How To Weatherproof Old Wooden Windows

When Kevin O'Connor, the host of This One-time House, renovated his 1894 Queen Anne, he never once considered replacing its original double-hung windows with modern ones. "It would kill me to put new windows in this house," he says. For one affair, the handcrafted sash and blown-glass panes would exist plush to supercede—every bit much every bit $one,000 apiece—and substituting anything less would destroy much of the erstwhile place'southward charm. Nevertheless, he was dismayed by how much air leaked in during the winter, even with outside storm windows in identify.

How Tin can I Make My Double Hung Windows More Efficient?

To fix the problem, he needed a production that was both effective and unobtrusive. "I didn't want anything that would change the way the old windows look," he says. The solution: a simple weatherstripping kit that uses the aforementioned types of seal establish in modernistic windows and is practically invisible.

For about $fourscore and an hour's installation fourth dimension per window, Kevin got the leak-free performance of a new unit while saving a valuable piece of his firm's history, as well as dollars off his heating bill. "The wind is blowing outside," he says, "but the drafts are gone." Go on on to run across how he did information technology.

Beefcake of Double-Hung Windows

Old-fashioned double-hung windows are so called because they take two sash, each suspended from a pair of cords or chains with weights on i end. They can be easily taken apart, weatherstripped, and put back together.

How to Weatherstrip Double-Hung Windows

Step 1

Pry Off I Inside Cease

Person prying off the stop inside a double hung window.

With a utility knife, intermission the pigment film (if any) by scoring along the joints where the terminate meets the side casing and the sill. Remove any screws holding the terminate to the jamb. Insert a strong putty knife in the joint near halfway up the window opening. Gently bend the terminate (shown) and insert a pry bar in the gap above the knife. Piece of work the 2 tools down toward the sill, putty knife in the lead, until the end is free. Pull any cease nails out through the back of the cease, then set it aside.

Pace 2

Take Out the Lower Sash

Person taking out lower sash from double hung window to prepare to seal it.

Raise the sash slightly and swing it out on the side where the stop was removed. Pull the cord out of its groove and tie a effigy-eight knot in one end to keep the cord from beingness pulled down into the weight pocket. If the sash has bondage instead of cords, insert a nail through a link instead.

Step 3

Pull the Parting Beads

Person pulling window beading from double hung window to prepare from weatherstripping.

Using a utility knife, score the paint (if whatsoever) on both sides of all 3 parting beads. Catch each parting bead on ane end with nippers or locking pliers and pull it out of its dado, the flat-bottomed groove in the jamb. Move the upper sash as needed to get a good grip. If the upper sash is inoperable, pry out the beads with a chisel, taking intendance not to gouge the sash. There'due south no demand to remove the upper sash. Its weatherstripping is on the replacement parting chaplet yous'll install later.

Step 4

Rout the Meeting Rail

Person using a router on the rail of the window.

Place the sash on a padded worktable with the exterior side facing upwardly. Clamp the sash so its coming together rail projects a few inches by the edge of the table. Remove the sash lock and set aside. Chuck the slot-cutting bit into the router and gear up information technology to cut 3⁄8 inch from the router base. (A begetting controls the bit's cut depth.) Hold the router base firmly against the top edge of the meeting rails and cutting a groove from left to right.

Footstep 5

Rout the Lesser Rail

Person holding a router against the bottom rail of the window.

Unclamp the sash, rotate information technology and so its bottom rail is closest to you lot and overhanging the tabular array, then reclamp. Hold the router'due south base firmly against the face of the rail and cut a groove from left to right.

Pace half-dozen

Weatherstrip the Double Hung Window

Person applying silicone weatherstripping to the edge of the double hung window.

Press the silicone weatherstripping, spinous border first, into the groove routed into the bottom rail (shown). Take care not to stretch the strip as you insert it. Insert the pile weatherstripping into the coming together-rails groove. Utilise a utility pocketknife to trim the ends of each piece of weatherstripping flush with the outside edges of the sash.

Pace 7

Supercede the Top Bead

A measuring tape used to mark the window to prepare for weatherstripping.

Lower the upper sash and measure the length of the dado in the head jamb. Mark that measurement on the shortest parting bead in the kit (shown). Cutting information technology to length. Tap the bead into its dado with the pile weatherstripping facing out.

Step 8

Cut the Side Beads

Mark the jamb where it meets the horizontal centerline of the sash's coming together rail (shown). Measure up from that mark to the top bead and down from the mark to the sill. Transfer those measurements to the replacement bead, starting from the dewdrop's heart; where the weatherstripping on 1 side ends and the stripping on the other side starts. (The strips on the upper part of the bead should face out.) Trim the top end of the bead square; trim the bottom end to lucifer the angle of the sill. Repeat for the bead on the reverse jamb.

Footstep ix

Tap in the Side Beads

The fit should be tight enough to hold them in place. If it isn't, drill, then tack the bead in identify with a few 3⁄4-inch wire brads. Reinstall the sash, stops, and sash lock. When you're done, the sash should slide up and down smoothly and line up at their meeting rails.

Tools and Materials