The rubber seals around my windows are perishing and they feel draughty/hot — can just the seals be redone?
The rubber gaskets/seals around my aluminium windows are cracking and coming away, and the windows feel draughty and let a lot of heat in.
- Can just the seals/gaskets be replaced, or does that mean new windows?
- What's the difference between a seal problem and a failed double-glazed unit?
- Is resealing worth it for the heat/AC bill?
Trying to fix the seals without replacing the whole window (separate from the coastal-salt question). What's realistic?
3 answers
Short answer: cracked, perishing rubber gaskets and the draught/heat that come with them can usually be fixed by RE-SEALING — replacing the perished gaskets/weatherseals and re-doing the silicone around the frame — WITHOUT replacing the whole window. That's a different (and much cheaper) problem from a failed sealed double-glazed unit (which is the glass unit itself fogging). For the heat and AC bill, resealing draughty windows is genuinely worth it — you stop hot air leaking in and cooled air leaking out.
Two different problems: - Perished seals/gaskets (yours): the rubber gaskets/weatherseals and the perimeter silicone have hardened, cracked and pulled away, so air and heat leak through. -> Re-seal: replace gaskets/weatherstripping + re-do the silicone. Whole window stays. - Failed double-glazed unit: the glass unit loses its seal and fogs between the panes — a glass-unit replacement, not a gasket job.
Is resealing worth it? For draughts + heat gain, yes — perished seals let UAE heat pour in and cooled air leak out, so the AC works harder; fresh gaskets + proper silicone tighten it up and help the bill, dust and water ingress. A proper reseal = correct new gaskets + rake-out-and-redo the perimeter silicone (not a smear over old) + check the drainage weep holes. So seals != new windows. Get an aluminium and glass specialist to reseal them properly. Anyone cut a room's heat just by resealing?
Resealed draughty windows rather than replacing them and it made a real difference to how hot the room got in the afternoon — the perished gaskets were letting outside air straight in. Way cheaper than new windows, and the room held its cool so the AC wasn't fighting a leak. Key was they did it properly — new gaskets plus raking out and redoing the silicone, not smearing fresh over cracked old. If it's just the seals, don't let anyone upsell you whole windows.
Good distinction between perished seals and a fogged glass unit — I'd have lumped them together. Draughty, hot windows with visibly cracked rubber is a sealing job; foggy-between-the-panes is a glass-unit job. Resealing is the cheap win for heat and dust, and anything that stops cooled air leaking out pays for itself here. Just make sure they replace the gaskets and redo the silicone properly, not a quick smear.
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