Filling wide gaps and potential replacement for spray foam

Hello, I have a large terrace that is enclosed with windows, it's on the top floor of the building. The previous owner did not say when he put the windows, but it was probably 5-6 years ago. The windows are secured to wooden studs. Now, the problem is that there are a lot of gaps between the window frames and the studs, between the studs themselves and between the studs and the walls. Also, there are holes in the expanding foam, presumably due to it not being sealed. I filed the narrow gaps with silicone caulk, but the wide ones seem like they are going to take too much material and effort to fill them with silicone caulk. So, there are 2 questions: What material to use for the wide gaps? I was thinking expanding foam, which seems to be the easiest way, but there's also wood putty, which might isolate better and not deteoriate like the foam? The expanding foam that was used to fix the window frames is very old and has holes in it in a lot of places - I was thinking to just scrape it and spray new one, but is this the best approach? I have very limited access to the outside part of the terrace, so there's pretty much no way to get outside and seal the foam from the atmosphere. I was thinking about smearing silicone caulk on top it, but I'm not sure if it won't degrade the foam. Thanks you in advance for your effort. submitted by /u/masteridori [link] [comments]

Apr 4, 2025 - 02:16

Filling wide gaps and potential replacement for spray foam

Hello,

I have a large terrace that is enclosed with windows, it's on the top floor of the building. The previous owner did not say when he put the windows, but it was probably 5-6 years ago. The windows are secured to wooden studs.

Now, the problem is that there are a lot of gaps between the window frames and the studs, between the studs themselves and between the studs and the walls. Also, there are holes in the expanding foam, presumably due to it not being sealed. I filed the narrow gaps with silicone caulk, but the wide ones seem like they are going to take too much material and effort to fill them with silicone caulk.

So, there are 2 questions:

What material to use for the wide gaps? I was thinking expanding foam, which seems to be the easiest way, but there's also wood putty, which might isolate better and not deteoriate like the foam?
The expanding foam that was used to fix the window frames is very old and has holes in it in a lot of places - I was thinking to just scrape it and spray new one, but is this the best approach? I have very limited access to the outside part of the terrace, so there's pretty much no way to get outside and seal the foam from the atmosphere. I was thinking about smearing silicone caulk on top it, but I'm not sure if it won't degrade the foam.

Thanks you in advance for your effort.

submitted by /u/masteridori
[link] [comments]