How to Properly Air-Seal Windows and Doors
Tyler Grace and his crew work on air-sealing the windows and doors at the Loctite 2nd Chance House.
Sponsored by Loctite TITE FOAM
Tyler Grace is back at the Loctite 2nd Chance House, helping Habitat for Humanity transform a house into a home for an incoming family. On this project, Tyler is on-site to demonstrate techniques for air-sealing new windows and doors to ensure optimal comfort and energy efficiency using Loctite TITE FOAM Window & Door.
Here’s the transcript:
Welcome back to the Loctite 2nd Chance house. Today we’re going to be air-sealing around the newly installed windows and doors to ensure an airtight install. For that, we’ll be using the Loctite TITE FOAM Window & Door formula that’s going to help improve the comfort, air quality, and overall performance of this home.
Let’s take a look. As you can see here, we have a newly installed window. There’s going to be an extension jamb going on these units, so we want to fill this void prior to that extension jamb going in. We will fill it again afterwards, but right now is our only opportunity to create an air seal in this space.
By air-sealing this void here, we’re trying to ensure that our warm air and our cold air are not mixing. This is going to be a point of air leakage in any home, so we want to make sure that we completely fill this cavity with foam.
As with the window installation, it’s really important to air-seal between the door jamb and the rough opening. You’re going to want to make sure that you’re using a low-expanding foam like the Window & Door formula so once it cures, it’s not going to continue to expand, bowing the door jamb and creating operation issues with the door.
Habitat was not quite ready for finished trim, but we wanted to show you how to properly air-seal and insulate a window that has a separate extension jamb. So I came in, I cut back that foam, and then we mocked up this extension jamb and installed it. Now I have a void that we’re going to need to air-seal and insulate.
As you’re installing the foam, you want to make sure that you have that straw inserted into the void to ensure that you are completely filling that cavity. This is a low-expanding formula that, as it cures, is not going to bow this jamb.
It’s really exciting to work on Loctite 2nd Chance House. I have not worked with Habitat, so it’s fun to meet them and see what they’re doing for this neighborhood and this community.
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