Doors and windows followup
A few days ago, I wrote about the ground fog and condensation that strikes during the months of February and March in Southeast China. To see what we could do about it, our contractor came by for a look.
First they took the windows off the rails. Inside the frame overlap are ridges on both sides for inserting weatherstrip sealing. Of course, the condo developer decided to skimp on the pennies it would have cost to put it in -- pretty lame but I guess not unexpected. After putting the inserts in, I could detect a noticeable difference in air/wind blockage.
But after putting in the same treatment for the living room deck doors, we noticed the doors actually were not wide enough! With all panels touching the door frames, the doors could not close fully leaving a 2cm gap in between them. Basically, every time we've closed the doors, it would pull the side panels away from the door frame.
By comparison, the kitchen deck doors overlap fully. It looks like the manufacturer simply produced doors to the incorrect specifications -- at least for our unit. The contractor inspected the doors some more and decided it would be possible to take apart the door panels and reassemble them 1cm wider. This took an hour and at a cost of 100rmb for labor.
The bathroom doors were adjusted to get a tighter fit but I suspect I will have to buy weatherstrip stops on my own and glue them onto the frames. They also filled the door slits with silicone sealant. I may also put a layer of tape over that section if I can find something that looks decent enough.
We will have to wait to see the verdict on these changes.
First they took the windows off the rails. Inside the frame overlap are ridges on both sides for inserting weatherstrip sealing. Of course, the condo developer decided to skimp on the pennies it would have cost to put it in -- pretty lame but I guess not unexpected. After putting the inserts in, I could detect a noticeable difference in air/wind blockage.
But after putting in the same treatment for the living room deck doors, we noticed the doors actually were not wide enough! With all panels touching the door frames, the doors could not close fully leaving a 2cm gap in between them. Basically, every time we've closed the doors, it would pull the side panels away from the door frame.
By comparison, the kitchen deck doors overlap fully. It looks like the manufacturer simply produced doors to the incorrect specifications -- at least for our unit. The contractor inspected the doors some more and decided it would be possible to take apart the door panels and reassemble them 1cm wider. This took an hour and at a cost of 100rmb for labor.The bathroom doors were adjusted to get a tighter fit but I suspect I will have to buy weatherstrip stops on my own and glue them onto the frames. They also filled the door slits with silicone sealant. I may also put a layer of tape over that section if I can find something that looks decent enough.
We will have to wait to see the verdict on these changes.
(Filed in housing)
We got hit again with mild condensation.
The bathroom area performed much better as I did tape over the bathroom door slots. Inside the bathrooms was completely wet but the areas outside the bathroom doors were dry. That fix turned out pretty effective.
The deck doors still let moisture in. I looked at the doors some more and there's just slits and slots everywhere. It simply is a bad design. I taped up some of the holes on the bottom rail but I can see sunlight shining through the top rail. I will have to ponder the options some more.