# Caulk Windows



## eric s (Sep 30, 2006)

Hello everyone.

I've been doing some work for Mom so, I've had the occasion to note that the window contractor decided that using tub and tile caulk to seal the inside of the newly installed windows would be a good idea.  

Wrong. The seal still had not cured and was still like soup a week later. It was also drippin on down the window.

This house has twelve windows on the front and back each is separated by the wood frame for them all. The windows are double pane. The window areas take up more than half of the wall area in each instance.

I suppose that the tub and tile caulk would have cured if this was not an area where there is condensation but, still am 100% sure that the contractor should have used 100% silicone as the sealer!

Now I have to get the soup out. Make sure that all gaps are dry and apply the proper caulk seals.

Used paper towels to get soup out of a gap area...tedious. I'm sure this is a good way to get it out and also to dry it. Would a blow dryer be good to use for the drying out process?

Good to use a Window and Door 100% silicone or otherwise?

The back windows were done last year. The silicone is already mildewing. O.K to use a bleach solution to get mildew off?

If the outside and inside areas are sealed properly should there be any condensation? I think the answer is yes. Probably impossible to shut condensation down completely.

The ways to find poor seals:
Visual inspection

Using a match to see where draft sucks the smoke out?

If gaps between windows and wood are 1/2 to 3/4" deep is it best to fill the gap with caulk or a filler and caulk?

Other offences by contractor include:

Not putting a drop cloth down in home and walking around without taking boots off or using bootys.

Leaving the broken glass from old windows on the lawn.

Ducking out of cleaning up the caulking mess by saying, "I guess I'll have to come over and clean that up instead of going to what I'd planned on doing."

We elected to give him the out he obviously wanted since he's shown too much obliviousness and some poor workmanship.

Thanks for advice.


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

Question: Out of curiosity - Was he really a professional window installer ? Or was he hired as a 'someone'...to install the windows...because he said he knew how to ?


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## eric s (Sep 30, 2006)

The man had installed the windows in the back of the house last summer. The ones in the front (this project) were previously monkeyed up by some DIY idiots in the past. Hence this job being more challenging than the one in the back.

As for his credentials...I do not know. I believe that he has done window jobs before and do not read him as a total novice but, rather as someone who is careless when it comes to tracking a persons home up and someone who does not know how to use caulk.

This guy has had other glass people working with him on the jobs. They seem to know their stuff up to a point also. I think that together they know 80% of what they need to know to do the job right.

I also think that they found themselves with more than they bargained for and the penalty assessed to the owner was short cuts.

The neighbor upon learning of the soupy caulk stated that these compressed air headed contractors are always cheaping out on the caulk. A different window CON made the same mistake at his house.

This job has been paid in fool...8K.


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