Help with types of Window seals and other house maintenance question

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J32

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#233273 8-Apr-2018 14:48

With winter coming up I am trying to get some maintenance around the house done, as well as improving on some things.

The house I live in has single glazed aluminium type windows. I would like to replace the the rubber/pvc type sealing at the parts were the windows can be opened. The seals are worn and have shrunk over time and left quite a few gaps.

The thing is I have no clue what they are called and if I need to get the exact same type or if they are other types I can use which might be better or improved versions etc.
I tried to find it and thought that something called a backing seal looks like it.

Here is a photo

One other thing I would like to run by you. I am trying to improve on moisture coming into the house during winter. One thing I have read about is to put a heavy duty polythene ground sheet like this one https://www.bunnings.co.nz/eurosteel-250um-x-2-x-50m-black-polythene_p00261943 under the house as a moisture barrier.

Is this a useful thing to do?

I am asking because I have a garage under the house, where the floor level is about 1 meter lower than other areas under house. There are no walls between the garage and the rest. The garage floor is concrete. The rest is is not. The suspended timber floors are insulated with underfloor insulation (just in case that matters).

Will ground sheet still work for me if I use everywhere under the house but the garage?

mattwnz

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#1991423 8-Apr-2018 15:00

Maybe they are called gaskets? The best place maybe to get them from the aluminium window manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised if you can also get them from china cheaply.

The insulation under your floor, if it is EPS and well sealed at the edges without gaps, is possibly already acting as a reasonable vapour barrier. Using a membrane under this may help, but probably not much, as you will still be getting moist air entering the space during winter from outside anyway. IMO you may want to make sure there are a suitable number of vents around the perimeter of the foundation wall, to allow for airflow.

The biggest benefit I found is installing carpet with good underlay. Timber floorboards on a piled house can be very cold on the feet.

mdf

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#1991464 8-Apr-2018 16:44

For the window seals, do they slot in to the frame or are they stick on? If they slot in to the frame, you will need matching replacements.

For the moisture barrier, what is the soil like under the house? If it is damp, then you might have some luck. But if it's already dry, there's probably not a lot to be gained. What type of underfloor insulation do you have? Some types will act as a moisture barrier anyway.

Eliminating a source of damp is the best way to dry a house. But if it is general low level moisture, you need to improve ventilation. If you are working on the windows anyway, stays that let you fix them open during the day can be an easy option. Otherwise a DVS/Smartvent/HRV/central air circulation can help significantly.

RunningMan

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#1991492 8-Apr-2018 16:54

https://www.awsltd.co.nz/

EDIT: Look under glazing seals

D1023319

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#1991792 9-Apr-2018 08:03

poly on the ground was the best thing i did for my house which I overlapped by 100mm and brought up sides of piles before tapping.

Fyi, It's not about whether the ground feels damp or not, it's the water vapour it gives off.

It's also better than relying on water vapour barrier properties of other underfloor insulation you may have.

jaymz

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#1991861 9-Apr-2018 09:45

Following - because i have the exact same window seals that I want to freshen up.

I cannot recommend the poly sheeting on the ground highly enough. My place is on a slopping section and the dirt under the house was always damp if not a bit wet during winter. I put the sheeting down and stapled it up to under the side vents and it made a huge difference to the feel of the house over winter.

Condensation on the windows reduced, it was easier to warm the house and just 'felt' drier and nicer to be in.

jaymz

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#1991864 9-Apr-2018 09:47

Actually, a quick search did bring up this result:

https://www.windowseal.co.nz/Windowseal-Shop/index.php/;focus=ICONZP_cm4all_com_widgets_Shop_543118&path=?subAction=showProduct&categoryId=2091&productId=15292#ICONZP_cm4all_com_widgets_Shop_543118

Might have a look at Aliexpress too - once i compare the seal at home with the shape listed above

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

D1023319

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#1991880 9-Apr-2018 10:23

That's a good point of Jaymz, you must retain ventilation and not block vents so any damp that gets past poly is removed.

I see lots of old houses where ground level vents are blocked by overgrown gardens and raised soil levels.

J32

99 posts

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#1992179 9-Apr-2018 17:26

So I have been driving around to different places to see what I can find. Turns out the ones I have are the ones which have a soft backing, which is the part that goes into the slot. Newer ones have hard backings which you have to slide in. Because I have no entry point where I could slide them in, an option would have been to use a drill and create an opening to be able to do this.

However they had rolls with a soft backing as well, and I just took this one. Took a smaller test piece first to see how I manage to get them in. I worked it out and went back and bought what I needed. Cost me $1.50/meter. Better price than anything I found online and I was able to test it before buying. Testing was probably wise as they had quite a few different versions of those window seals.

Got me some for my doors as well (different ones), hoping to get rid of some drafts.

Thanks for the advice about the Poly sheeting. My section is also on a light slope and I hope once I get the sheet laid, I will see improvements. I have plenty of vents around the house, this should be no problem. No overgrowth or anything near them, just some spiderwebs.

The house were I live in has an HRV system btw. Just trying to improve things further.

I'll see that I get the window and door seals done this week. Maybe I'll do the poly sheet next week. I'll report back and let you guys know about my progress.

Thanks for the help!

jaymz

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#1992591 10-Apr-2018 10:25

J32:

So I have been driving around to different places to see what I can find. Turns out the ones I have are the ones which have a soft backing, which is the part that goes into the slot. Newer ones have hard backings which you have to slide in. Because I have no entry point where I could slide them in, an option would have been to use a drill and create an opening to be able to do this.

However they had rolls with a soft backing as well, and I just took this one. Took a smaller test piece first to see how I manage to get them in. I worked it out and went back and bought what I needed. Cost me $1.50/meter. Better price than anything I found online and I was able to test it before buying. Testing was probably wise as they had quite a few different versions of those window seals.

Would you mind sharing where you ended up getting it from? I am keen to replace some of my seals before winter too.

J32

99 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 28

#1996951 16-Apr-2018 12:13

jaymz:

Would you mind sharing where you ended up getting it from? I am keen to replace some of my seals before winter too.

I got my window seals from a local branch of a company called "nulook". I went into the local store here and showed them a piece of my window seals which I had cut off and asked if they had something like this or something similar to replace it. I took a few smaller sample pieces, around 30 cm, to test which one would work best for my windows.

You can look up your local nulook branch on their website at nulook.co.nz