How To Seal Windows From Water Leaks

You seal air leaks and water leaks around your windows in the same way — past caulking and replacing weatherstripping. Y'all tin too inject foam sealant betwixt the frame of the window and the frame of the firm.

A window that leaks air can also mean excessive energy loss and toll. Summer or winter, yous don't want your firm to leak air, especially if you spend your hard-earned dollars warming or cooling information technology. Test a window for leaks past burning an incense stick most all its joints and connections. If the fume flickers, you take an air leak. Check:

• Where 1 section of the window meets another

• Where the windows meet the frame

• Where the frame meets the wall

Often, water leaks at a window upshot from a breakup in the connection between the window frame and the wall. To prevent leaks, caulk the window where it meets the exterior siding. If the window is surrounded by woods trim, use a loftier-grade polyurethane caulk to seal all gaps between the trim and the siding (and the trim and the window).

Take special care to seal the meridian side of the top piece of trim. Puddling water at this location causes many window leaks.

If you're willing to remove either your exterior or interior window trim, you can do a much better job of sealing window and door leaks — permanently! — than you can with just caulk. Using expanding foam not only prevents air infiltration, simply it besides makes the treated area watertight.

Hither's how to do it:

1. Use a pry bar and a hammer to remove the window trim (either inside or exterior — non both).

2. Fill the void with expanding spray cream in a can.

   Don't worry about overfilling. Let it bulge out of the wall. What you don't desire to do is touch on the foam while it'due south wet; you'll make a huge, hard-to-clean-up mess.

3. Afterwards the foam dries (it'll take several hours), use a knife to cut off the excess.

4. Replace the trim in the reverse social club in which yous removed it and impact up paint equally necessary.

Leaks besides occur when weatherstripping wears out. You may accept to remove the operable portion of the window to discover the weatherstripping:

• For sliding windows, open them halfway and lift the window out of the lesser track. Then pull the window out of the opening bottom start.

• For single-hung windows, usually yous but release a lever on the side track(s) of the window frame. Contact the manufacturer for specific instructions.

Later on you remove the operable portion of the window, it becomes pretty obvious where the weatherstripping is and how it has to be replaced. Most home centers offer replacement weatherstripping in peel-and-stick rolls. If y'all aren't sure about what to do, take the section that you removed to the shop with you or photograph the area that needs attention.

Yous may demand an adhesive solvent to unstick quondam weatherstripping. Adhesive solvent is bachelor in spray cans for easy application.

If you have metal or vinyl frame windows, check the drain holes at the outside edge of the bottom portion of the window frame. During rains, water tin can make full the bottom track, leak to the inside of the home, and flood the surface area surrounding the window. Drain or weep holes allow h2o to escape from the frame, preventing flooding. Apply a piece of wire or a small screwdriver to ensure that the holes are clear.

Nigh This Article

Well-nigh the book authors:

James Carey and Morris Carey Jr. share their 55+ years of experience as laurels-winning, licensed contractors with millions of people nationwide through a weekly radio program and syndicated newspaper column, both titled On The Firm. They too appear regularly on CBS News Saturday Morning.

This article can be found in the category:

• Full general (Home Improvement & Appliances) ,

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