Sep 06 2008
home repairs in Mongolia
Before the non-Mongolia-experience people stop reading, as a tidbit of life here, virtually all doors and windows are doubled - an outer and inner one with about 1-2″ of gap in between them. And virtually all of em don’t fit well unless they’re the new vacuum double-paned window installations, which seem to only exist in buildings built in the past few years to me. AND often times your window glass will be cracked and taped back together along the crack.
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While I was gone for training, some people broke my large (4′x2′) glass windows by throwing rocks. I just got the glass replaced and I’m already thinking about wintertime and sealing them so I may possibly be warmer this winter. Since the windows here are virtually glass doors, I’ve pretty much looked up how to weatherstrip and seal doors as my guide for sealing these up. Plus, I found some foam adhesive weatherstripping in the market today and I’m excited to start using it…how I dream for vacuum double-paned windows…
As I know other present and future volunteers may find themselves in this situation, I thought I’d share what I’m doing.
But first off, even if I seal the points between the frame and the moving doorlike part, it’s a moot point if the glass isn’t sealed into the frame. Most windows here are set into a groove then held in place with a few nails around the edges, much like how glass is held in picture frames. So you need to caulk or seal somehow the windows on the exterior side. First off, check to see if the glass actually contacts the wood frame on all the edges. Oftentimes the glass is a bit off, so you’ll need to scoot it to one side or another or even scoot it up. You can do this by carefully pressing on the glass (pref. from both sides) and pushing in the direction needed. If it needs to scoot up, I grab a couple pennies or something else kind of thin and flat and jam it in the bottom edge where the glass meets the wood to keep it at that height. Then you can start caulking.
At the market they sell tan or brownish blocks that look like clay but are essentially putty - most people use that here for sealing - called замазка in the direct Russian translation. This stuff is shitty, but may be the best you can find if you can’t get silicone caulking (which comes in a tube that may fit into a caulking gun). The way I use the putty is to pull off a piece, roll it between your hands to make a long skinny piece, then gently press into the window where the glass and wood (in theory) meet. After you do this around the entire window, take some kind of small flat piece of metal (I use the “head” of the key or the edge of a coin) and kind of scrape the putty so that it’s smooth and squashed against the glass and wood. This also gives you back that excess putty to use on other windows if needed. After a while the putty will dry and hopefully seal itself against the window.
I don’t have it, but if you actually have silicone caulking, the same glass adjustment technique above applies then check out this link for how to use the silicone.
Then, check out if you have cracks (inevitably) in the panes themselves. Seal these up as best you can with tape, silicone caulking, or whatever.
This is where it gets more theoretical for me - I’m still in the process of doing the stuff below for actual weatherstripping and sealing. Your counterparts will help winterize your first year, but the essence is try to block all the drafts in the outer windows as much as possible, then focus on inner windows/doors. If the cold doesn’t get in in the first place you’re good.
To this end, I’m going to use the advice here for weatherstripping doors for my windows and doors - trying to adjust the fit of frames, tightening screws, “planing” the wood with my knife, etc., then putting the foam strips in the jambs as illustrated in the door diagram from that article. Note that you have to make sure the door/window actually closes easily before you can do this stuff, otherwise after applying the weatherstripping you may not be able to close it at all.
Also, I believe that felt is an excellent insulator (check out the ger - it can get toasty!) so this may be a good substitute for weatherstripping or other plugging materials you would use below.
Now, back to what’s done here around October - for the doors/windows you’re certain you’re not going to open again until the spring, close the outer door/window and thoroughly seal up the gaps from the inside and outside if you see any. I’ve seen this done here with wadded up newspaper, cloth, felt, horsehair (I hope it was horsehair), sand, dirt etc. Some even tack up clearish plastic tarp around the interior/exterior side to…do something. Prevent drafts, I suppose. Then, if you’re super fancy, in the space between the outer and inner window, dump woodshavings (preferred from a lack of mess standpoint), sand, or dirt along the bottom edge - this will at least seal up the bottom edge draft if you missed something. I don’t know how to deal with the other edges other than possibly applying more putty or caulking on those edges - last year my outer windows were sealed without doing this so I don’t know if it’s effective yet.
Close the inner window and repeat the plugging of gaps with newspaper, cloth, etc. and putty if you want it. For those gaps between the frame and the inner window, I *think* it’s better to use the putty here, rather than silicone if you have it, as the putty will pop right off when you want to open it again while the silicone needs to be scraped off. So, for those temporary seals for winter, putty.
Finally, if it’s still super drafty, try hanging blankets or curtains around the windows that at least limit that coldness to the area closest to the window/door. I also stuff a towel along the bottom edge of my balcony door and windows as it has some super big gaps.
For doors that have to be usable during the winter, seal the windows/frame and at least put in that door edge weatherstripping mentioned above. Try some sort of jury-rigged door sweep like this from the article mentioned above.
Check your house for other drafts, too - like a air ventilation shaft in the bathroom. Most Mongolians tape this closed with paper or something to prevent that -30F air from shooting in. Try putting weatherstripping on your actual apartment door or tacking in some carpeting on the inner side of the outer door.
Blah. Done writing. This is prolly boring for those not living in Mongolia, but you’ll find that a major portion of your brain will be thinking of ways to keep warm when the winter comes.
