silvertree

I put a couple of vinyl sliders in my lower level this summer. 7'0" X 4'0". 4'X4' fixed picture unit in each window.
They are set in a treated lumber crossbuck (frame) that is glued and nailed to the blockwork, I used up some tubes of silicone latex window caulk to seal everything, trimmed out inside and out. I have 2 sliders same brand I sealed with butyl in another area, not as bad. Caradco windows.
Went below 0 degrees this week and you could blow out a match with the air coming in from the corners. I know sliders aren't the most efficient, but I'm thinking I better just get some better windows. Does vinyl shrink that much in the cold? First time I ever put vinyl windows in my own home. Last house I used Marvin sliders and they were good.

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Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
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Patrick

There is a phenomenon that warm air in the room will hit the the cold glass and bounce back into the room and give the effect of a draft. Where Oberon....

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Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

enforcer

its called convection. inert gas either argon orkrypton can reduce this dramatically unless you have a window with a poor or cheap seal/spacer.

bigjohn316

I have not heard of that brand, but vinyl will expand and contract dramatically. We have seen siding expand and contract a good 1/4-3/8 inch. Some vinyl windows will preform better than others. Marvins are good, I have their Integrity line in my house and couldn't be happier after having SuperSeal vinyl windows in our last house.

cleveman

Silvertree,

I've got 12 5x5 JeldWen sliders in the place I'm in now. They were awfully inexpensive, plus I got $25 per window from the electric company. I don't feel any airflow, but I caulked the nailing fin real well and flashed everywhere.

I did notice one crack yesterday morning. You know how cold it was the night before last, so I'll attribute it to that. We'll see if I have a glass guarantee or not.

One thing I did in the basement (poured walls firred out with 2x4's on the inside) was to install denshield on the window framing (PT lumber same as yours probably), then install tile on this. I did this because I have nearly 12" window extensions here and I didn't want a bunch of oak plywood all around the 5x5 windows. It would have been one sheet of plywood per window, with a bunch of 3' long x 12" wide strips left over. Anyway, worked well for me and these jamb extensions hold up well to dust, cats sitting on them, etc.