I bought a house at the end of May, and family and I are slowly working to improve the home. It was built in 1969 and the previous owners did not take good care of it, so there are many things to clean and fix.

One project I want to get done before the winter is to 'refresh' the seals on the windows and doors. Plans to replace these are in the future, but we can't do them now, so I want to make them last another 2-3 years without too much trouble from the elements. I figure replacing the weather stripping on these windows and doors along with some hopefully minor tweaks should add some life into them.

I'm looking for advice on what the best kind of weather stripping would be for my windows and doors, along with advice on how to improve their functionality.

(Also every door/window in these pictures is horribly dirty. I know I know. We're working on it! We've only lived here three months! Both my wife and I work, and we have a two year old! One thing at a time!)

Sliding Glass Door

I think this is the biggest offender for heat loss in the house right now. It's an old sliding door which feels very heavy. It doesn't slide well, and scrapes along the bottom. What can be done about this door short of replacing it? Previous owners appear to have added stripping in the past, but those have clearly worn out. Would this door benefit from applying a heat-film?


Sliding Glass Door - Full View

Sliding Glass Door - Foam Stripping along side, Felt stripping along bottom, both quite old. Bottom rail, clearly scratched as the door sits directly on it and scratches it when sliding.

Sliding Glass Door - Top of door, no stripping present.

Sliding Glass Door - Joint where door panes meet.

Large Windows on Front of House

We have 2 large windows at the front of the house. I think these are the next biggest offenders. I'd like to add stripping to these as, they don't seem to have any at all. Any suggestions on how to do that? Also would heat film be beneficial for these windows as well?


Front Windows - No stripping where windows meet on either window

Front Windows - No stripping on bottom of windows.


Double Front Door:

The only thing wrong with this door is the old weather stripping I believe. Both the seal between the two doors, and above and below. When replacing, should I stick with the soft plastic in the middle and metal with plastic pieces on top and bottom? Also what about the plastic strip along the top?


Double Front Door - Soft plastic along the middle. The soft plastic doesn't seal towards the bottom any more. Stripping along top, another strip on frame facing door. Is there a better option than that plastic strip here? There's a plastic seal as well along the bottom of the door which is falling apart. Best stripping to replace?

Small Windows on Upper Floor

We have 7 smaller windows on the top floor of the rest of the house. These are hard to slide, and have what looks like fairly old stripping. Should I replace that stripping with the same? Or different kind?



Small Windows - Right side stripping is very old and no longer sealing well. Window sits directly on rail, no stripping inside. Hard to slide. Same on the top of the window.

Basement Windows

We have 7 basement windows of the same time. They all hinge out and have a latch which pulls them against the window frame. As far as I can tell, some of these windows have no stripping at all. You can see there's some kind of seal on the outside of the frame which presses against the window when it's latched shut. In every case, this seal is very thin and very old. What would be the best replacement here?



Basement Window - Thin and old stripping on outside of window frame.

Basement Window - No stripping at all on window itself

 

You can't really add weatherstripping to the patio door as that type of weatherstripping fits in a kerf in the aluminum frame. You could probably take the sliding door out and replace the rollers if you can find a match.

As for the double hung windows, they don't have weatherstrip and arent really made to have weatherstrip. About all you can do there is get 3M window insulator kits and put them on before winter.

Your double entry door looks like it has magnetic weatherstrip on top and someone likely replaced the one on the latch side with something different. There are many different kinds, and what you get depends on what you currently have and the size of the kerf... theres really no way for use to tell you what to get because we arent there to take it apart, or measure. Google q-lon door weatherstrip and you can look at what's available. You can also get foam corner wedges to put on the passive door to help a little. But they often come off after you operate the door a few times because they arent super sticky and th3 door has to be very clean to get them to stick. But you can put a staple or two in them to help keep them in place,

The bottom 2 pictures are of a Pella Casement window and they dont have any weatherstrip on the sash itself, it is on the window frame side, (your 2nd to last photo) and when you close the window and lock it, it compresses the seal. Often that weatherstrip just needs to be cleaned, and wiped down. And it's probably old and brittle since its 50 yrs old. I would not bothering replacing that weatherstripping as you would probably damage the wood getting the old weatherstrip out.

I think your best option is the 3M kits and save your money to replace them someday.

 

That's unfortunate that there isn't a whole lot I can do. I'll give the 3M kits a try. I'll also try and look for a match to the sliding door.