Plastic window film insulation
So a little time off to see John off and last Thursday it was back to work. I’d done my full day of work at the college, getting up at dawn in the freezing cold I’d shrugged off the post-funeral-wake hangover and I’d even done some Screwfix and Tesco shopping on my way home to buy plastic window insulation seal and general provisions. A hard day only to be capped by being faced with an freezing home and the dilemma of couch or overalls.
Ermmmm the only way to handle this was to not consider the options and just pull on the dusty overalls.
I’d noticed once the cold spell had started kicking in that the windows in the living room were leaking heat and spinning out draughts at an alarming rate. The renovation of the lovely old sashes… the secondary glazing, I hadn’t decided yet, was on the cards but I needed a temporary and quick remedy to hold onto some heat during this period of cold. Curtains were off the menu as I was doing so much work in that room they’d be dust sponges and/or expensive so I needed something temporary and cheap.
Well I’m not a fan and I’ve always poo pooed the idea but the trip to Screwfix had resulted in some plastic window film insulation being purchased. It wasn’t the hardest job to fit it, it came with double sided tape and lots of thin plastic sheeting, it just didn’t say quality to me 🙂 but it was an experiment. Anyway an hour and a bit of cutting and taping, some rubbing down with methylated spirits, some spilling of meth’s on the floor (it smelled like a gin palace after that) and hey presto a window covered in cheap and tacky plastic. Hmmm it may be cheap and tacky but boy was the plastic bowing like the spinnaker of a racing yacht, the draughts were so ample and strong that they inflated every panel covered with the plastic and a quick hand-waving inspection resulted in the absence of any noticeable draughts. It worked and I expect it’ll make a big difference, it is cheap (around £8) and it’ll keep the room a bit more toasty until I can get around to fixing the windows more permanently.
That done and a quick curry and back to the job of applying the finishing coat of jointing plaster.
It was getting on late into the night now, I had worked since I got in from work with a quick curry break. The house was freezing but I was determined to get some work done this week, it was Thursday and I’d not done a thing all week.
So cracking on with the Easi-fill I put on the second coat over the scratch coat I’d done earlier on the previous weekend.
It still wasn’t good, it went on ok but the finish just wasn’t that great.
Anyway I packed it in for the Thursday, washed down all my tools, threw my plaster covered overalls into the washing machine and went off for a hot bath in my freezing bathroom.