The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Care And Repair Of The House

The bottom piece should be tacked to the inside face of the door with the contact edge down and pressed snugly against the top of the threshold. If the threshold is so badly worn that it is impossible to obtain a tight contact at all points, it should be replaced with a new one. The side and top pieces are tacked to the door stops on the outside, with the contact edges pressed evenly, but not too tightly, against the face of the door.

Bedroom Doors.

It is sometimes advisable to weather-strip bedroom doors, at least at the bottom, to prevent drafts and the escape of heat from the rest of the house when bedroom windows are open.

Doors Leading to Basements.

Weather-stripping applied to the door leading from the living rooms to the basement helps to keep out dust, gases, and laundry odors.

Casement Windows.

Casement windows are weather stripped in the same manner as doors, with the stripping tacked to the window stop and the contact edge pressed against the face of the sash when the window is closed. A strip of felt tacked to the inside face of the meeting strip will seal the vertical crack where the two windows meet.

2. HOW TO WEATHERPROOF AROUND OUTSIDE OF WINDOW FRAMES

For various reasons damp spots may appear on the interior surfaces of walls, but contrary to the impression of some householders, only in relatively few cases are they caused by leakages through the walls proper.

Most of the trouble is usually found around window frames which are poorly built or improperly weatherproofed. Such frames admit air and moisture and the adjoining interior walls soon become unsightly with dirt and water stains.

Water, finding its way into the wall around the window frame, may work along inside the wall and make a spot on the plaster surface several feet distant. For this reason, it is sometimes difficult to locate the source of trouble.

Correct Methods in Frame Houses.

In extra good frame construction the blind casing (behind the outside casing) extends back to the window studs, and the building paper (between the sheathing and siding) extends over the crack between the blind casing and the sheathing. In addition, the outside casing is nailed directly to the blind casing and the siding or shingles butted up against it.