Drafty Windows? It Might Not Be the Glass (Check Your Caulking)

Answer First: Use the Candle Test. Pick a windy day. Hold a lit candle (or incense stick) and run it along the edge of your window trim. If the smoke blows sideways, you have an air leak. If the smoke goes straight up but the glass feels cold, that is just "Radiant Cooling" (physics). You can't fix physics, but you can fix a leak.

Convection vs. Infiltration

1. Convection (The "Fake" Draft)

Warm air in your room hits the cold glass. It cools down, becomes heavy, and sinks to the floor. This moving air feels like a draft, but no outside air is entering.

Solution: Close your curtains at night. Retain the heat.

2. Infiltration (The "Real" Draft)

Cold outside air is physically blowing through a hole in your wall.

Location A: Between the sash and the frame. (The Weatherstripping is dead).
Location B: Between the trim and the drywall. (The Insulation is missing).

How to Fix Location B (The Trim Leak)

Builders in the 90s acted fast. They stuffed some fiberglass around the window and slapped the trim on. Fiberglass does not stop air. The Retrofit:

Buy a tube of "Paintable Latex Caulking" (Alex Plus).
Run a bead where the wood trim meets the wall.
Run a bead where the wood trim meets the window frame.
Smooth with your finger. paint.

You just sealed the envelope.

How to Fix Location A (The Sash Leak)

Open the window. Look at the fuzzy pile or rubber bulb seal.

Is it flat? It needs replacing.
Is it missing? You have a problem.
Is the window not locking tight? Adjust the "Keeper" screws to pull the sash tighter.

Summary

Buy a caulking gun. Seal the trim. If the sash is leaking, you might need new weatherstripping (or new windows).

Still Freezing?

If the draft is coming through the frame itself, the window is done. We install with full foam injection to ensure 0% leakage.

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