DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

Our house is about 21 years old, and we've been in it a couple of years now. We've got a lot of double-glazed windows, including a few bay windows. They are double glazed, but wooden. They are really quite drafty!

One window (in the kitchen) has failed, so it has some condensation inside it. The others are fine.

After a second winter in the house, we know we need to replace the windows but being brutally honest we can't afford the prices we've been quoted. We often have a baby stay over, so our answer at the moment is whack the heating up when they do stay to make sure it stays at the correct temperature for them. It's not ideal.

So I was looking at possibly chalking the window frame edges to reduce any drafts. Then sanding the window frames down, and giving them a fresh lick of paint. Just to hold us over for a few years and give us time to save.

I did my usual google and some places warned not to do this with double glazing? Is it a bad idea? I'm struggling to find the reasons why it would be a bad idea... except it's obviously not as good as buying new.

Does anyone have an idiots guide to doing it? Should I do inside and out? Should I do the edges of window frame, but also where the frame meets the glass?

Is chaulk the right way to go?

Is there anyway of removing the condensation from the window in the kitchen?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm draft proofed and insulated just about everywhere else in the house.

Thanks for any help

Hello,
sorry to hear about the draught problem with your windows.

Re: condensation. No you can't get rid of it, but you don't need to replace the whole window frame just replace the double glazed unit.

Re: draughts. If the draught is getting around the edge of the frame, depending on the size of the gap, for a big gap I would use expanding foam first, get a nozzle form a tube of silicone to put on the end of the foam gun to get in to the gap. let it go off completely, then cut off waste and cover up on the exterior using a suitable coloured silicone,use masking tape so the silicone doesn't go everywhere. Do the same on the inside with the foam if necessary or just use caulk.
If the draught is coming round the opener, don't use caulk there or you won't be able to open your windows. Get some corner draught excluder ( it looks L shaped ) to go around the openers.
Hope that helps.
aleco

Thanks for the help!

This is probably a stupid question, but when you say around the edge. Do you mean the whole of the window? Or the sash? So where the wood meets the glass. That's mostly where the draft is coming from. Not where the frame meets the wall.