We wrap are windows and doors with Grace Vycor Plus

We wrap are windows and doors with Grace Vycor Plus.

When installing windows and doors in our custom homes that we build we wrap a product called Grave Vycor Plus around the window/door framing and the sill.

Grace Vycor plus is a waterproofing membrane that comes in rolls of 6 to 12 inch widths. The width will depend on how much you require it to cover.

You wrap the sill of the window opening with it first so that if any water was to penetrate around the finishing’s the water would not rot out the bottom of the framing material that holds the window. We do this with a look to the future because windows only last so long and the wood framing of the house is made to be there a lot longer. If you have to replace your windows every 20 years then it is a lot cheaper to just remove the old window and install a replacement then have to rebuild the framing under the window because of excessive water penetration causing rot.

Once you have a layer of Vycor Plus on the sill framing you install the window on top of it. Install the window the same way you always install a window with nails, shims and spray foam. After the window is installed you are going to install a layer of Vycor Plus around the outside of the window.

If the window has a nailing flange that is on the outside of the window then you install your Vycor Plus over top of that nailing flange covering all of it right up to the finished edge of the window. This is done on both vertical sides of the window. Once they are installed then you cover the top of the window overlapping the other Vycor and extending the ends a couple of inches past.

If your windows do not have a nailing flange then you install your Vycor Plus the same way as stated above but instead of bringing it to the edge of the finished window you overlap part of the finished window on the side wear the exterior finishing will cover it. This helps give you a proper seal against water and wind penetration.

What you now have done is waterproofed they entire window, even if the caulking or exterior material around the window was to fail the Vycor Plus would stop water from penetrating into the wall and causing damage to the window. Also this product helps stop wind penetration around the window giving your home a much tighter seal reducing any possibility of drafts.

Vycor Plus is only one of many waterproofing membranes that you can use for this application, the reason I recommend it is because it has a reinforced membrane that doesn’t tear very easy and has a great self adhesive that makes installation simple and permanent no matter how strong the wind is during construction.

This is a fairly new way of installing windows but it is also the future of it. Houses have to meet new energy standards in the new building codes and one of the easiest ways to do that is to make the new home extremely air tight. Vycop Plus from Grace helps you do that.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.