Below is a window and door checklist that can help keep storm water from coming into your home:
1 | Close Your Windows
Driving rain can pour into your house through even a slight opening in the window, and the water will ruin your interior walls.
2 | Clear Debris From the Tracks
Clear debris from the tracks of your sliding windows and sliding patio doors. Dirt, leaves, dead bugs and other gunk that collects in the tracks can prevent the window from closing all the way. This could cause water that gets trapped in the track to leak into the house.
3 | Clear the “Weep Holes”
Clear the “weep holes” in the frame of sliding windows. Those holes, on the exterior side of the frame, allow trapped water to drip outdoors instead of inside. Use a nail or something similar to dig out dried paint, caulk or dirt that might be clogging the them.
4 | Replace Old, Cracked Caulk
Replace old, cracked caulk with new, polyurethane caulk.
TIP: If your old caulk is cracked, remove it first; don’t apply good caulk over bad. And don’t caulk over the weep holes.
5 | Has the Window Warped?
Notice if the window has warped or if your house has settled. If you have to fight with the window to get it closed, it simply might not “fit” in its own space anymore. That poor fit most likely has caused gaps where water can penetrate even when the window is closed.
6 | Replace Cracked Glass
Replace cracked glass as soon as you can; especially skylights, whose panes typically are made from acrylic, and are prone to cracks as they age.
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