How To Seal A Leaking Window

You lot seal air leaks and water leaks around your windows in the same way — past caulking and replacing weatherstripping. You can also inject foam sealant between the frame of the window and the frame of the house.

A window that leaks air tin also mean excessive free energy loss and cost. Summer or winter, you don't desire your house to leak air, especially if you lot spend your hard-earned dollars warming or cooling information technology. Test a window for leaks past burning an incense stick near all its joints and connections. If the smoke flickers, you have an air leak. Bank check:

Where 1 section of the window meets some other
Where the windows meet the frame
Where the frame meets the wall

Often, water leaks at a window outcome from a breakdown in the connection betwixt the window frame and the wall. To forestall leaks, caulk the window where it meets the exterior siding. If the window is surrounded by wood trim, use a high-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 top 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 practice a much better chore of sealing window and door leaks — permanently! — than you can with simply caulk. Using expanding foam not only prevents air infiltration, merely information technology besides makes the treated area watertight.

Here's how to do it:

Utilise a pry bar and a hammer to remove the window trim (either inside or exterior — not both).
Fill up the void with expanding spray cream in a can.

Don't worry about overfilling. Let information technology bulge out of the wall. What y'all don't desire to exercise is touch the foam while information technology's wet; you'll make a huge, difficult-to-clean-up mess.
Later on the foam dries (it'll accept several hours), use a knife to cut off the excess.
Replace the trim in the contrary order in which y'all removed it and bear upon up paint as necessary.

Leaks also occur when weatherstripping wears out. You may have 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 bottom rail. So pull the window out of the opening bottom first.
For unmarried-hung windows, usually y'all only release a lever on the side track(south) of the window frame. Contact the manufacturer for specific instructions.

After you remove the operable portion of the window, it becomes pretty obvious where the weatherstripping is and how information technology has to be replaced. Nigh home centers offer replacement weatherstripping in skin-and-stick rolls. If you aren't sure nigh what to practice, take the department that you lot removed to the shop with y'all or photograph the expanse that needs attention.

You lot may need an adhesive solvent to unstick old weatherstripping. Adhesive solvent is available in spray cans for easy application.

If you have metal or vinyl frame windows, check the drain holes at the outside edge of the lesser portion of the window frame. During rains, water tin can fill the bottom track, leak to the inside of the dwelling, and flood the expanse surrounding the window. Drain or weep holes allow water to escape from the frame, preventing flooding. Apply a slice of wire or a pocket-sized screwdriver to ensure that the holes are clear.