The Hidden Problems With Vinyl Sliding Windows

Hey guys, Sean with American Window Concepts and today's a special video. Today we're going to be talking about basically the limitations of a sliding window system. Now recently here in Ventura we had probably one of the most torrential rains we've ever had and during the first night of it, it dumped five inches in one night and here's the kicker. It also 50 to 60 mile an hour gusts of wind along with that thumping rain. The limitations of a sliding window is this. When a window like this gets overwhelmed with rain and wind, you're going to have issues with the wind hitting the outside of my window pushing on it so hard, you know, to where it was howling. You can hear the, I mean, 60 mile an hour gusts are pushing on this window from the outside and that pressure and that rain is being pushed in all directions as soon as it hits the outside of this window. So where do you think that water's going to go, right? Obviously it's going to go in your window track. Is that a problem? No, that's okay. The last thing you want to do is put a towel in there because that's what typically a human being is going to look at water going inside their window track and freak out and go, oh god, I got to get a towel, throw it in there. That's a bad mistake right there because you've taken the real estate that that window needs to allow the water to build up a little bit for the weight of it to push down and empty on the weak holes on the outside of your window. Never ever want to throw a towel anywhere in here, okay? You want to let the water just rise up and the window will deal with it as the wind starts to subside a little bit because it's not just constant 60 miles an hour, it's gusts at 60 miles an hour. As the gusts start to calm down for a second, the water can come out easier and you're out of camp. There's also a situation where this window, the slider window system itself, so this little guy here, is basically you have this mole hair weatherstripping, this triple thin mole hair weatherstripping. This is great weatherstripping, okay? But this is the only thing that is keeping wind and water out of your house, okay? So what can happen is it pushes it in between the weatherstripping and your window frame, okay? So if you overwhelm a window with all that rain and all that wind, where do you think that water is going to go? Anywhere past this weatherstripping, it's going to. Now when that's happening, if it's on this side of your window, the receiving end, right, the lead edge, well you're not going to see the water because it's pouring down the frame and emptying into the track. But that's not the same here, is it? Because on this side where the stay bar, you know, is the interlock, well once it gets past this weatherstripping, where do you think you're gonna, where do you think it's gonna go? It's gonna go right on the frame and drip probably down on the locks. You'll see it and you're like, oh no, my window's leaking. Well, that's circumstantial, right? Because of the environment that window is in. So there's a limitation to a sliding window system. With a casement window, and as long as it's closed and locked, you're not going to have that issue, right? Awning, same thing. Picture window, same thing. Because there's no venting on a picture window. So you're not going to be dealing with that type of a scenario. But with a sliding window system, it is very, very possible that you could have water coming in from the very top of your window. So you can't blame the installer, you can't blame the window. It's the limitation of that window. Most windows like this are rated at about 35 miles an hour of continuous wind. Anything after that is act of God. It's just too much for a window system to deal with. And it's rare that you're going to have that kind of a scenario. It just so happens every couple of years here in Ventura, we get hit pretty hard with some pretty stubborn rain and lots of wind, you know? And we get that in a combination, which is the fuel needed to give water pouring in from this area. So when it comes to this scenario, there's no real cure. Don't put tape in here and think that that's just going to fix it. I mean, that's like a funky band-aid and that's not helping the situation, right? And then you're going to have lines on your vinyl. So it's just one of those things where if you see it and you have some serious gusting winds and big rain, just know that can happen from time to time when the window is overwhelmed. All right, guys, make it a great day. Before you click off this video, if you live in the Ventura, LA, or Dallas-Fort Worth area, and you are interested in a free in-home estimate, go to the website, click on the request. The link is down below in the description. I will reach out to you. Thank you guys so much.