Winter's Coming: Window Cracks and Leaks
PaPaPeng
There are cracks up to a quarter inch wide between the the window
frame and the inside window trim. It had been letting in cold air and
leaking out warm air out for years. I had not done anything because I
tolerate cold better and always set my thermostat to 72 deg F. The
average gas bill hasn't changed for years and the furnace wasn't
exactly knocking itself out unless it gets to minus twenty deg F or C.
Its an unreliable measure of energy loss for sure.
The window frames were tight and secure to the stucco finish so there
were no repairs or caulking possible there without making the problem
something major. Same thing inside the house. The window trim was
also tight and secure against the wall. No adjustments were possible.
I didn't like the idea of those aerosol cans of squeeze foam
insulation as they are sticky and would be impossible to remove if
they didn't work and I come around to redoing the window repairs.
This is indeed fortunate because I chatted with my neighbor and he
said never to use that stuff. He did and the foam accelerated the
cracks in his windows over the years and he has a real problem now.
My other porposed solution was to stuff the cracks with fiberglass
insulation and glue or nail a thin slat of woodover the whole inside
window trim to cover the repairs. I have a well equipped garage
workshop and can do that except I procrastinate (long story).
On saturday my sister stayed over (I live alone) and refused to sleep
in the leaky cold bedroom preferring the sofa. By the morning she
insisted on fixing the cracks and asked for those 1/4 inch rolls of
sticky backed foam tape weatherstrip to at least temporarily close the
cracks. Then she found I had leftover laminate flooring underlay foam
sheet scraps. She used these instead and they are an excellent
material as they are formulated for years of servive as flooring
underlay. They are also strong and flexible and therefore will
conform and fill the cracks to the edges. I love the solution. I
wasn't too impressed with the foam weatherstrip material as they lose
their elasticity and therefore seal effectiveness after a season or
two. They are also hard to trim to size to fit the cracks.
My next step is to find a roll of self adhesive vinyl shelf liner
contact "paper" with a suitable design and use that to finish the
window trim and cover the cracks. Sis had asked for duct tape or
transparent box tape, a pretty ugly, temporary idea (they dry up and
deterioate) that leaves a messy residue when its time to remove them.
I am a pretty happy man. If this fix doesn't work I can easily undo
everything without risking a messy cleanup. But I am confident that
the fix will be good for years and I can always do the same fix at
some future time should that become necessary.
Al Bundy
We'll look forward to seeing your home in Better Homes and Gardens.
PS. Insulation foam is very easy to remove, but yes, the expansion can
force things open.
It sounds like you need new windows and a furnace.
Don K
news:unm3h3hfm6vgj7f46...@4ax.com...
> My next step is to find a roll of self adhesive vinyl shelf liner
> contact "paper" with a suitable design and use that to finish the
> window trim and cover the cracks. Sis had asked for duct tape or
> transparent box tape, a pretty ugly, temporary idea (they dry up and
> deterioate) that leaves a messy residue when its time to remove them.
I've used drywall patch compound to fill cracks and gaps around trim.
You can sand it smooth and paint over it when you need to.
I haven't had any further problems with cracks reappearing.
If reappearing cracks are an issue, a rubbery type bathroom caulk might
be used instead, but it's messier. If you use caulk, make sure you use a
paintable one.
Don
PaPaPeng
wrote:
The drywall patch compound and the caulking will both need a dam to
keep the material from occupying all the space available for it to
squeeze into inside the wall. The insulation space in the wall would
have been a bottomless pit. A quarter inch in crack (actually its
just the trim separating) is pretty large. Without a dam the
caulking or drywall paste will also slump. But now with the underlay
foam it should be possible to caulk and keep the caulking near the
surface. I'll let the present fix prove itself for several seasons
first. If it works I'd rather redo this as a future fix than to do
something permanent like (hard to clean up) caulking.
My furnace gas regulator quit again. There are no repairable or
swappable sub assemblies. By law the parts store cannot stock let
alone sell sub assemblies. The whole regulator has to be replaced
Will do that tomorrow. My 30 yr old furnace otherwise looks brand new
and everything in good condition.
Don K
I mis-spoke, I meant lightweight spackling compound, not joint compound.
Specifically I use DAP Fast'n'Final. It has the density of a plastic peanut.
It's light enough that it will stay in place even in an upside-down gap
while it dries. For really big gaps, I insert some sticky nylon webbing
tape to give it some structural cohesion.
Don
pc
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> There are cracks up to a quarter inch wide between the the window
> frame and the inside window trim. It had been letting in cold air and
> leaking out warm air out for years. I had not done anything because I
> tolerate cold better and always set my thermostat to 72 deg F. The
> average gas bill hasn't changed for years and the furnace wasn't
> exactly knocking itself out unless it gets to minus twenty deg F or C.
> Its an unreliable measure of energy loss for sure.
>
> The window frames were tight and secure to the stucco finish so there
> were no repairs or caulking possible there without making the problem
> something major. Same thing inside the house. The window trim was
> also tight and secure against the wall. No adjustments were possible.
> I didn't like the idea of those aerosol cans of squeeze foam
> insulation as they are sticky and would be impossible to remove if
> they didn't work and I come around to redoing the window repairs.
> This is indeed fortunate because I chatted with my neighbor and he
> said never to use that stuff. He did and the foam accelerated the
> cracks in his windows over the years and he has a real problem now.
> My other porposed solution was to stuff the cracks with fiberglass
> insulation and glue or nail a thin slat of woodover the whole inside
> window trim to cover the repairs. I have a well equipped garage
> workshop and can do that except I procrastinate (long story).
'Great Stuff' foam is really hard to work with. Your neighbor is right.
But, there is another foam that I highly recommend. It's made by DAP.
I think it's called Daptex for windows and doors. It comes in a blue
and black can. This foam is water soluble. So, it doesn't stick to
your hands for weeks after. The straw and nozzle can be cleaned out.
And you can reuse the can until it's empty, unlike the other stuff. It
also stays flexible and doesn't expand as much as the other product.
HTH..
..PC
PaPaPeng
wrote:
>
>I mis-spoke, I meant lightweight spackling compound, not joint compound.
>Specifically I use DAP Fast'n'Final. It has the density of a plastic peanut.
>It's light enough that it will stay in place even in an upside-down gap
>while it dries. For really big gaps, I insert some sticky nylon webbing
>tape to give it some structural cohesion.
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:34:02 -0700, DerbyDad03 <teama...@eznet.net>
wrote:
>Do yourself a favor. Get some scrap wood, build a few jigs and
>practice caulking the gap. Once you've stopped "botching" the
>caulking, move onto the windows and do it right.
Nice running by some of my thoughts with you guys. My idea of a
neat and easy fix now will be to toss out the old standard width wood
strips that made up the existing inside trim. I can cut my own wood
strips to replace the existing trim, cover the separation gaps and
butt flush against the window frame. The result will look like an
original installation without any visible evidence of mending or
caulking. I was right to resist doing anything that requires sticky
stuff that is hard to remove and clean up. Next year's project.
Jeff
You'll also see foam in two kinds, the large gap filler and that for
smaller cracks like yours, usually labeled for windows and doors.
Whatever brand you get make sure it is water soluable. Great Stuff, isn't.
What a lot of people don't realize is just how much heat is lost to
air infiltration, and not just the big gaps. A fairly insulated house
with average tightness can lose nearly the same amount of heat through
leakiness as through conduction losses through the walls, ceiling and
floor. It's really worth tightening up whatever leaks you feel no matter
how small, unless you don't mind burning money to stay warm.
Jeff
Al Bundy
And half of more of his money is going up the flu with his 30 year old
furnace.
But the furnace "looks" like new and now his trim will look good if he
ever does the job, while a good part of the heat is going through the
fenestration.
Sheesh!