DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi

I bought an ex-council house about a year ago.

I've just realised that all the double-glazed windows, and even the front door, now have a space/crack between it and the surrounding structure.
Each of these windows/doors are now letting drafts through.

Either I didn't notice it when I first moved in, or the paint around the edges of the doors/windows was hiding the cracks and has finally decomposed, or the doors/windows have shrunk(!?).

As I'm getting a draft through these holes, I assume these holes extend to the outside of the house.

Is this kind of thing normal?

Do I try and paint over it? Or should I use a sealant on the inside of the house? Or maybe tackle the problem from the outside of the house?
By the way - I'm a rubbish painter.

Any suggestions you could offer would be very welcome!

Regards,

Nicholas

Normally a silicon type sealant would be used to seal the gap between the window frame and the surrounding wall. Its possible that the sealant has gone past its lifetime and has started to shrink or just crack with age and its needing replaced.

If your going to re-seal the windows yourself make sure you get everything nice and clean first. If you try and seal over the old flaking/cracked stuff it will just end in tears.

Ahha excellent! Thank you very much!