Modern plastic windows are beautiful and stylish. They reliably protect the room from drafts, keep heat inside the apartment. This is greatly facilitated by the sealing gum on the plastic windows.
It allows you to:
- ensure tightness;
- smoothly open the window;
- protect contacting parts from damage;
- adjust the sash pressure;
- ensure the safety of windows.
The main types of rubber seals
- Synthetic rubber (EPDM).
- Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE).
- Silicone gaskets.
- Rubber.
EPDM rubber rubber has a longer life (10 years versus 4-5 for plastic), but it is more expensive than TPE and has only two colors: gray and black. While plastic can be painted in any desired color. The tensile strength of synthetic rubber is more than one and a half times, tensile - up to 4 times.
Where to install rubber bands for plastic windows
- On the inside and outside of the sash along its perimeter.
- On both sides of a double-glazed window.
The grooves for the seal are in the profile of the frame and sash. The rubber should fit snugly into the profile groove. The sealant has a mushroom-shaped protrusion. He sits in the groove so tightly that it is very difficult to manually pull it out.
Sealing gum has a different thickness and cross section. So, the rubber of the Turkish company “Sechil Kauchuk” has 16 different types.
Sealing gum on plastic windows made of artificial rubber has the following properties:
- retains its qualities in the temperature range from -50 to +80 degrees Celsius;
- not afraid of exposure to moisture, acids, chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, solvents, alkalis;
- retains tensile strength (quickly returns to its original position) and deformation;
- protects from noise and dust;
- Fits most plastic window systems.
Seal Care
No matter how high-quality the window is, it needs saving measures. Sealing rubber on plastic windows requires special care (photo). It is necessary:
- Clean from dust inside and out of objects that have fallen under the gum.
- Lubricate with special silicone.
- If oils and fats of any origin get in, the sealing gum swells on the plastic windows. To prevent this problem, manufacturers lubricate it with a glycerin-containing agent. You can treat the seal once a year for prevention.
- Black rubber rubber leaves marks on white plastic due to the presence of soot in them (it increases the strength of the seal). They are removed using detergent.
Replace obsolete seal
If a low-quality sealant was installed during the manufacture of a plastic window, then over time it begins to collapse: it shrinks, crackes and breaks up into pieces and dust. This leads to depressurization of the window. As a result, noise, moisture, cold air penetrate the room. A double-glazed window can fall out of the window, injuring the owners or casual passers-by.
Change tires if:
- in winter, the corners of a double-glazed window freeze;
- windows are blown around the perimeter of the sash;
- the sash is difficult to close;
- rubber swells, sticks, cracks, lags behind a double-glazed window or smells unpleasant.
Sealing gum on plastic windows changes according to this scheme:
- Choose the rubber of the desired section and thickness.
- Remove old rubber, clean grooves of dust and wash with detergent, wipe dry.
- Remove the glazing beads with a mounting spatula, pull out the double-glazed windows, remove the remaining rubber.
- Manually insert the seal into the grooves of the profile along the perimeter of the sash, without pulling and without forming tubercles.
- Trim the ends, first leaving a margin of 1 cm, then reduce them, trimming the excess.
- Install a seal around the perimeter of the sash, first from above and from below. Fix the rubber in the corners with glue.
- Insert the rubber into the grooves for the double-glazed windows. Cut off all parts with a margin of drying. Lateral set after the upper and lower.
- Install double-glazed windows so that the seal does not tighten inward.
- Fasten with glazing beads using a PVC mounting hammer.
- Adjust the opening of the wings, their pressure, tightness after repair.
The consistent implementation of all stages will allow the window to again become a reliable protection for your apartment.