How to Fix a Window that Freezes Shut

Do you suffer from a house window that freezes shut in the winter? So did I. This article describes some of the reasons for this problem, as well as some helpful fixes!

The main reason that house windows freeze shut is that the humidity within the home is too high, thus causing condensation on the windows. When moisture enters the jamb and encounters the colder outside air, it freezes, adhering to the surfaces and freezing the window shut.

Car windows can suffer from similar scenarios, however due to the motive nature of vehicles, the reasons for windows freezing shut may be more varied.

The best way to deal with the problem is prevention, so if there is a way to prevent the humidity in getting too high, consider taking those steps.

Whatever the cause, sometimes freezing windows are simply unavoidable. In those cases, a good solution is lubricating the mating surfaces with silicone. Silicone is very slippery and very little will stick to it. This makes it perfect for cases where you want to eliminate sticking, such as at a window or door jamb.

What you’ll need:

hair dryer
rags
silicone spray

Consider the following window which was frozen shut this winter.

The first step is getting the window open so that we can take preventative measures. You don’t want to force it so much that you break something, so if it can wait, wait until you have a warmer day to gently work on getting the window open. Turn up the heat in the house to around 70 deg F or so and give it an hour to heat up. If it still won’t open, take a hair dryer and apply heat all around the edges of the window. Gently apply pressure to get the window open. You may have to apply heat for 10-20 minutes, so be patient.

Once the window finally opens, clear out the ice, dust and any dirt that has built up.

Take some silicone spray such as this Liquid Wrench Silicone Spray and spray some of it on a rag. Don’t go overboard, a little bit goes a long way.

Wipe some of the silicone onto the mating surface.

Also wipe some on the window seal.

Re-apply silicone to the rag as necessary. Watch the over-spray. You don’t want to get the silicone on the floor, for example, as it will make it very slippery.