Tucson Window Inspections
March 26th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Tucson Home Care & Improvement, Tucson Real Estate
Tucson views are spectacular unless your windows are fogged!
Modern windows offer valuable energy efficiency but are prone to fail over time. There is a steep gradient of value and price that addresses five basic components of energy efficient glass. The most common condition that I call out for windows on my home inspections is hermetic seal failure.
Dual pane windows started to appear in the 1950’s and offer significant advantage over single pane windows for energy efficiency. The dual panes of glass are put together differently by the various manufacturers and these differences do, in fact, make a difference. Perhaps the most important of these are the sealants and the spacer placed between the panes. The sealants are used to keep moisture from building up between the panes and “fogging” the window to obscure the beautiful Tucson views we all like to enjoy.
Contrary to common thought, no window is ever hermetically sealed…or it would explode with the change in pressure. What we call hermetic seal failure is actually the result of “solar pumping” that naturally causes air to move back and forth into the space between the panes that will deposit moisture over time. Quality window manufacturers, like Anderson, often use a low-conductivity spacer that resists heat transfer 4-5 times better than aluminum or plastic spacers which can deteriorate over time. Anderson also uses a dual seal on some of their windows which is a compressed butyl and specially formulated silicone to help prevent moisture from leaking in between their double glazed windows.
Foggy windows are indications that the moisture absorbing dessicant materials the better manufacturers commonly place inside the spacers are saturated and moisture is allowed to circulate and accumulate on the inside of the panes and cause permanent damage to effectively end the window’s life cycle. This “expected” life cycle can vary by as much as five to twenty years, depending on the manufacturer.
While some inspectors think of hermetic seal failure as a cosmetic issue and/or disclaimable due to the difficulty of visually detecting it in its early stages, Alan Wright Home Inspections calls this issue out as deterioration of a basic function of the window, even though there is no appreciable loss in energy efficiency. In Tucson, we all want to see our spectacular sunsets.
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