It's been reported ("The Family Handyman" magazine, October, 1990, p. 6) that most
houses have enough air leaks in them that they would be equivalent to leaving a
2-square foot window open all winter long. Obviously, caulking offers a great opportunity
to close that "2-sq.-ft window" and save a lot of money on your heating and air-conditioning
bill. A great place to start is on all of your existing windows and doors. All you
need is a caulking gun and a few cartridges of high-quality caulk and you can make
your home cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter and more resistant to moisture
and bugs all year long.
If you have never caulked before you should review the material in Caulking 101.
Caulking 101 is designed to take you through the steps of caulking, from all the
needed preparations to finishing the applied beads of caulk. And, even if you have
done some caulking before, Caulking 101 will likely provide you with information
you were probably not aware of before.
Caulking 101
Following are some helpful tips for caulking your doors and windows:
1. Your furnace can create a slight
amount of air pressure inside your house when it is running. As you seal the cracks
in your house with caulk you might have small bubbles develop in the caulk while
it's still wet due to the slight air pressure from your running furnace trying to
find a way out of the building. You can minimize this risk by leaving one or more
of your windows slightly open for a couple of days while the caulk firms up so that
it can resist this slight pressure.
2. You may decide that you want to fill
the large voids between the window frames and the framing of the stud walls (covered
by the window trim boards). This is usually a very good idea. However, be careful
not to use highly expanding foams that can actually put so much pressure on the
window frames - as the foam expands - that they can be bowed inward, obstructing
the free travel of the movable portions of the window. We recommend using a latex
foam such as "Great Stuff" by Flexible Products Company.
3. If your caulking project coincides
with painting or staining your house, make sure the paint or stain you use is compatible
with
the caulk you
intend to use. If the paint or stain contains wax, stearates, silicones, paraffinic
oils or similar materials, then there is a great risk that the caulk will not adhere
very well to the coating. (You may have to do some "detective" work to determine
this, but to avoid this potential problem, it is worth the effort.)
4. If you use a coating that is compatible
with the caulk, it is usually best to do all your painting first - including the
joints to be caulked - before caulking them. In this way, the coating acts as a
primer for the caulk, usually improving the overall adhesion.
5. Make sure you don't skimp on caulk.
The size of the beads should be at least 3/16", and bigger, if possible. This will
provide enough mass of sealant to easily handle the inevitable movement bound to
occur with humidity and temperature changes.
To get more information on different types of doors or windows we have linked our
web site with the other manufacturers to give you all the necessary information
about your particular door or window: