Feeling a breeze

We have a new home in Northern Michigan (where good windows are a must!) Forgive me if I do not have all the trade terms correct here but I need advice. Where the window frame meets the movable/removable window pane we are getting allot of heat loss. Some of these windos can be move side to side with the touch of a finger. We can also see daylight through the bristle like stripping that surrounds the window and meets the frame. These are Ellison windows and we believe the GC installed them NOT the supplier or manufacturer. Were these windows not shimmed correctly? Are there adjusments that can be made to quickly correct the problem? Should I buy stock in 3m window installation and live with this? House is still under warranty and GC knows of issue.

 

If the sash moves that easily, you can see through the weatherstipping that is supposed to seal the sash to the frame, and you are feeling breezes around the sash (because it is not sealed to the frame), your GC used cheap windows. The solution is to retrofit the cheap windows with good windows. (Living with 3M shrink wrap in a brand new house IS NOT and SHOULD NOT be an acceptible solution to you!!

Deal with the GC -- find out what he paid for the Ellison windows, then price out the cost af retrofits using a brand like Alside, Simington, Certainteed, or something of a comparible value, and offer to pay the price differece if the GC will retrofit them. If the GC balks at that, you are going to have to get nasty. I'm sure that there are energy standards that have to be met where you are -- check with the local bldg. dept. that did the inspections on the house. Obviously, these windows won't meet those standards with that much air leakage!!