How and how can you insulate old wooden windows?

It’s good if the houses have modern warm eurowindows, and the temperature outside the window does not drop low even in the cold season. But if everything is wrong, this is absolutely no reason to freeze. We will understand the details of how to insulate old wooden windows.

Why insulate?

Windows, as a rule, become the main source of heat loss for the room. Even if at first glance there are no noticeable holes in the double-glazed windows, in fact there are many small clicks through which precious heat disappears. In addition, the air is cooled and through the thinnest and most vulnerable place of the windows - glass. Therefore, it is so important to insulate the window for the winter.

How to understand what to insulate is necessary?

Sometimes problems with windows can be noticed only by carefully examining them, and then, for example, your eyes will fall into small holes, you will be able to feel that you are visibly pulling a chill from somewhere. But not always a visual examination clarifies the whole picture.

In this case, you can use a convenient modern device - a thermal imager. The mechanism of its action is based on the conversion of infrared radiation characteristic of any object into a visible format. Building sections on the device screen, depending on their temperature, are painted in colors from dark blue to orange-red. Of course, a thermal imager can determine not only problematic windows, but also other places of heat loss in the building, as well as the presence of faulty heating devices - in general, any temperature anomalies.

Warming Methods

Window insulation for the winter should move in two directions:

• elimination of all gaps in the frames and between them;
• reduction of thermal conductivity of window glass.

It should be understood that even the highest quality wood is greatly destroyed over time, and this is not always noticeable at first glance. Therefore, before insulating old windows, they should not only be carefully inspected, but also probed, since a rotten area, a nest of small insects, and some other damage may well be hidden under a well-preserved thin top layer.

Tip

Before you insulate the windows for the winter with your own hands, pay attention to the temperatures at which external insulation works are carried out. It is important that the window at this time was at least +5 ° C. If the temperature is noticeably lower, this will lead to the fact that the adhesive mixtures, foam and other materials and components that are used in the repair work are likely to lose their properties or simply freeze if it gets colder. Everything, of course, depends on the individual characteristics of the material used, so be sure to read the instructions for use before working in the cold.

In general, if a decision is made to carry out insulation work, then it is best to combine them with other window repair work - for example, plastering cracks, eliminating rotten areas, changing old fasteners, and so on. If you do just one thing, the result will be noticeably worse. So before warming the wooden windows for the winter, make a work plan.

And now more about all the weak points of wooden windows and how to insulate and / or repair them.

Seal problems

A sealant is any polymer rubber-like material mounted around the perimeter of the frame in those places where the sash adjoins it.No matter how accurately the details of the sash and frame are made, small holes between them will still be, and the presence of a sealant helps protect against heat loss through them.

The type of sealing material, in principle, does not have much significance, the main thing is its resistance to temperature extremes and good elasticity. Experienced craftsmen recommend choosing a porous (PES), rubber or porous rubber tape seal.

If the frame has a special groove for the sealing tape, it is pushed tightly there, if not, it is nailed with small cloves, disposing them often enough.

The space between the frame and the slope

Although the frame itself can stay flat and not show signs of imminent deformation, even quite large holes can sometimes form between it and the slope (side surface of the window opening). They are most often shut up with material well known even to a person far from construction — assembly foam.

If the detected holes are larger than 3-4 centimeters, then they should be poured with foam in several stages, or first place a piece of wood, a piece of polystyrene, a piece of brick or other material covering most of the hole. When the foam completely hardens, its excess is carefully cut off with a sharp knife. If the hole is through, the foam outside should be protected from moisture and exposure to sunlight (it melts or crumbles from them) with an insulating material - a waterproofing profile or plastering and subsequent painting.

The area under the windowsill

In general, the principle of operation is the same as in the case of a frame and slope: the holes are foamed, if necessary, pre-filled with something, preferably with a heater. But there is an important point - if the window sill is light and not very tightly fixed to the wall, then under the influence of expanding foam it can rise. To prevent this from happening while the foam freezes, it is worth putting something heavy enough there, trying not to break the glass.

Shrink or crack windows

Wood is a hygroscopic material (absorbing moisture), therefore, with serious fluctuations in temperature and humidity, drying out or, on the contrary, swelling, it will invariably change its size and sometimes its shape (for example, to bend and warp). Accordingly, in both cases, the flaps will no longer fit so tightly to the frames, cracks will appear, and with them the heat loss. Therefore, before warming old wooden windows for the winter, you need to solve this problem.

Guaranteed to cope with this task is difficult, if not impossible, because you will not be able to get rid of changes in temperature and humidity conditions. It remains only to try to protect the tree from moisture. To do this, it is painted or varnished. And, if the existing coating has noticeably deteriorated and it was decided to update it, the layer of old paint / varnish should be cleaned off. Otherwise, the new coating will lie unevenly, which will be, firstly, unaesthetic, and secondly, much less reliable in terms of protection against moisture. Existing cracks, if they are large enough in size and do not hide themselves under a layer of paint, usually close up with special plaster for wood.

Joints between glass and glazing bead

A bead (a thin wooden element along the edge of the glass that holds it in the frame), despite its small size, can also cause problems. If it has deteriorated - it has rotted, musty, spoiled by insects, etc. - it is easier and better to replace it, at the same time cleaning and degreasing the space under it. If not, just apply a layer of sealant along its edge. Purely from the aesthetic side, it is worth choosing a transparent sealing compound, and for practical reasons - silicone as more resistant to temperature and humidity fluctuations.

Solving problems with heat loss through glass

It is possible to reduce the thermal conductivity of windows without reducing the amount of light transmitted by them with special energy-saving or heat-shrink films that increase the resistance to heat loss by about 1.5 times - a good and simple way to insulate wooden windows for the winter and protect yourself from glass fragments in case of breaking, which is especially true for residents of the first floors.

The mechanism of operation of the first type of film is the reflection of thermal radiation, due to which, in winter, heat from the house does not go outside, and in summer the heat from the street cannot penetrate inside. Such films are glued directly onto the stack.lo.

1. Wipe the glass surface from dust and dirt, degrease.
2. Remove the protective layer from the film, moisten it and the window with a mild soapy solution (this is about a spoonful of detergent per liter of water).
3. The film is glued, smoothed, and the air bubbles formed under it are squeezed out.
4. The excess is cut off at the edges with a clerical knife.

Shrink film is glued onto the frame, and an air gap forms between it and the glass, which is also very effective as a heat insulator.

How to work with a film?

1. The window is cleaned of dirt and dust, must be degreased with a soap solution or alcohol-containing compounds.
2. Under the lower glazing bead, an adsorbent (silica gel or analogues) must be glued, which will absorb the accumulating condensate, because there will be no way to wipe it.
3. A strong double-sided tape is glued around the perimeter of the frame.
4. The film is glued and straightened, the excess is cut off.

Important!

If the windows are painted, then before attaching the film (and indeed before you insulate the windows for the winter with your own hands), you should check how firmly the paint adheres, otherwise the adhesive tape together with the heat-insulating coating may fall off, nullifying all efforts to warm up.

"Preservation" of windows

This paragraph refers to the temporary closure of the window perimeter for the winter, when they do not plan to open it. This does not exclude the previously described manipulations to eliminate all cracks and holes, but complements them.

During “preservation”, all the cracks between the frames and sashes are clogged with some dense material and glued with tape or other adhesive tape. The simplest, proven over many years of use and at the same time cheap ways - to put cotton wool, twisted newspaper sheets, small rags, etc. in the slots.

But modern technologies in the field of building and finishing materials allow you to choose from more convenient and efficient materials. And we are talking not only about the well-known foam rubber, but also various polymer insulation in the form of long flexible tapes - an excellent option than to insulate wooden windows additionally. They are produced in different sizes, so choosing the right one will not be difficult. The principle of working with such a tape was described above - it is pressed into the cracks with a narrow, but not sharp tool. With careful use and selection of quality material, you can use such a tape repeatedly.

Another method, with all its effectiveness and cheapness, is very radical and suitable only if the windows are not planned to be opened before they are replaced with new ones. This method is also the previously mentioned foam. It closes all the cracks tightly and reliably, but then opening the windows later, and even more so to clear them of the remnants of the foam, will be very difficult.

To summarize

Window insulation can increase the regular temperature in the room by at least 3-4 ° C. In addition, drafts will disappear, dampness in the room and the amount of condensate formed will decrease. All this will significantly reduce heating costs, as a result, any cost of effort, time and money to warm your old wooden windows will pay off with interest.Therefore, you should not endure the cold, especially since the building materials market offers a large selection of diverse and often very easy-to-use insulation materials - and there are really many answers to the question of how to insulate wooden windows for the winter.