Cracks and gaps occur in many places around the house. It’s a good idea to get rid of them as they’ll really increase your heating costs, and in summer they let in hot air and dust. And it’s not only the strong winds of winter forcing air through gaps in your home that will cause droughts.
The warm air rising and escaping from a heated room will draw cold air into the room through the openings around doors and windows and even through spaces between joints and floorboards.
Sometimes gaps are obvious, but if you suspect there’s a gap but can’t see it, light a candle or incense stick and place it by the suspected gap—movement in the smoke will let you know if there’s an air leak.
Most cracks and gaps, including around skirting boards, architraves and cornices, can be filled with a caulking compound, like an acrylic gap filler. Best to apply with a caulking gun, but caulking compound is
also sold in applicator tubes. There’s a wide range of colored caulking products available at the hardware store; you should find one to match the color of your paint or timber work. To apply the caulking compound:
1. Hold the applicator at 45 degrees and push it away from you as you run a bead along the gap. This will help force the filler deeper into the gap.
2. As you finish each section, clean up the bead by wiping away the excess; the best tool for this job is a basic one, your finger.
Doors
With doors there are two areas to tackle: the gap at the bottom of the door and the spaces on the sides between the door and the frame. To fix gaps on the sides of a door:
1. Get some self-adhesive weather strips, available from most hardware stores. They’re made of rubber, foam or even plastic; choose the one that best suits the size and shape of your door and jamb.
2. Make sure the surface you’re sticking it to is properly cleaned and dry before you start, so that the adhesive works best.
3. Unroll the weather strips and lay them in the sun for five minutes or so to soften before starting, as this will make them easier to work with.
4. Seal the space around the door’s perimeter with the strips by pushing them into the rebate that you are sealing, and trimming off any excess at the corners. In some cases a small frame of timber beading with a rubber seal insert in it can be fitted around the inside of the door jamb.
At the bottom of the door you can use a drought excluder. There are many styles to suit different types of doors and frame constructions.
Most of them are easy to fit and usually come in a kit that will include all the hardware and instructions needed. Take careful note of how your door works and all the measurements before heading off to the hardware store.
Windows
If your curtains are flapping in the breeze even when the window is shut, or if there’s wind whistling or window frames rattling on breezy days, then you need to address some window problems:
- Seal most windows with the same weather strip used around doors.
- Sliding and sash windows (and doors) are a little more difficult because the sliding action of the frames will tend to drag on a rubber seal. In new windows these gaps are usually sealed with a brush strip which allows the frame to slide freely (much like a broom over a wooden floor). If you have old sash windows, fitting brush strips is not a difficult exercise as they’re available in adhesive-backed lengths.
- Replacing cracked or broken windowpanes is also really important. For safety reasons this is a job I recommend be left to a professional glazier.
Popularity: 3% [?]
It felt just like yesterday. When I first came into that house, it was with great feeling. With the new job and new journey. This is a full house picture. All the cars were there.
