In our recent articles for renters (how to save money on utilities) & homeowners (getting ready for ole man winter) we talked about another option for storm windows; namely a DIY kit that mounts on the inside. This kit from Frost King simply consists of a sheet of specialty plastic & double sided tape & ran a whopping $1.87. The only tools required are a knife or scissors & a hair dryer.
2 notes about the package:
The first as you can see is a green arrow that says it improves the R-Value by up to 90%. The film actually has no R-value, but the gap created can give you up to a .5 R assuming there is no air movement between the two materials.
The second is on the back where it warns one not to install the product on veneer surfaces, wallboard, plaster, or wall paper. In this case they are mainly worried that when you go to remove the tape, you might pull the finish off the surface. In this, I would have to recommend you use a little common sense & consider the quality of the material – the better the quality, the less likely you will have an issue.
 While you might be tempted to use blue painters tape to avoid pulling the veneer off, we do not recommend you try this. These tapes are only designed to remain easily removable for a one-week period. After this time period they have been known to stick tenaciously & cause the same issue you are trying to prevent. Now if you happen to have made this mistake, no worries as a little patience & a hair dryer should easily help remedy the situation. |
Pre-Installation:
- Make sure all the surfaces are cleaned & dry so the tape can stick
- If the windows or sills are dirty, you might want to clean them unless you want to be looking at dirty windows all winter
- If there is any missing weather-stripping or caulk, these items should be corrected
- While it maybe ok to leave knick-knacks – any item (like this wind chime) that will interfere with the plastic needs to come out
Installation:
Attach tape all the tape around the window (quick tip – if you have octagon like this and cut the tape diaganolly jump back and forth from left side to right side – this eliminates the need for multiple cuts)
Press tape firmly in place and if needed pre-cut plastic (we had two windows to do, which were both the approx. same size & instead of having a long piece draping down we cut the first one a few inches longer than needed)
Peel backing from tape on top and attach film to it – once happy with the way it site press firmly to the tape
- For small windows it is easy enough to do by pulling from the two corners & aligning
- For large picture windows which would be near impossible consider folding in half & aligning the folded corner with the center
- No you do not have to peel any from the sides as there still is enough give to get the backing out)
Peel tape from left side, then right & finish off with bottom trying to minimize wrinkles – don’t forget to firmly press against tape (yes will probably still have a few wrinkles – no worries though)
Take a blow dryer & turn on high – staying a few inches away & continuously moving apply heat around the edges until the plastic is tight and wrinkle have disappeared
Trim the excess with a pair of scissors or knife & you are all done (for a knife – make sure it is sharp & do not cut into the material but rather pull the excess down and keep your knife vertical to cut)
That’s it – except for lights reflecting off of it – you would never even know it was there.
