How To Make Windows Airtight

When Kevin O'Connor, the host of This Old House, renovated his 1894 Queen Anne, he never one time considered replacing its original double-hung windows with mod ones. "It would kill me to put new windows in this business firm," he says. For one thing, the handcrafted sash and blown-drinking glass panes would be plush to supplant—as much as $1,000 apiece—and substituting anything less would destroy much of the former place's amuse. However, he was dismayed by how much air leaked in during the wintertime, even with outside storm windows in place.

How Can I Make My Double Hung Windows More Efficient?

To set the problem, he needed a product that was both effective and unobtrusive. "I didn't want anything that would change the way the old windows wait," he says. The solution: a simple weatherstripping kit that uses the aforementioned types of seal found in modern windows and is practically invisible.

For about $80 and an 60 minutes'due south installation time per window, Kevin got the leak-gratis performance of a new unit while saving a valuable piece of his house's history, as well as dollars off his heating bill. "The air current is blowing exterior," he says, "but the drafts are gone." Continue on to encounter how he did it.

Anatomy of Double-Hung Windows

Old-fashioned double-hung windows are so called considering they have two sash, each suspended from a pair of cords or bondage with weights on one cease. They tin can be easily taken apart, weatherstripped, and put dorsum together.

How to Weatherstrip Double-Hung Windows

Stride i

Pry Off One Inside Terminate

Person prying off the stop inside a double hung window.

With a utility knife, break the paint picture show (if any) by scoring forth the joints where the finish meets the side casing and the sill. Remove whatsoever screws holding the end to the jamb. Insert a strong putty knife in the joint about halfway up the window opening. Gently curve the stop (shown) and insert a pry bar in the gap above the knife. Piece of work the ii tools downward toward the sill, putty knife in the lead, until the stop is free. Pull whatever end nails out through the back of the stop, then fix it aside.

Step 2

Accept Out the Lower Sash

Person taking out lower sash from double hung window to prepare to seal it.

Raise the sash slightly and swing information technology out on the side where the stop was removed. Pull the cord out of its groove and tie a effigy-viii knot in 1 end to keep the cord from being pulled down into the weight pocket. If the sash has chains instead of cords, insert a nail through a link instead.

Pace three

Pull the Parting Beads

Person pulling window beading from double hung window to prepare from weatherstripping.

Using a utility knife, score the paint (if any) on both sides of all three parting beads. Grab each departing bead on one end with nippers or locking pliers and pull it out of its dado, the flat-bottomed groove in the jamb. Move the upper sash as needed to get a good grip. If the upper sash is inoperable, pry out the beads with a chisel, taking care non to gouge the sash. At that place'south no demand to remove the upper sash. Its weatherstripping is on the replacement departing beads yous'll install later.

Stride iv

Rout the Coming together Rail

Person using a router on the rail of the window.

Identify the sash on a padded worktable with the exterior side facing up. Clamp the sash and so its coming together rails projects a few inches by the edge of the table. Remove the sash lock and set aside. Chuck the slot-cutting bit into the router and set it to cut 3⁄8 inch from the router base. (A bearing controls the bit's cut depth.) Hold the router base firmly confronting the top edge of the meeting rail and cutting a groove from left to correct.

Step 5

Rout the Lesser Rails

Person holding a router against the bottom rail of the window.

Unclamp the sash, rotate information technology so its bottom rail is closest to you and overhanging the table, and so reclamp. Hold the router's base firmly against the face up of the rail and cut a groove from left to right.

Stride vi

Weatherstrip the Double Hung Window

Person applying silicone weatherstripping to the edge of the double hung window.

Press the silicone weatherstripping, barbed edge offset, into the groove routed into the bottom rails (shown). Take intendance not to stretch the strip equally you insert information technology. Insert the pile weatherstripping into the meeting-track groove. Apply a utility knife to trim the ends of each piece of weatherstripping flush with the outside edges of the sash.

Stride 7

Replace the Meridian Bead

A measuring tape used to mark the window to prepare for weatherstripping.

Lower the upper sash and measure out the length of the dado in the caput jamb. Mark that measurement on the shortest departing bead in the kit (shown). Cutting information technology to length. Tap the bead into its dado with the pile weatherstripping facing out.

Footstep 8

Cutting the Side Beads

Person marking the side of the window to prepare to cut the side beads.

Mark the jamb where it meets the horizontal centerline of the sash's meeting rail (shown). Measure up from that mark to the top dewdrop and downwards from the mark to the sill. Transfer those measurements to the replacement bead, starting from the bead'due south centre; where the weatherstripping on one side ends and the stripping on the other side starts. (The strips on the upper part of the bead should face out.) Trim the superlative end of the dewdrop square; trim the bottom stop to match the angle of the sill. Repeat for the bead on the opposite jamb.

Stride nine

Tap in the Side Chaplet

The fit should be tight enough to hold them in place. If it isn't, drill, and so tack the bead in identify with a few 3⁄four-inch wire brads. Reinstall the sash, stops, and sash lock. When yous're done, the sash should slide upwards and down smoothly and line upwards at their meeting runway.

Tools and Materials

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/windows/21017462/making-windows-weathertight

Posted by: bryantcommill.blogspot.com