OT: Windows

[martyphee]

Figured there's enough experiance here that it would be a good place to ask.

House is 3 years old. Caradco windows now Jeld-wen. The windward side, west, it noticably colder than the rest of the house.

First year they replaced all of the seals in the windows. That stopped the major drafts. Last year they replaced all of the bottom sashes on the west side. Still at the corners where the two sashes meet you can see/feel a draft. By seeing I mean blowing out a candle and watching the smoke.

On a windy day my hands will get numb working in my office.

This is my second house and first new one. The last house, even though the windows weren't the best, didn't have any of these problems.

How well should these windows seal?
How cold should the wall be around the windows?

[tod evans]

marty, if your sashlocks are engaged there should be no air infiltration at all. i don`t know how long the warranty on jen-welds is but i would think you should be covered if they`re only three years old. tod

[martyphee]

Their engaged. That's what I argued.

10 years I believe.

The first year it was soo bad that I could feel the draft from the windows.

[CPeter James]

I have Simonton windows in my log cabin and they seal like a refrigerator door. Better than I expected in fact. They are made in WV.

CPeter

[tod evans]

next step pella or anderson

[Travis Porter]

Sounds like the sides of the windows are not sealing well to the plastic track, which is a problem I have with several of my windows. My house is 5 years old and I believe has Marvin windows, but close to the same in my opinion. My guess is that these are not the best grade as all of the manufacturers make multiple grades and it is just the cheapest the builder could get.

The sheetrock around the windows should not be cold. If it is, the space in the rough opening was probably not filled with insulation or foam.

Personally, I am probably going to buy some high quality storm windows. Not the cheap aluminum non-painted triple tracks, but the ones that are pre finished. You may want to do the same. When I lived in Kansas (windiest place I have ever seen), my entire house had storm windows, but the wind was so bad even with the storm windows you could still hear the blinds rattling at times. Bad thing is the good storms are not cheap. I am swagging in the 60 to 120 dollars a piece range.