I had a particular problem with a new garden window I had installed for my wife. She loved the garden window until winter came and cold air began to blow up her house coat iails.Then it wasn't so nice for her and especially for me ...since I had to bear the brunt of her ire for the cold air coming into her kitchen.

Pondering the problem with my garden window and accessing the dismal condition of the rest of the windows in our house had me buffaloed. I didn't want to spend $500 or $600 each for new windows and that wouldn't solve my problem with the garden window-which was already new.

I do handyman work for a living and one day I was installing some new screen material in some screen frames for a customer. I had a revelation...you know...Eureka! And a light bulb goes off.

Why not install the aluminum screen extruded frame material around my garden window on the inside and use plastic shrink material and the screen splines to seal the window. Just attach a screen frame around the window and use the screen retainer spline to hold the shrink film in place.

It might just work...on the way home I stopped at my local home store  and searched for the shrink film material...sure enough I found it, in the same old package as it was sold in years ago.  I picked up some aluminum screen frame extrusion material and other materials while I was there. 

As it turned out...it would work and work quite well. I had to wait for winter to give it the real test...you know…the cold air. But the method sealed the window up completely without one trace of a draft. Needless to say, I installed the system on all my windows in the house; removing it only in the spring and then only removing it from the windows my wife likes to open to air out the house.

Window sweating and condensation is also signifigantly reduced as the film provides a barrier to moisture in the house from reaching the cold window and making a wet mess around the window.

The great thing about is once you have it installed it is virtually invisible and does absolutely no damage to walls or window jambs. Initial installation only takes about an hour and after you have the frame installed, which stays up year round, reinstalling the film when you need it, only takes a few minutes. When you get ready to remove the film, it just zips right off and the retainer extrusions stay installed…ready for the next time you want seal up the windows.