Lots of us have been there, but it seems that recent years has meant tightening your belt again and again. Lots of us are looking to saving costs on a long term basis around and within our homes, and there are a number of reputable and quite expansive builders merchants in North Wales which can help you do just that with the supply of a number of materials needed so you can make improvements to your home which will look fantastic in the short term, and save money in an efficient manner over a long period.
Rather than get new windows entirely, have you considered drought proofing? Done well, draught proofing your windows can be inconspicuously done, and can ensure that your heating bills will be smaller for very many years to come.
1 – Clean, Clean, Clean
Before you start, it is imperative to clean the window frame well. After all, work on a dirty surface will only make the dirt trapped underneath permanent. The best thing we’ve found to clean window frames is simple – water and washing up liquid. There’s all sorts of cleaners and products out there, but a 10:1 mix of water and washing up liquid does the job just as well (and doesn’t have any odd smells, as opposed to cleaning solutions)
Ensure that your windows are clean and dry before you begin.
2- Draught proofing strips
Next, you’ll want to purchase some draught proofing strips from your local builders merchant. There are a large variety of builders merchants in North Wales, but we found that St Asaph based RN Williams, a builders and plumbers merchant North Wales could provide us with excellent advice, and great products at rates far below the other merchants and DIY stores around the area.
3- Apply Carefully
Do remember that draughtproofing stripes are best used on wooden window frames, and the draught proofing strips with an adhesive backing are best used on metal casement windows. It’s really quite a simple job, no matter what strip you have need of – you’ll cut the lengths to fit with a set of scissors or a trimming knife – and peel away the protective backing as you stick down each length on the rebate.
4- Don’t forget the excluders!
As for the excluders, you’ll want to ensure for a good job that one piece of excluder goes snugly into each corner of your window frame. Should your gap be too large for the usage of draught proofing strips, you’ll be well served using silicone sealant, which again is obtained from your builders merchant in North Wales. If you’re having trouble finding it, make sure that you ask a member of staff – it sounds somewhat strange, but sometimes this product is called frame sealant. There isn’t a wrong term for this product, both are the same thing.
This concludes our guide to enable you to seal your windows yourself, rather than shelling out thousands upon thousands of pounds for replacements. Let us know how it went for you in the comments!
