - hope you can suggest a way I can pull this off!

 

I tried to upload some jpgs, but they keep failing.

Try this. http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/how-attach-photo-post-12559/

 

Thanks for the link, but the problem seems to be that the photos are being rejected as too large. They are 1-2 mb, and the forum requires 100 kb or less. I have no idea how to change/convert/make them smaller...

 

Ok then, try this... http://www.diychatroom.com/f98/how-resize-photos-post-them-here-110722/

We do like pictures, and paragraphs too.

 

Try windows Paint to resize your pics. Save them as a new file so you don't destroy your original.

Would like to see a pic,
Tham

 

I'd put the brick back and forget the nook.

On most brick houses around here it's not that hard. Take out the window, frame in the opening and sheath it, insulate it, drywall it.

Call in a mason to patch the brick back together. If it's sheathed, you can seal it up, and use some SA flashing if you're worried about it raining before your mason gets there.

 

Resizing wasn't working for me, so I uploaded them to flikr, so hopefully you'll be able to open this link and take a look at the window:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corrypaw/

I appreciate the suggestion Smalpierre, but I've already ruled that option out. If we can't actually do this niche thing for some reason, we'll just put in a replacement window. But I'd REALLY like to do this niche.

To give you all an idea of what I'm after, here's another link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elaineh/2576930533/lightbox/

Exactly what I'd like to try, either with or without shelves...and maybe without the moulding around the outer edges.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. (Is that a paragraph, lol?)

 

the lightbox picture is either in a thick wall or there is a void space behind that wall allowing the lightbox to recess into the void. Unfortunately your wall with the window in it is standard 2x4 wall so not much room to do anything depth wise and still have an exterior insulated wall to keep the elements out. You could frame in the wall with 2x4 studs and insulation then work with the 4" depth of the brick for your decorative shelving.With shelves in place you could even trim out around the edges of the brick with something nice so it is not so much of a brick type opening...

 

Could you frame a new wall on the breezeway side. Insulated well to move your thermal envelope. That would give you the depth you need.

Tham

 

I just did almost exactly what the OP is proposing....

Our existing bathroom 'had' a windwow.....with the new 2-story additon on the back, the window had to come out....

So I pulled the window....Picked up a mirror the same size...RTV'd it to a chunck of 1 1/8" plywood and put that back in to opening. Finished up the other side with another 1/2" sheet of plywood which brought it flush with the wall. In my case, that wall is going to be covered with hardiboard or drywall (as soon as I figure out which shower system to go with).

The inside still retains the 'window' look including the window sill which is almost 5" deep....makes a great place to store shampoo bottles, wife's face creams and lots of more junk....my wife is suggesting that we also install a couple of tempered glass shelves in there so she can store even more junk.

 

Hmmm....it's not sounding good, is it? As for the photo I posted of the lightbox niche, that was just to give a general idea. I don't care if my "niche" is only inset 1" on either side...I'm basically just trying to avoid bricking up the outside, or installing another window. I will if I have to, but given what ddawg16 and dwillems posted, I'm still hoping this can be pulled off. I'd even be ok with having the wall on the dining room side patched up to be flush with the wall on either side of the existing window. I just figured some sort of inset, no matter how shallow, would give it some interest - even if it was only used as a place to display a wall hanging or something. I'll keep playing around with ideas for another week or two, so if anyone else has any thoughts, please feel free to offer them. And thanks to everyone who has offered suggestions - I appreciate it!

 

Make the outside look like closed shutters.