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In Depth: Flexible and Durable Seals
There are many components in a window or door. And every component must be intentional: the component must be high-quality, it must be designed to work with the other components, and it must be installed properly within the system itself. Anything less risks compromising the overall performance and durability of your windows and doors.
Operable windows and doors have seals, also known as gaskets or weather seals, to seal the window and door from air, water and sound. A high-performance window and door must have a superior sealing system. Without it, your windows and doors will not provide the necessary energy savings, indoor air quality and interior comfort.
Depending on the window and door system, Innotech windows and doors are designed with either two or three flexible and durable seals. Let’s take a closer look at why our sealing system provides superior protection from air, water and sound.
Flexible Quality Material
The seals in our windows and doors are made of a flexible high-quality material that are shaped to fit into a receiving t-channel. The flexibility of the material and the shape of the seals allows them to “move” with the profiles as they contract and expand with temperature fluctuations.
Weather Protected
Location, location, location! It’s true for real estate and it’s true for seals.
Innotech windows and doors have two or three seals; the second and third seals are located on the inside of the window or door. This means that less of our seals are directly exposed to the damaging effects of UV-rays, rain, freezing temperatures, pollution and dirt. The seals will not deteriorate or crack and subsequently lose their ability to properly seal.
Fusion Welded at Corners
Ensuring seals stay in place and seal around corners is a challenge. Many manufacturers avoid corners by cutting their seals and installing them in pieces to surround the sash. Cutting corners (literally and figuratively) instantly creates a gap in the seal leaving it vulnerable to air, water and sound penetration. It also makes the seals vulnerable to detaching from the frame; once detached your window or door is longer sealed.
The seal on this awning window is a 4-piece seal that has detached from the sash. Built in 2010, this window is no longer air, water or sound resistant.
Most of the seals in our tilt and turn windows and exterior doors are fusion welded at the corners; this means that the seals are melted together at the corners to provide a continuous seal at each corner and will not detach from the frame or sash. For the seals that are not fusion welded, these are bent and glued at the corners.
Multipoint Locking Hardware
Our seals have help. After all, protecting your home from air, water and sound is a big job!
Every tilt and turn window and exterior door has a band of steel on the sash (the operable part of the window or door) that securely bolts to the frame at multiple points (side, top and bottom). When locked, the multiple point hardware tightly compresses the seal on the frame by engaging the locks on the sash. The result is an airtight, watertight and sound resistant seal on all four sides of the window and door.
The operating type also impacts the effectiveness of the sealing system. Tilt and turn windows inherently protect the seals because the sash opens to the inside where the sash and the seal are protected from the elements.
Continuous Seal Technology
For tough climates, such as extremely cold winters, ocean front properties or high-rise buildings, an additional line of defense provides additional protection from air, water and sound.
Our Defender 76TS System features a third flexible seal located in the center of the frame. This seal is one continuous seal that is designed to remain in contact under all environmental conditions. The center gasket also protects the multipoint hardware system from corrosive exterior air and improves the thermal performance by dividing the sash-to-frame gap in two to reduce convection.
The third seal in our Defender 76TS System provides an additional line of defense against air, water and sound.
When comparing window and door systems, always make sure to ask the manufacturer how the seals are designed to provide superior air, water and sound resistance. Seals may not the most visible part of a window or door, but they are definitely a very important component. We invite you to visit one of our showrooms to take a close look at our seals.
Learn more about how our windows and doors are engineered to provide decades of performance and durability:
The Anatomy of a Window
Innotech Tilt and Turn Advantage
Hybrid Framing System
Defender Hardware System