Sealant around windows

[jamiedgwilson]

Hi all, sorry for a bit of a stupid question - I think I know the answer to this!

My house is around 10 years old (I've only lived there a couple of years). The windows have no external silicone around them. The rendering just goes straight up to the windows. I've not had any problems with damp, but always thought they should have silicone around them. I spoke to a builder a while back and he said there's no point - but I'm taking that with a pinch of salt.

Should I silicone them all? Or do some windows not require external additional sealing?

Thanks

 

[crank39]

They could well of been foamed in or siliconed BEFORE being rendered so yes you could be wasting your time

 

[ronniecabers]

Foam isn't only a thermal insulation , its also used as an extra ' fixing ' ( you should always screw a window in though! ) As Crank says , chances are the render was done after the windows , so covering the edges of the frames over, in which case there is no need BUT if you can clearly see gaps between the render and the frame then it may well pay to silicone

 

[Notch7]

Foam isn't only a thermal insulation , its also used as an extra ' fixing ' ( you should always screw a window in though! ) As Crank says , chances are the render was done after the windows , so covering the edges of the frames over, in which case there is no need BUT if you can clearly see gaps between the render and the frame then it may well pay to silicone

I know a window company that took on a window fitter - he was faster than anybody else. Later on it was discovered why -all his windows were foamed in only, not a single fixing.

Silicone is best when done before the final trims or render as visible silicone only gets dirty and orrible after a while.....