Remove outside trim for foam or just caulk?

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rvawindow
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Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2015 11:38 am

Remove outside trim for foam or just caulk?

#1 Post by rvawindow »

Reynolds Building Products 5000 Vinyl windows installed from the outside 10 years ago and the interior frames are colder that they should be. The exterior coil trim is not caulked where it meets the brick, there are gaps at the mortar joints, I can stick a wire in the gap and it hits nothing, and I don't recall them using foam, I'm not even sure they stuffed the gaps with insulation. Spouse has ruled out ripping off interior trim. Is it possible to remove outside trim to add foam without destroying the trim? Or is it really not worth the effort and I can gain most of the benefit by caulking the trim at the brick to stop the air infiltration.

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HomeSealed
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Re: Remove outside trim for foam or just caulk?

#2 Post by HomeSealed »

No. In most cases aluminum cladding cannot be removed and reused. If money is no object, you can probably pay someone to come out and redo it, however for DIY application, removing the interior stops (part of woodwork) is the way to go.... Certainly you could always do the exterior caulking first to determine whether that helps.

rvawindow
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2015 11:38 am

Re: Remove outside trim for foam or just caulk?

#3 Post by rvawindow »

Thanks, I'll try caulking.

TheWindowNerd
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Re: Remove outside trim for foam or just caulk?

#4 Post by TheWindowNerd »

Brick is one of the keys to your problem. There is an air gap and drain plane in brick on frame construction. Even if the exterior of the window is sealed to the brick the air flow in the air gap/drain plane can still make it cold.
Ideally the air gap/drain plane would be sealed around the opening prior to the window being installed then foamed in place then caulk correctly on both sides. At this point if you have a pro gun to seal with W&D foam that would be best. If you are not going to get that involved, removing the interior casing to foam, then air seal the interior trim with latex caulk.
theWindowNerd

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