sealing up windows for winter

[OhioBurner©]

We have struggled the last few years with this old drafty house. Kept putting it off to a good day to caulk and insulate etc., and even though its already getting cold I'm determine to better winterize the house. Already caulked around some windows that were leaking badly around the trim. I noticed though that a few windows were leaking within the window itself like out of the vertical tracks. No budget right now for replacing windows, what do folks do? I know some have put plastic sheeting over windows. Tape always peels off paint or leaves goo the following spring, is there a certain kind of tape that works better? Guess I'm not too on the main culprits as they have plastic surround I should be able to tape to ok. Thoughts?

 

[stejus]

3M is the best brand IMO. Never had issues removing tape. If you have old paint on the trim that peels, it doesn't matter what you put on for tape, it will remove it. Sounds like you need to sand and repaint the window trim so the tape sticks and doesn't peel off the paint.

 

[basswidow]

My window casings are aluminum with baked on paint.

I usually use the clear film and double stick tape (then tighten it with a hair dryer). It's like a 50 cent storm window. Amazing what it will do in helping keep the house warm.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Have you tried getting some rope caulking and just putting that around the glass or anywhere the air is leaking? Could be a cheap fix and no problem with peeling paint next spring.

 

[pyper]

If it's just the drafts, you might want to try blue painters tape -- just run tape down where the air comes in.

I recently found some plastic window film to put on my basement windows. It has some poster putty kind of tape that goes on the frames. I haven't put it on yet, but it sounds good. Comes in a red box.

 

[jharkin]

I'm trying to understand.. are the drafts coming from where the sash slides in the track? If yes its a weather stripping issue - vinyl V-seal (3M or ice-o-tac brand) is a very cheap and effective fix.

Or is it the seals around the glass itself?

 

[woodgeek]

In my 50 yo double hungs, I found that the locks were 'loose' and not pushing the frames to the top and bottom seals (metal spring-type stripping), nor pulling the frames together in the middle. I adjusted the locks to get good compression seals top and bottom, and added a plastic v-strip between between the two frames to seal the middle gap. Made a HUGE difference and was a 1 WE DIY that cost almost nothing.

Unlike taping the middle gap, the vstrip is invisible, stays on in the summer, and is semi-permanent.

 

[benjamin]

If the windows aren't that bad, the air is probably blowing in the first floor and out the attic. The windows are the sympton but the problem is usually the leaky attic/ceiling. Check to see if they're all letting cold air in on a frigid day with no wind, that means the hot air is going out the attic/"chimney".

First spend some PITA time in the attic with expanding foam and caulk. For the windows, there is removable caulk too, "seal n peel". Or if your windows are loose enough to let bugs come and go then you need plastic, or weatherstripping or new windows.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Thanks all for the suggestions! I'll try and take some pics that better illustrate things but thought I'd try to get a reply in quick. Attic/ceiling... yes, basement... yes, windows... well its not like they are all the same some leak from the center some from the gap in the trim, some from the tracks... yesterday with silicone I got the biggest offenders. More on that later. The worst room in the house is actually the newest, a great room they put in the 90's. I think they went cheap on the construction. The big wall faces the west (wind) and the wall bows in when the wind blows! Windows are ok in the room but cold air leaks through gaps in the wall. On a windy day you can feel a pretty strong breeze coming from the outlets! There is also one section of the wall between studs that cold air is getting into, I can scan across the wall with the IR gun and on a cold day last year the walls were about 70 then I hit the one section and it dropped to 55, then right back to 70's. There is no attic above to get to and were that wall is in the basement seems to be sealed up. The attic on the old side of the house is finished,only leaving the crawl space along each side to access. I do need to add insulation in there and seal up the access hatches better, but I dont think I can do much about the roof/ceiling insulation. Thats one thing we neglected to factor in when we bought the house, how drafty it would be and how hard to insulate it.