While walking through your home, you notice a foggy window, or you reach over to shut a window and note that the pane feels especially cold or hot. You likely found a window with a cracked or broken seal. Cracked or broken window seals don’t start out as a severe problem, but unaddressed, they can become one.
Window Seal Meaning
Take a quick look around your nearest window. That elastic rubbery thread that pipes around the edges of the window pane form its seal. Typically made of polyurethane or silicone, this seal can shrink and stretch somewhat as temperatures and weather conditions change. It lasts for about 10 to 15 years, while windows can last up to 20 years. Because the window seal contracts and expands regularly, it eventually dries out and breaks.
On a single-pane window, the seal actively helps block the elements. On a double- or triple-pane window, the seal does the same thing plus a second job. It keeps the argon or krypton gas that’s sprayed between the panes in place.
What Happens When a Seal Cracks or Breaks?
When cracked, you still have time to spray the seal with caulk or over-the-counter sealer to re-seal it. Once it breaks, you need a professional to repair it. That’s because once a seal breaks totally, the inert gas between the window panes escapes. That gas – argon or krypton – works with the glass to block weather from affecting the interior of your home.
Once the gas escapes, the job requires a professional to fix it because they must disassemble the window, replace the inert gas between the panes, then re-assemble and re-insert it. While this sounds complex, these professional window repair teams make this type of repair regularly, so they make it look easy.
Re-sealing a window with the argon or krypton gas inside restores its energy efficiency. It costs much less than a new window. On average, in the US, window seal repair costs about $100 per window. A new window, however, costs about $400. That only covers the window, not the labor costs of installation.
Why Did the Window Fog?
When the seal breaks on a window, humid air enters the area between the window panes. This humidity builds up, trapped with no place to go. It creates condensation between the panes of glass, which clouds the view. When left unaddressed, the condensation can build up enough that it drips water onto your floor or window frame, causing water damage.
Why Did the Glass Bow In or Out?
Another sign of a broken window seal comes from the glass itself. If it seems warped or looks like it curved slightly, that also indicates a broken window seal. This bends the glass panes slightly, distorting the view from the window.
Why Did the Energy Bills Go Up?
When the window seal breaks, the window loses its insulating qualities. It can no longer keep cold or hot air out of your home, so your HVAC systems work harder. This increased heat transfer causes your energy bills to increase because the overworked HVAC must work so much harder.
Replace Old Windows Before the Problem Worsens
If your home has single-pane windows, upgrading to double-pane, triple-pane, or multi-pane Green Seal-certified, Energy Star-compliant windows can reduce your energy bills by $100 to $500 annually, according to Energy Star data. Use felt, V strip or foam tape to further weatherstrip these energy-efficiency designs.
High-quality windows crafted of vinyl frames lessen the likelihood of window seal breaks. Energy Star-certified windows typically have a lifespan of 20 years. Have them professionally installed to further improve your energy bill savings. Your installer can add glazing or coating to the Energy Star film to further improve the energy efficiency of the new windows.
Contact Viva Windows for Window Seal Repair
In San Antonio, TX, trust Viva Windows with your window seal replacement or repair project. Our professional service technicians analyze your windows and doors to locate other problems, so you can address everything at once. Our estimate includes all of the detailed information you need to make an educated decision.
When you hire Viva Windows to replace your window seals or your windows, we manufacture the exact products you need so that they align with your home improvement goals. We will carefully remove your old windows and professionally install perfect replacements. Our extreme confidence in our manufacturing and installation process allows us to proudly offer a limited lifetime warranty standard on each door and window replacement. Contact us today!