window air leak

POLKOHOLIC

I live in a small apartment with 2 windows. On windy days I can feel air coming through them - when they are shut. How do I go about solving this. It gets a bit chilly even with the heat on.

The windows are the type that slide up and down. Single pane I believe. I hope the window does not need to be replaced.

hearingimpared

Cauking and there is a plastic that is sold at Home Depot or Lowes that you place over the windows in the winter and use a hairdryer to shrink it. It definetely keeps the cold air out and the warm air in.

Polk65

The DIY network has an episode about caulking the outside. The show notes are on their website. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hm_other/article/0,2085,DIY_16808_4241095,00.html

POLKOHOLIC

hearingimpared wrote:

Cauking and there is a plastic that is sold at Home Depot or Lowes that you place over the windows in the winter and use a hairdryer to shrink it. It definetely keeps the cold air out and the warm air in.

Could you please elaborate on this plastic? It seems very doable.

hearingimpared

POLKOHOLIC wrote:

Could you please elaborate on this plastic? It seems very doable.

I used it a few years back. You place it over the entire window. I think you use some kind of tape that will match your paint. Then you use a hair dryer like you would on shrink wrap and viola instant insulation.

TennesseeOutlaw

I used the plastic as well, and it seems to work rather nicely... If you dont mind not being able to look at the window, you could also do what I did... Get a piece of "egg crate" the stuff you put on a bed to make it more comfortable, that will block the wind most defnately..

Polk65

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/wi_maint/article/0,2037,DIY_14423_2268595,00.html

I thought they used a special type of thick plastic for doing this. Does regular kitchen plastic wrap work?

TennesseeOutlaw

Polk65 wrote:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/wi_maint/article/0,2037,DIY_14423_2268595,00.html

I thought they used a special type of thick plastic for doing this. Does regular kitchen plastic wrap work?

I suppose it may, but I think(dont qoute me) they use a much higher strength plastic.. Something around 10 mill..

danger boy

POLKOHOLIC wrote:

I live in a small apartment with 2 windows. On windy days I can feel air coming through them - when they are shut. How do I go about solving this. It gets a bit chilly even with the heat on.

The windows are the type that slide up and down. Single pane I believe. I hope the window does not need to be replaced.

call your landlord.. that's what they are there for.. and it shouldn't cost you anything if the landlord fixes it as they should.

TennesseeOutlaw

danger boy wrote:

call your landlord.. that's what they are there for.. and it shouldn't cost you anything if the landlord fixes it as they should.

Excellent point!

POLKOHOLIC

the building is owned by a company so there is no real land lord. there is a super on the 2nd floor...I guess I should talk to him about it. I wasn't aware that it was the landlords responsibility though..

danger boy

POLKOHOLIC wrote:

the building is owned by a company so there is no real land lord. there is a super on the 2nd floor...I guess I should talk to him about it. I wasn't aware that it was the landlords responsibility though..

unless you own the building, which I don't think you do.. it's the landlord/super's job to fix it. why should you have to pay anything for repairs or fixes to something you don't own?

Just trying to get you to see it the correct way.. he or she may say.. for you to fix it, then give them the bill for the repairs.. that is rare though.

super = Mr. handyman

BaggedLancer

POLKOHOLIC

haha i was thinking something a bit more professional

MrNightly

Actually, in most tenant's contracts they sign, the house only has to be dry and a shelter over the head from the elements. I know with my tenants, if they called about me fixing the windows, they'd be fresh outta luck. Just because you have to crank up the heater a little bit more, hardly makes the house/apartment unlivable.

Use the window shrink wrap. It's like $12 at Lowes/HD. It'll do the trick, until you get better insulated windows.

POLKOHOLIC

can you send me a link to the shrink wrap?

the apartment is livable but gets a bit chilly at times. the heat is controlled by the super i believe... also, my heater makes hissing sounds...whats up with that? can i complain to the super about that?

PhantomOG

reminds me of when I lived in a crappy apartment building in upstate NY for school. It had central heating and the super controlled the temp. Tenants on the ground floor were always complaining to him about how cold it was, meanwhile, I lived on the top floor (3rd) and it was always too hot. I'd have to keep my windows wide open when it was 10 degrees F outside. He'd always yell at us for opening the windows.

daboyz

Try the super route first. Then I've found the shrink wrap works best. Do you have blinds or drapes? Blinds that are mounted inside the sill makes the wrap kind of a pain.

nadams

If you can feel a draft, then there is a void large enough for water to get through if the rain were to hit that side of the apt. I would recaulk the window, on the oustide. Just run a good bead along the joining edges (and don't fall out of the window in the process).

The plastic will stop the draft, too, but should only be considered temporary. Remember, what comes in will also go out... when you want your apt to stay cool in the summer (if you have a/c, that is), some of that cold air is getting back out into the summer breeze.

The plastic mostly will help with the amount of cold air that gets introduced into the room just via the cold glass in the window. Windows are where most heat loss occurs in an otherwise well-insulated home.

MattN03

Check that the weatherstrip is not torn or missing on the sash (part that moves up and down). Do you see any daylight peeking through anywhere?