Doing It Right the Second Time – Designing Minimally Invasive, Cost-Effective Solutions for Window Repair vs. Replacement

Many well-built or recently repaired structures continue to leak air, water and energy through the building envelope in spite of the best efforts of construction professionals. Since many leaks are first seen around windows, people often presume the windows are at fault. This causes many property owners to conclude that the only way to eliminate leaks and improve the comfort and efficiency of their building is complete window replacement. Working with those same property owners, qualified leak investigation and repair professionals – utilizing real-world performance testing and forensic investigation – can often develop minimally invasive, high performing repairs that reduce waste and dramatically improve the performance of existing windows. This paper includes several case studies of successful repairs completed on recently constructed
or previously “repaired” multistory buildings. Key to those repairs was on-site construction of realistic mock-ups and use of custom-built design verification test chambers to identify the cause for leakage through or around suspect windows and doors. Those same test chambers were then used to develop and proof creative, cost-saving solutions to the water and air leakage through completed wall assemblies.

(This entry contains a conference paper and presentation in PDF. For optimal viewing, open in Adobe Acrobat Reader.)