You may find that there is always a draft in your room. Or it may be hard to warm up in your house even if you have turned on the heating. Why does this happen? That’s usually because there’s a gap between the window and frame. You can check to see if that’s the case. If so, it can enable outside air to come into your house to result in the increasing energy bills. Therefore, you will need to seal gap between window and frame. And here are some useful tips for you to do it yourself!
What Cause The Gap Between Window And Frame?
If there’s a gap occurring around the window frame in a new house, you may have a defective window. It has been manufactured incorrectly when being installed. You can ask your contractor for help.
But the situation can be different if the window frame gaps occur in the house where you’ve lived for several years. In this case, the gaps are generally caused by the expansion or contraction of different types of materials at different temperatures or humidity. The sealing material can fail to affect at a too high or too low temperature so that the gaps appear. Therefore, installing the window frame with the right material would be a good idea. But if you ask for another solution, that is to seal the gap between the window and frame.
How To Choose Right Sealing Material?
Before sealing teh gap, you need to choose a type of material that can work well on the window frame. The quality of the sealing material also matters a lot. The material of good quality can fill those gaps and attach to the window frame to stay longer.
There are several kinds of materials you can use to fill the window frame gap, but not all of them can work for all situations.
Typically, caulk is more suitable for smaller gaps that are 1/4 inch and even thinner. For the larger cracks, you will need to use the expanding foam and backer rod to combine to work.
- Exterior Caulk: The caulk is a kind of common material that you can use to caulk windows to brick. But remember to check its label that it is for exterior use. Also, choose the clear caulk so that it can join the colors and won’t be obvious on the cracked window.
- Expanding Foam: This kind of material is more suitable for a big gap around the window frame. It can expand up to 30 times its liquid size when it fills the gap. So you should be careful to avoid overfilling when applying it. And you may need to trim it to fit the gap size.
- Backer Rod: When there is a deep, wide gap on your window frame, you will need to use the backer rod to work with caulk or expanding foam. It can force the other materials to ensure that it adheres to the surrounding surface firmly.
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How To Seal Gap Between Window And Frame?
Prepare The Window And Frame Area
There is not much preparation required before you start to fix the gap. What you need to do is just clean the area. To ensure the proper adhesion of the sealing material, you should remove any old caulk and chipping paint. And then use the mild cleanser to wipe the surface to remove molds and grime. Next, give this area a few minutes to dry completely. Also, you can use masking tape to protect the window and frame from too much caulking. Just leave the gap exposed to receive the caulk.
Fill The Gap
If the gap is small, you can prepare the caulk gun to fix it. Cut the tip off the sealant cartridge and cut the nozzle at a 45-degree angle with an opening that is approximately the size of the hole being filled. And then fit and screw the nozzle to the top of the cartridge and insert the cartridge into the caulk gun.
To apply the sealant to the gap, you need to make sure that the nozzle fits the gap width. And then pull the gun trigger to apply the sealant. To make perfect sealing work, you should try to move the caulk gun smoothly and continuously all the way. This can endure batter adhesion of the sealant. So try your best!
Check Air Leakage
After filling the gap, you need to check if there is still air leakage around the gap. You can try the following methods:
Candles: Place a lighted candle by the window to see if the flame vibrates. If so, there is still air movement and you need to recaulk.
Water: Pour water along the seam to see if there are bubbles. If so, the gap is still not sealed completely.
Trim And Smooth The Caulk
There may be some accidents when applying the caulk. If you get any caulk on the window, just wipe it off with a damp cloth. Otherwise, it will dry and cure to remove. Besides, you may apply too much sealant into the gap. At this time, you will need to wait for it to dry. After it is totally dried, you can trim it to fit the gap and smooth the surface.
