Eliminating Drafts and Easing Sticky Windows

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For a seasonal solution in eliminating drafts, add removable rope-type caulking in the fall and remove it in the spring. Or affix plastic sheets to the inside window frame using one of many kits available at hardware stores and home centers. For a more permanent  solution, you can tighten drafty old double-hung windows with weather-stripping. Tubular, vinyl weather-stripping is the best product for sealing the gaps that occur in older windows. Install it along all the horizontal seams of the window and in the tracks where the sashes slide. The self-adhesive varieties are the easiest to install. Work carefully and check continually that the sashes can still slide freely.

Sometimes windows don’t slide easily thus the term sticky windows. Lubrication may help. Rub household bar soap or paraffin along the channels. There are several other possible explanations if that doesn’t work, generally requiring a more substantial fix. For example in a new house, it may be excess insulation in the wall that is causing the channels to buckle and pinch the window. In an older house a window may stick because it’s out of square due to poor installation or the natural settling of the house. Test with a square or look where the sashes meet the jamb. If the lines are not parallel the window is crooked. Call a professional for repairs or for reinstallation. Years of accumulated paint can also cause a window to be too tight. Paint may even seal it shut altogether. First check to make sure that the previous owner hasn’t nailed or screwed the window shut. If not cut around the sash with a utility knife to break the paint seal evenly. Then carefully tap the sash (but not the glass) with a rubber mallet to loosen it.

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