Is this right? Sealing (or not) frames to brickwork?

hj

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I've just had Rehau double-glazing fitted to my house.

The fitters haven't put any form of sealant between the frames and the brickwork and to me, it looks a bit unfinished. They said that that was what they usually did, but would be happy to seal it up if I want.

My house was built in 1880, and in some rooms, the plaster is not connected particularly well to the brickwork. Will the gap between frame and brickwork allow cold air to get into the walls?

So, my question is, would it be best to seal or leave gaps? Are there any advantages to not sealing, or sealing?
 
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If you don't seal then rain, snow, wind, dust, insects and vegetation can, and probably will, come into the room. If you do seal then you lose natural ventilation, but the whole point of windows is to stop natural ventilation (that's an attempt at humour, there is no advantage from not sealing).

Are you saying that there is a gap between the frame and the brickwork? Can you see through this gap? Do the frames but up against the interior plaster but there's a gap on the outside? If it's more than a few mill than I would use squirty foam from the outside, getting it in as far as you can so that it squirms through the inside gap. Then trim when set and finish with a small neat silicone bead. The inside can just be trimmed and decorated as usual.
 
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I took another look with a torch this time, and they have sealed it with clear silicon sealant. What they did was to seal the frame to the brickwork, but stopped about a cm from the outside edge of the frame, so it doesn't look sealed even though it is.

Oddly, they sealed the upstairs windows to the outside of the frame, and left the downstairs ones with the slight recess. Or maybe 2 different fitters did them and they had different styles?
 

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