On Oct 14, 2:39 pm, PaPaPeng wrote:
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:05:49 -0400, Meat Plow
wrote:

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:00:34 +0000, PaPaPeng wrote:

There are cracks up to a quarter inch wide between the the window
frame and the inside window trim

Forget about all the silly stuff you posted and stuff some rope caulk in
the cracks then finish it off with tube caulk.

Not until I see someone with a successful "permanent" fix that I like.
I have come across too many botched "just caulk it" jobs that are
impossible to undo. So these eyesores and ineffective fixes stay
around for years to irritate the homwowner. I'll monitor my fix over
a few seasons. If it serves well all I need to do at some distant
future date when it needs maintenance is to pull out the old stuff
and do the same again. No digging, no scraping or sanding to get the
old stuff out before putting on new stuff. Try doing that with old
dried or dirty caulking.

I'm not sure what your definition of a "successful permanent fix"
is. Non-expanding foam, backer-rod and caulk are the industry
standards for filling gaps around windows and doors. If you've come
across "too many botched just caulk it jobs" it's probably because
whoever did the caulking didn't know what they were doing. It doesn't
make the process incorrect, it simply means that it was done wrong. Do
some research about window installation and I doubt you will find any
that don't use words like "caulk" or "sealant".

The idea behind sealing up a window is to create a dead air space
between the interior and exterior. If you think that self adhesive
vinyl shelf liner contact paper is going to accomplish this goal,
you're sadly mistaken. Once the cold air and moisture gets to the
paper it's going to peel off and you'll be right back where you
started from.

Do yourself a favor. Get some scrap wood, build a few jigs and
practice caulking the gap. Once you've stopped "botching" the
caulking, move onto the windows and do it right.

Key points he
Use non-exanding foam: http://greatstuff.dow.com/greatstuff...roducts/wd.htm
Use backer-rod behind the caulk - here's one example:
http://www.demandproducts.com/backrod.html
Learn how to caulk correctly - lot's of help available on the web:
http://www.ehow.com/how_8790_caulking-gun.html