Hello all!



My boyfriend and I live in a ground floor apartment with windows that leak cold air horribly! So far, we’ve tried to add several different kinds of weatherstripping to help but idk, I don’t think it’s done much. I can’t find the best way to explain so that it’s not super confusing because I don’t know anything about windows or their specific parts.



The top can slide down to be opened or, the bottom can slide up to open. There are drafts of cold air coming in at the ‘side tracks’ of the windows where the window slides up and down. This is how every window is and some of them have very small foam blocks in the channels (I’m assuming to stop the drafts) but honestly they don’t do anything.



I’m posting photos - the ‘side track’ part that I’m talking about it circled. (Please ignore the dirt!!!) When you close the window, you can feel A LOT of cold air right here. Is this normal?? Anyone know of any fixes?



I'm looking for a solution that fills or covers the gap as opposed to using a film over the entire window. Please let me know if you have any ideas for this as well as any ideas for a better way of explaining this lol !



Thank you so much

Window

 

Have you complained to the landlord? Also if you need to open the window during cold conditions, the window slides can't be packed with insulation or covered by a sheet of plastic so your options are limited.

 

Using the plastic film is the best way, but since you don't want that a cheap and easy way is to stuff newspaper as you close the window. As a kid I remember my parents doing that and it seemed to help a lot.

 

The foam blocks typically are supposed to be positioned near the top of the bottom sash, above the screw you have circled in the bottom photo. If you are missing any, you can make your own by cutting them from a piece of 1/2" rigid foam board. They are typically kind of t shaped so that they also fit against the sash.

 

@beelzebob Complaints to the landlord doesn’t do much besides bring in maintenance guy who doesn’t know much of what he’s doing. When we first moved in and complained we were told “the windows were checked inside and out, everything is fine”. I don’t mind not being able to open the windows during winter. We only have 1 that we crack occasionally

 

Norm201 thanks, that could work. Do you mean stuff the newspaper all the way down in the sides?
XSleeper thanks! The ones that are in the windows don’t stay put in one spot, they just fall down into the hole. Are these things typically pretty effective?

 

They stuffed the paper at the bottom of the sill and wedged it along the sides as best they could. Again you really should get the plastic film. Also there is a product called

Clear Removable Weather Stripping Caulk

 

Plastic film at our last apartment didn’t seal too well. Granted it was my first time using & didn’t exactlyyyy know what I was doing haha but I didn’t think there’s a special science to it. Any tips?

 

The foam blocks aren't 100% effective but they help. Here is a link to some online... but every window requires a different shape so its not always a one size fits all solution.

https://www.allaboutdoors.com/Foam-P...mb-liner-White

Sometimes you may have to make your own if the generic ones don't fit completely tight.

 

Thanks sooo much. I appreciate it!