Siding and windows play a big role in your home, whether it’s for sunlight or to keep in the warm temperatures during the winter season. Our siding and window replacement contractors in Clifton Park understand that both play a big role and can become a big problem if left untreated. At times windows and siding can be overlooked when searching for leaks and air drafts inside the home. People just assume that the roof is always the problem, jumping to conclusions never helps in finding out the true source of the problem. Hopefully in today’s post, with the help of our windows and siding contractors in Clifton Park we’ll be able to assist you with some great tips and details on siding and window issues.

Siding is very important when it comes to your home, think about it; if not for the siding and underlayment there would be all sorts of air drafts, heat and cool air escaping the home. Many homeowners don’t understand that siding doesn’t just provide a great appearance to the home but provides a solid barrier from the cold. At times when someone needs siding repair or a replacement, it’s because of a lack of insulation or improper installation. Our siding contractors in Clifton park have seen a lot of jobs like this, the previous contractor who installed the siding did a poor job and left the home vulnerable to rodents and bad weather penetrating the home’s core.

Poor installations involve wavy siding, loose fitting siding and damaged siding. Wavy siding will occur when the installer nails in the siding to tightly or to loosely. The siding has to be set in place just right for the right amount of flex so that it remains intact. This will in fact result in the siding falling off when high winds arise and hail storm come through. Usually contractors will replace the blown off siding with new pieces if they have been damaged in any way. If the siding is not damaged, then it will be reused. Loosely fitted siding will also have similar affects when wind damages occur. When damages occur to the siding it’s almost always weather related, large amounts of hail could potentially puncture the siding and damage it. Punctures can be avoided with insulated vinyl siding. It’s what it sounds like, all that’s inside is a solid piece of vinyl that helps the siding not sag and have better protection from punctures.

Windows can also add a big draft inside if things aren’t up to code. When drafts are felt inside the home, look no further than the windows. Most times air drafts can be felt as you walk by a window. The window can sometimes have a gap between the window sill and the actual window due to poor installation as well. Most of these situations result due to weather related incidents. Please be wary when ordering windows that have been known to have issues of poor quality build material. These windows will look good but later down the road will have issues. Temporary fixes can be made with silicon or caulk but is intended after a repair or full replacement to reassure an extra layer of protection.

After talking with our siding and window replacement team in Clifton park, we got an idea of just how typical these situations are in our area. This window replacement was pretty interesting, one of our customers had just replaced their windows. The windows had mold around the trim, somehow water was getting through the j channels and inside the home. After closer inspection, the siding and j channels were installed incorrectly, leaving big gaps for water to penetrate. Our team took the siding apart and realigned it, after there was no gap and no water was getting in. Just as a precaution some caulk was used along the trim and j channels to make the repair obsolete.

If you are buying a home the first thing you should check is the exteriors. From siding windows and the roof, make sure you’re not buying a home that will leave you with constant repair work. You can usually tell when work needs to be done, when a house has old outdated windows, you can already add that to the list of replacements and costs. Old windows leave your home very vulnerable to high heating bills, along with cold air drafts during the winter seasons. It’s always a good idea to switch from single pane most common for old windows, drop those and go for the double. The double pane has two layers of glass, in-between the glass is an air pocket that helps to insulate the windows and thus saving money on your heating bills. When buying, double pane make sure you check the seams and the glass to make sure its properly aligned before installing them into your home.