Denver Window Replacement Archives

Nearly 5,000 children in the United States are treated in hospital emergency departments annually for injuries sustained from falling out windows, according to the Safe Kids Worldwide® campaign. Many of those falls occur during spring and summer months as families open windows to let fresh air in but fail to take adequate safety precautions which can lead to accidental falls.

To help raise safety awareness, Pella Corporation has partnered with the National Safety Council, through its Window Safety Task Force, and others in the window and door industry to communicate to consumers about the importance of proper installation, function and use of windows in a home or building.

Pella offers these important tips to help enhance home safety:

Remember there is no safety substitute for responsible adult supervision around children. Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows, doors and balconies to help prevent an accidental fall or injury.
For greatest safety, keep your windows closed and locked when children are around. When opening windows for ventilation, open those that a child cannot reach. For example, on double-hung windows which feature two moveable sashes, open the top portion for ventilation and keep the bottom part closed for greater safety.
Keep furniture such as beds and dressers — or anything children can climb — away from windows to help improve safety in your home. Don’t allow children to jump on beds or sofas, which could lead to accidental falls or injury. Furniture placed under a window can create an enticement to climb and the potential to fall, especially for young children. Furniture placed under a window could also slow your escape from a home in the event of an emergency, such as a fire.
Windows provide a secondary means of escape from a burning home. For greater safety, determine your family’s emergency escape plan and practice it regularly.
Designate a door as the primary exit and a window as an alternate escape route from each room in your home. Make sure each opens quickly and easily and keep the escape route free from clutter, which could present a tripping or falling hazard, especially in dark or smoky conditions. Remember that children may have to rely on a window to escape in a fire. Help them learn to safely use a window under these circumstances.
When performing seasonal repairs or cleaning, make sure your windows and doors are not jammed, painted or nailed shut. You must be able to open them quickly to escape in an emergency. If they don’t, it’s time to consider replacement, because windows and doors can be replaced; lives can’t.
Windows, which tilt in for cleaning, not only provide greater convenience, but greater potential safety, too. When choosing windows, look for those which can be cleaned from the interior simply by tilting the unit inward, eliminating the need to climb an exterior ladder for window cleaning.
If you have young children in your home and are considering adding window guards or window fall prevention devices, properly install approved guards that meet American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, and feature a quick-release mechanism, so they can be opened for escape in an emergency. Consult your local building code official for more information on approved fall prevention devices and proper placement.
If you live in an area subject to hurricanes, consider impact-resistant glass for windows and patio doors to help provide year-round protection from winds, rain and flying debris. Impact-resistant glass, which cannot be easily penetrated helps protect your home year-round, providing a safe solution.
If your home features impact-resistant windows or patio doors designed to withstand hurricane-force winds, train your family members to first attempt to open the window to exit through it in an emergency, rather than trying to break the glass. Impact-resistant glass cannot be easily penetrated, so it’s important to acquaint everyone in your household with how to open units, or designate other exits if the unit is fixed in place and does not open.
For added protection, choose blinds and shades with no room-side cords; window treatments with traditional cords can contribute to childhood injuries. One option is Pella’s Designer Series® collection of windows and patio doors, which feature blinds or shades protected between panes of glass. The cordless operation of the collection and protection of window treatments between glass helps keep children and pets safer in the home. Designer Series windows and doors are also beneficial for those with allergies and asthma; units featuring blinds protected between panes of glass can significantly reduce indoor airborne allergens. Recent research found that windows with traditional room-side blinds collected 200 times more of certain indoor airborne allergens than the Designer Series products.*

Additional window safety tips are available year-round at: www.nsc.o rg.

For more information on quality windows, contac t Denver’s most trusted window experts, New Windows for America at 303-920-0175.

*Based on data from research conducted by the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at The University of Iowa.

All throughout winter, you worked hard to keep the warm air in and cold air out. Unfortunately, it difficult to make outdoor repairs in the middle of a snow storm. However, with spring making its way in and the ice melting away, it’s time to start finding and sealing the leaks in your house. These leaks can be difficult to locate if you don’t know what to look for and consultants are expensive, so here are a few quick tricks to check your home’s integrity.

Windows – During the winter, you may have noticed that cold areas or condensation collected around one or more of your windows. This means that the window is probably leaking. Fortunately, finding out how much is a simple process. On one side of the window (inside or outside), use a hair dryer to direct air around the edges. On the other side, hold a piece of tinsel or a burning candle in the area that the hair dryer is blowing. If the candle flickers or the tinsel moves, you’ve found a leak which may be repaired with a sealer or weather stripping, but will ultimately require replacement.
On the other hand, if you’ve performed the above leak test and found no weak spots, but the window was still cold in the chilly months, it may be time to replace the window with something more energy efficient. The rubber and sealers that manufacturers used in the past have a tendency to break down over time; allowing heat exchange between glass in double paned windows or miniscule leaks in single panes. Either way, it’s time for new ones.
Doors – The hair dryer/candle test can be used for doorways as well. Just as with windows, look for air movement to indicate leaks. Unlike windows, however, weather stripping provides a shorter term fix due to the swinging nature of doors. Additionally, the foam insulation in aluminum doors will deteriorate in less than 10 years and the metal will transmit unwanted outdoor heat inside. This is harder to check except in extreme temperature conditions. The simplest fix is replacement with solid wooden doors.
Siding – This can be the most difficult section to check since there are very few places that will show air leaks. The good news is that many companies sell FLIR attachments that will connect to your iPhone or Android and allow you to detect thermal changes in the sides of your house. Once you have found a leak, your local DIY store should have more than a few sealing options for you.
Roofing – If you have access to your attic, then you have three excellent options for finding heat leaks. The first method uses nothing more than your eyes. Search for water stains or mildew patches where condensation or water leaks have developed. If you find none of these, go to your thermostat and turn the fan to “On”. With all of your outside windows and doors closed, this will create positive pressure and it’s time to break out the candle again. Search the edges of the attic: the floor, the apex, and seams between roofing boards. If none of these have revealed any problems, safely ascend to the rooftop and use your FLIR attachment to look for changes in temperature that might indicate a small, unnoticed leak. A tube of roofing tar is fine for one or two small spots, but large scale leaks will need a professional roofer.

Blocking out hot summer temperatures is just as important as sealing away cold winter air. By finding leaks, you will stay comfortable and happy during the extreme months. Most importantly, the energy savings will more than balance out the cost of repairs. Keep your house (and your checkbook) protected.

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Tag: Denver Window Replacement

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