Almost every emergency call we take in January traces back to something that was visible in October. Here is the walk we would do on your house, and it takes about five minutes with a flashlight.
1. Look up at the head of every window
Stand back and look at the junction where the wall meets the top of the window. You are looking for a gap, a lifted piece of trim, or caulking that has pulled away and cracked. Water runs down a wall; the head is where it gets in.
2. Press the sill timber with your thumb
Outside, on every window you can reach, press firmly at the corners of the sill. If it gives, that is rot, and it is holding water against the frame every time it rains. Soft corners now are a full sill rebuild by spring.
3. Close every window on a piece of paper
Shut the sash on an ordinary sheet of paper and pull. If it slides out easily, the weatherstrip is not making contact on that side. Do it at the top, middle and bottom of each opening sash – a window can seal at the latch and be wide open at the hinge.
4. Check the weep holes
Most frames have small slots along the bottom of the outside face. They are the drainage path for water that gets past the outer seal. Blocked with paint, dirt or insect nests, the frame fills up instead of draining – and then it freezes.
5. Work the hardware before it is minus thirty
Crank every casement fully open and closed. A crank that is stiff in October is a crank that snaps in January, usually with the window open. Operators are cheap to replace on a scheduled visit and expensive to deal with in an emergency.
Anything you are unsure about, photograph it and send it over. We would much rather look at a picture in October than attend a flooded living room in February.
