Correctly seal old windows - instructions wood / PVC windows

• Seal plastic or wooden windows
  • Determine drafts problem
• Seal windows and correct
  • 1. Fast short-lived solution
  • 2. Acrylic cartridge or silicone compound
  • 3. Replace window putty
  • 4. Rubber seal plastic window
  • 5. Curtains and draft stops

Only when it gets cold outside, the leaking windows become a real problem. Since the heating costs are rising steadily and probably will not sink again, so the windows should necessarily be sealed soon. How to waterproof wooden or PVC windows, we show in the manual.

For every leak on a window there is now a suitable solution. However, you must distinguish between wood and plastic windows, if you want to banish the drafts from your windows. You also need to pinpoint the nature of the problem before sealing. If the frame is perhaps warped or a seal is defective. The solutions are inevitably completely different. Here we show you which sealant is used for which purpose and how you can locate the damage at all.

You need this:

• caulking gun
• hairdryer
• lighter
• screwdriver
• spatula
• Putty knife
• abrasive paper
• puller
• chisel
• cleaning cloths
• acrylic
• rubber seal
• Borst seal
• Silicone Sealant
• glass cleaner
• boiled linseed oil
• putty

Seal plastic or wooden windows

While in the past, window putty was basically used, today there are silicone or acrylic masses for many seals. While at first glance silicone may seem more suitable as a seal for window frames, because it remains more flexible and elastic, acrylic has caught up considerably over the years. For wooden windows, the acrylic offers a decisive advantage, as it can be painted over in any color. Silicone on the other hand always shines easily, that's not for everyone. Also finished seals from the roll are available in silicone, which can be glued similar to a foam seal in the window rebate.

Tip: Especially old wooden windows should be sealed during the summer months. Wood absorbs a lot of moisture and then swells up. In the winter months, you can hardly see where it lacks sealing in a wooden window. Even the window putty can be processed worse in winter, as it cools and hardens too quickly.

In the bedrooms, the sealing of the window frames is important not only because of the drafts. Carefully sealed window frames are also used for noise protection. This not only saves heating costs, you sleep better and calmer. By penetrating moisture can also arise just around these window reveals mold. It hurts the health of the whole family and should be avoided at all costs.

Determine drafts problem

Of course, the most important step is finding the actual problem. They should exhaust all possibilities. Even if you may already know where the fault is, you may still find more drafts in the window frame. So all sources of error can be eradicated in one go. This saves heating costs and also ensures even more coziness.

1. Lighter - candle

With a lighter or a candle you can determine relatively easily, where at a window the draft air flows in. Move the flame along the window frame at a distance of about ten centimeters. If the flame moves or almost stops, you must do something as soon as possible.

Tip: Although it is clear to every handyman, but in the heat of the moment it is easily forgotten: pull the curtains aside when you check the draft with the lighter or a candle. Such inattentiveness has already caused great damage.

2. Look inside

Sometimes you can already see, with a look into the inner workings of the window frame, that something is leaking here. Old rubber seals become porous over time and literally crumble away. Some stick to it even when opening the window sash and tear off. Check if the gaskets are still complete.

3. Putty or silicone on the glass

The third step in detecting leaks is controlling the glass enclosure. Inside and outside, the window seal can shrink, which closes the glass towards the frame. Therefore, it takes some time to control this window seal exactly all around. But it is worth it, because not only drafts can penetrate here, it also gets moisture into the interior. This is particularly problematic with a wooden window, as moisture can damage the frame from the inside.

Seal windows and correct

Some solutions are suitable for both plastic windows and wooden windows. However, a foam gasket is meaningless for many old wooden windows, for example, because the frame often warps very unevenly. The seal would then be very squeezed together in some places and would sag relatively freely at other points.

1. Fast short-lived solution

Predictably, if the window gasket is to last longer than a winter, a foam gasket is a very bad idea. But if you need a short-term and even cheap seal as a tenant, it may well be acceptable to quickly use the cheap simple foam gaskets in older plastic windows.

Tip: Sticking the foam gasket should still be done with care. Clean the surface of the window frame with glass cleaner and dry it well. Then glue the foam gasket straight and clean.

2. Acrylic cartridge or silicone compound

In a lacquered wooden window, glued-in seals are not recommended as the surface may be slightly uneven due to the paint. Especially if the wooden windows are already older and have been painted over several times. Therefore, Acrylmasse is well suited, which you can press with a caulking gun in the Fensterfalz.

Tip: It is more a matter of taste, whether you prefer to use acrylic or silicone with a spray cartridge. Acrylic varnish has been used on the wooden window so far, but it makes sense to use acrylic as well, as it avoids repulsions.

First, the seam inside but thoroughly cleaned. If loose paint is present, it must be scraped off with a chisel, so that the acrylic adheres well. With a wooden window, you can easily sand the surface with sandpaper. In addition, the fold should be free of grease. You can do that with glass cleaner here as well.

Tip: If there are residues of old seals or tape, it is better to wipe the seam inside with either vinegar or resin thinner. So even stubborn dirt in the window frame are quickly eliminated. However, wear gloves during this cleaning.

2.1. Glass seal with acrylic

The rubber seals, which form the connection between window and frame, shrink strongly over time. Since it is fiddly to replace this seal, you should rather completely remove the old seal and retract a new seal with acrylic. Similar to the shower, the acrylic is removed with a small plastic spatula. You should be careful to align the new seal at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees, especially outdoors. So moisture can drain well and does not stand on the seal.

Tip: Again, it is not so important whether you prefer to use acrylic or silicone. If you only want to partially renew the glass seals and the old rubbers are black, then the black silicone, which is now available for outdoor use, is the ideal choice. It has the same positive properties as conventional silicone, but adapts perfectly to existing black gaskets.

3. Replace window putty

Above all, in listed buildings, wooden windows are still installed, in which the glass has been sealed to the frame in true style with window putty. Window putty, however, does not last forever and has to be renewed after a few years. The old window putty must first be scratched out very clean.

• slightly warm old window putty with hair dryer
• Remove putty with spatula and chisel
• Thoroughly clean the joint
• Mask off the disc with the painter's crepe
• Lubricate fold with linseed oil varnish
• if necessary repeat with very dry wood
• Knead putty like children's dough
• Kitt to small sausages roll
• Press the sausages into the window joint and smooth them out
• Cut off supernatants from the putty with the putty knife
• possibly later from time to time with linseed oil varnish
• After a drying time of about one week, the putty can also be painted over

4. Rubber seal plastic window

Rubber seals with different profile shapes are installed in the modern plastic windows. Many of these gaskets are available at the DIY store. If you are not sure whether the new profile seal really fits your plastic window, you should take out a piece of the old seal and compare it in the hardware store with the new seals. Do not be surprised if the new gasket is thicker and wider. Her old poetry has been shrunk a bit by many years, when she was pressed between the frame and the casement.

Tip: If all current profile gaskets do not fit properly or the old gasket is completely missing, you can find out with some cling film and children's dough the strength of the required gasket.

Make a small sausage out of the children's dough and protect it with cling film. Press this auxiliary seal between the frame and the sash and close the sash. If you open the window frame after a few minutes, you have a perfect impression of the required frame gasket.

5. Curtains and draft stops

Point five is not a seal in the true sense, but helps you to reduce heating costs and increase the comfort. Especially with old windows thick curtains in winter are the ideal seal. Leave the curtains a little too long, so you can rest on the windowsill and prevent drafts. Equally helpful are the drafts, which we all know from the doors. You can also make these yourself from old garments. These sausages are stuffed with old clothes. Both should of course only be an additional help in the fight against drafts and not the sole solution.

Tips for quick readers

• Locate drafts with candle or lighter
• Check window seal in fold
• Check the glass seal inside and out
• Transition solution Stick foam seal in clean seam
• Seal with acrylic cartridge window rebate
• Remove glass connections with acrylic compound
• Remove window putty from wooden windows
• Take glass joint with linseed oil varnish
• Renew the window putty and remove it cleanly
• Replace the profile seal in the plastic window with an exact fit
• Plasticine and cling film determine sealing strength
• or replace profile seal with silicone compound
• thick curtains help with window sealing
• Draft stops prevent cold