The Many Uses of Weather Stripping

It is sometimes advisable to weather strip bedroom doors, at least at the bottom, to prevent drafts and the escape of heat from the rest of the house when bedroom windows are open. Weather stripping applied to the door leading from the living rooms to the basement helps to keep out dust, gases, and laundry odors. Placing it along frameless shower doors can help the shower doors, especially hinged shower doors, keep excess water from escaping and getting all over the floor, creating a hazard.

Casement windows are weather stripped in the same manner as doors, with the stripping tacked to the window stop and the contact edge pressed against the face of the sash when the window is closed. A strip of felt tacked to the inside face of the meeting strip will seal the vertical crack where the two windows meet. For various reasons damp spots may appear on the interior surfaces of walls, but contrary to the impression of some householders, only in relatively few cases are they caused by leakages through the walls proper.

Most of the trouble is usually found around window frames which are poorly built or improperly weather proofed. Such frames admit air and moisture and the adjoining interior walls soon become unsightly with dirt and water stains. Water, finding its way into the wall around the window frame, may work along inside the wall and make a spot on the plaster surface several feet distant. For this reason, it is sometimes difficult to locate the source of trouble.

It is a good idea to use weather stripping along the door to your steam sauna, or even an infrared sauna, to save energy used by the sauna heater. In extra good frame construction the blind casing (behind the outside casing) extends back to the window studs, and the building paper (between the sheathing and siding) extends over the crack between the blind casing and the sheathing. In addition, the outside casing is nailed directly to the blind casing and the siding or shingles butted up against it.

If there is no blind casing, waterproof paper is used under the joint between the outside casing and the siding to prevent the entry of wind and rain. The cap over the window should be constructed to turn water away from the joint between the frame and the siding. In some types of frames, the siding or shingles extend over the cap, and a drip groove is provided along the underside of the cap or, in case the cap does not have these features the joint may be covered with metal flashing.

This is somewhat how a hot tub or bathtub is designed. Water from the tub faucet is directed towards the drain so that it doesn\'t pool anywhere, and water that splashes onto the edges are directed back into the tub. The connection between the upper sill and sub-sill should also be tight. In the newer types of frames, the bottom of the lower sill is plowed to allow the siding or shingles to extend into the sill a short distance, and an offset, or rabbet, is cut near the back edge to make a tight joint with the top sill.

Most of the trouble is usually found around window frames which are poorly built or improperly weather proofed. Such frames admit air and moisture and the adjoining interior walls soon become unsightly with dirt and water stains.