jeld wen windows

[Zephyr]

Hey group

all this cold weather has me more aware of the shortcomings of my house..

I have what I thought were decent windows. Jeld Wen series D windows, Wood with alum cladding. Double hung, they look nice, the glass is low E I believe, and they operate quite well. Here's the issue, they leak like a sieve.

On the main floor I have 6 on the west side of my house that form 2 bays they are all 62 inches tall 4 are 22 inches wide and the remaining 2 are

1. On the south side 3 more at 62 x 36 Upstairs I have 5 more at 62 x 36. There are more on the north and east sides, but they don't catch as much wind. If there is no wind they are fine but when any wind blows, you can feel the cold air blowing coming from the corners of the windows, and where the 2 sashes meet along the jamb The horizontal seal between the sashes is fine. When I moved in there was a lot of air leaking around the trim and so I caulked the trim to the wall which stopped some of the air. I took the trim off one of the windows and there was insulation between the frame and the framing, so I'm assuming that the others are that way, but, I'm not sold, based on how much air was moving behind the trim. The bigger issues is the leaking between the sashes and the jambs in the corners. They seem fine along the length of most of the jamb, but, in strong wind its really cold in those corners.

The jambs are the compression type that you have to push "out" to allow the sash to tilt in, I have used rope caulk (which is easy to remove) to try and fill some of the gaps but, anytime you move the window, the jambs compress in a bit, and your gap is back. I'm hesitant to try "real" caulking there because of that, ( the windows are usually open in summer) and because I don't want to goop up the windows making them look like sh&t.

Any recommendations on how to slow the air infiltration?

Dave

[tbasc]

"Insulation", if it is glass fiber, won't stop air movement. Foam can seal air leaks better. Flashing may be part of the problem. Checking that requires removal exterior trim & perhaps siding. TB

[Zephyr]

TB,

you are correct, it is fiberglass pink, I'm unhappy with my caulking decision now, as thinking about it I should have foamed the windows right the first time. I think I'll be cutting caulk and prying trim for the next little while. However, that still doesn't help the jamb leaking issue. As far as I can tell, I think its just a really poor design. I'm considering a storm window pane that would replace the screen window to help knock down the drafts around the jambs. (not permanent storms) I ran plastic over the screens to test it out, and it did make a big diff to the air infiltration issue. Plastic looks like shit though, and is harder to see thru.

Dave

[Art Todesco]

When I had a bunch of windows replaced the butcher did a terrible job. I had to redo every window. I could feel air blowing through even though it wasn't real cold out. They only used a little fiberglass in the openings, and very little at that. So, after mechanically securing the windows, I used foam where the opening was large enough to squeeze it in. I was careful not to "overstuff" the opening and I always allowed the excess to ooze out into the room, where it was cut off after it hardened. Where the openings were real narrow, I used caulk. I installed several other windows subsequently (without a contractor) and did the same. Things are real tight with very little air infiltration.