HousingZone.com articleFileName

Waterproofing Windows

Install

David Johnston, Contributing Editor
April 1, 2001
HousingZone




	To simplify the process, manufacturers provide nail flanges... this type of installation allows water to penetrate behind the flange and into the wall.

Great precautions are taken to keep water out of the skin of the house—felt paper on the roof under the shingles, house wrap around the house, vapor barriers under the drywall. But what about windows? Is the same attention paid to the most obvious penetration through the watertight barrier?

Window installation is often mishandled. To simplify the process, manufacturers provide nailing flanges, but the rough opening has to be waterproofed before installation. This type of installation allows water to penetrate behind the flange and into the wall. The correct installation involves waterproofing the rough opening before and after the window is installed. Both Tyvek and W.R. Grace manufacture specific products for this purpose.

The diagram Correct Installation (below) shows how the procedure is done:

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