Air tight sealing strategies for windows & doors
The best window is worthless without having the surrounding joints completely insulated & sealed. The sealing works as an air tightness and vapour control
layer.
Expanding foam is good for insulation purposes but doesn´t create a permanent air tight & vapour check barrier. That´s why a comprehensive window sealing is so important.
An appropriate sealed window eliminates the risk of draughts, heat loss and condensation/ mould.
Sealing options for windows and doors
Self-adhesive window tape
Standard window tape
Window sealing with air tight paint
Window sealing with approved sealant
External sealing of windows and doors
Sealing of roof windows
For further advise & guidance, please get in contact with us.
Currently the most common taping strategy for windows.
To achieve a good bonding performance, please notice some requirements:
- the substrate has to be smooth and clean
- application to dry substrate only
- some substrate requires additional primer
- best bonding performance on higher temperatures
- full bonding performance is achieved after approx. 24hrs
- perforated tapes have to be plastered over the perforation
Still the best option for rough substrates like scudded reveals.
This method requires an additional sealant beside the window tape, because the tape has just a slim self-adhesive sealing strip, to bond it to the window frame.
After having the tape applied to the window frame, beads of suitable sealant have to be applied to the adjoining areas to create a permanent bonding between the tape and those substrates. Attention is needed for details like corners and extending window straps.
A serious alternative for special building structures.
Sealing around windows with air tight paint is a considerable alternative for building structures like ICF, because self-adhesive window tapes do not achieve their best bonding performance on materials like EPS.
A slim joint can be sealed with air tight paint in a quick and easy way. Just make sure that the air tight paint is applied to the window frame for approx. 3-5mm as well. The frame should be always covered with masking tape prior the painting. Please consider a drying time of 24-48 hours for the paint.
The window sealing strategy with 30 years guarantee!
Whenever you need to seal slim joints again, you can select a complete and certified system for the air tight sealing. PICHLER Elastocell® air tight foam and PICHLER FD300® create a fully certified and approved sealing system - the only one with a 30 year performance guarantee.
The joint around the window has to be filled with PICHLER Elastocell® air tight foam first and then sealed with PICHLER FD300® sealant. A special application nozzle ensures the sealing of all joints up to 30mm width. The sealant can be plastered over. The perfect sealing system for retrofit!
Some structures require additional external window sealing.
External sealing for windows and doors is required for some insulation strategies/ structural details like external wall insulation, stone cladding or timber frame structure.
The external sealing layer is mainly there, to protect the building structure against the ingress of water by driving rain. Beside window tapes there are other options like sealants, coatings or foam tapes for creating a functional protection of the window joint on the outside.
Just required in buildings without an air tight membrane.
Please ignore this detail for buildings where an air tight membrane will be installed, because the membrane has to be joint with the roof window frame.
The roof window on the photo had to be taped separately because the house was insulated with spray foam without any additional air tight & vapour control membrane.