Answer to Another ? About the Icey Windows

Anonymous said...

I still dont understant why you have to remove the ice. would it drip on the floor? Would it stay frozen? Do you need the window open in this kind of weather?


We don't actually need to remove the ice from the window. What we need to do is to unblock the drain holes. Once I take the insulation sheets off the windows, the ice starts to melt...fairly quickly. So, I need to remove the ice plugs from the drain holes so that the water won't run over the lip of the track and down the wall.

The sliding window has a very narrow space between it and the front wall of the track. If that space is filled with ice, which it usually is, the ice on the window melts and runs right down over the ice in the track and onto the sill and down the wall. I don't remove the ice to open the window. In fact, even when the ice is removed on the inside, there is often still just enough ice at the bottom to keep the window frozen shut anyway.

So, really, it is all about keeping the water from running down the wall inside. I squeegie the windows above the ice where there is just water. The water running down over the ice actually helps to melt it. Removing the water also makes it a lot easier to see out the window, which is why I squeegie it every morning to remove the condensation.

I hope that answered your question. Feel free to ask more!  :)