Covering Windows with Plastic

I'm kind aof a fix-it mom. I say buy some chaulking and go around the windows you have, to permanantly seal out the cold. Its very easy.

Get some inexpensive wood strips from the hardware store and make a frame that fits inside the window casing. You can then add the plastic to the inside, then insert the frame. My parents have been doing this for years and it really helps.

Did you check out the plastic covering that is adhesive and made for windows? Then you don't have to try to tape on cement, which usually don't work too good anyway. I would check at Lowes or HomeDepot. Since you have to buy the plastic and the tape anyway, it might be worth adding a little cost and get something that will stay on the windows and is made to help you save on your Heating bill. This film might even stay on when next summer rolls around and save on your AC bill, if you have AC.

Hope Depot, Lowes,Target,Walmart, all sell kits for this. Some are made to apply on the outside and others on the inside. I found the outside applications worked best but it depends on a number of factors. Personally I prefer the one that you use a hairdrier to shrink, they are clear and you can see out almost as if there were no plastic but you do have to be carefull, you can over do it and ruin it.

I agree with Britt. We have really bad windows in our house too and usually get the kits at WalMart. We have never had a problem with that tape coming off the window frames (some of our windows we just leave the film on year round and it still sticks). You can buy just the tape if you already have a roll of the film and don't need any more of that. Good luck!

You can get a plastic cover kit at Home Depot that comes with two-sided tape that sticks pretty well. It also uses a special kind of plastic that you heat with a blow-dryer to shrink wrap the plastic to your window. The kits work great, look nice, and are inexpensive.

Hi,
Shipping tape is good however if you don't want it to come off for sure use stainless steel tape that is used on duct work. Don't let it touch itself as you won't get it apart.
Hope this helps,
T.

I am not sure what it is called, but it is the double sided tape that worked for my parents while we were growing up. I am sure if you go to Home Depot they should be able to point you to the right direction.

Last year we went to Home Depot and found kits that came with the plastic to put on the window and a double stick tape roll to stick the plastic to. You then blow-dry the plastic to shrink it and straighten to fit tight. That tape held all winter long and then came off easily without taking the paint with it! I want to say each kit was around $10 - we purchased 2 - and it covered our big oversized window plus 3 normal sized windows.

Candice, what about if a fire starts in the basement and that is the only way out. I would use a sheet instead tack it on the top and mabe the bottom if needed. Some thing you can pull out very fast if you have to get out through the windows. That is my suggestion. R.

You can try the extra sticky painters tape.

Good luck!

Candice -
In the house we just moved from, we had a small gaps in our front single pane windows. Home Depot sells a covering that is perfectly clear and it sticks by using a hot hair dryer and adhesive. We did this for two winters and never had a problem with it coming off. We left it up in the Summer also, to help with cooling the house. We were able to see out the front windows without any problem, you wouldn't know it was on there. I can't remember the name of the product, but if you asked the staff at HD I'm sure they could point you right to it. I know it was inexpensive also.

i know that to get the plastic to stick it has to be warm on the surface your using. last year we had to use a hair dryer to warm up our window sills before putting the plastic on. good luck.

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask them for the plastic window covering that you use a blow dryer to keep in place. I used it last year and it worked great, but I don't remember the name of the product.

Hi,
I wrapped the plastic around the window frame and put it in the side of the frame with tacks...then I followed that with blankets.
chris

I have found that if you do not have a smooth surface to put the window kits on it does not hold .We have a lip between the window frame and the sidings. (I think it is the L grove in the siding around the window) we use plastics and rope. You just get a rope that sung and cut the plastic 5 to 6 inch bigger then you need, feed the plastic and rope between the wall and the lip, wrapping the plastic around the rope. The rope holds the plastic in place. Trim off extra plastic. I think this is where I losses the most heat not out of the window. If you can’t do this then in the pass we have use strips of cardboard and stapled it on around the outside of the molding inside of the house. Alternatively, outside of the house on the wood frame,

There's a guy that does EXACTLY this sort of thing (and all of the winterization for your house) that I use. His name is "John - The Honey-Do Handyman." He's REALLY good, & his prices are very reasonable.

His website is myhoneydoservice.com, or I guess I can give you his phone number on here: ###-###-####

We use the kits at Home Depot also. They work really well and are easy to use.

we use insulation tape, like the kind you would use around a window or door, and staple the plastic to it, good luck!

Masking tape worked in college (but we were not in a basement. Maybe caulking would work?
R.

Hi Candice,
There is a product they carry at home depot specifically for windows, has its own adhesive and plastic and then you use a hair dryer that pulls the plastic tight, works well.
SarahMM

If you go to a hardware store they sell shrink-wrap window products for just this reason. They must have it all figured out with adhesive that can withstand cold weather. I'd go check those out, they're probably easy-to-use products. Or search online first.