Remove trickle vents

[cwhaley]

Not seen a previous post on this so thought I'd ask the question -- how can I both remove and seal up trickle vents?

I know what they're for but they get clogged up in the summer, only allow a small amount of air flow and they allow more sound into the house the rest of the time. We ventilate our house well with windows open/ajar every day at some point and have no problems with condensation or mold.

So how would I remove and seal up? I can remove the plastic housing on the inside no problem, but how would I then seal gap left in the frame? Somebody suggested white tape over the top but this seems a bit amateur.

My thought was to spray low expansion expanding foam inside, trim and then fill?

 

[Notch7]

you could screw the vent back in place after?

Or trim across the whole head -assuming its in the frame and not the sash

 

[cwhaley]

you could screw the vent back in place after?

Or trim across the whole head -assuming its in the frame and not the sash

Would foam be okay in the frame void? I'm fine having them back up there they don't bother me, it's more the poor performance of them which does.

They are sited in the head of the frame yes. Trim might be a good idea if I can source it from a reclaim yard nearby.

 

[crank39]

Would foam be okay in the frame void? I'm fine having them back up there they don't bother me, it's more the poor performance of them which does.

They are sited in the head of the frame yes. Trim might be a good idea if I can source it from a reclaim yard nearby.

Reclaim yard , get ya sen to eurocell on stores rd and buy a new length for 3 quid, have many sizes in stock

 

[cwhaley]

Reclaim yard , get ya sen to eurocell on stores rd and buy a new length for 3 quid, have many sizes in stock

The reclaim yard is only round the corner and sells them for 10p a ft. Stores Rd. is a 15 mile 'round trip from mine.

Also that's the first time I've seen "ya sen" used on this site! Cheers duck.

 

[JP_]

Are there any that are not noisy? I was thinking of installing some in the front rooms that get a lot of condensation on the windows.
But if traffic noise is going to be a problem, I won't.

 

[cwhaley]

Are there any that are not noisy? I was thinking of installing some in the front rooms that get a lot of condensation on the windows.
But if traffic noise is going to be a problem, I won't.

My road isn't particularly busy, it tends to be in the evening when people are getting home or when say a lone moped goes by at 3 in the morning.

I took them out in the bedroom, stuffed with a sponge and noticed the difference straight away. Okay it wasn't a miracle but the incoming sound was dimmed down a notch. I just want a permanent solution.

My suggestion is just to open the window a crack once you're up or leave on the latch (and locked) during the day. Letting fresh air in through an ajar window on a Saturday morning, even for 30 minutes, is much more effective than a trickle vent.

 

[SFK]

If I was going to get rid of them (which I occasionally consider) I would
1) Quick - Remove the vent both sides. Put Electrical tape over the holes on both sides. Replace the vents so tape cannot be seen. Will stop some noise, and all bugs, and no holes can be see and can revert back if needed.
2) Better? - Remove the vent both sides. Fill holes with thermal expanding foam, Put Electrical tape over the holes on both sides. Replace the vents so tape cannot be seen. Will stop lots of noise, and all bugs, and no holes can be see. Might be an issue of water movement if frame is designed at that location to move water to bottom of frame.
SFK

 

[cwhaley]

2) Better? - Remove the vent both sides. Fill holes with thermal expanding foam, Put Electrical tape over the holes on both sides. Replace the vents so tape cannot be seen. Will stop lots of noise, and all bugs, and no holes can be see. Might be an issue of water movement if frame is designed at that location to move water to bottom of frame.
SFK

That option sounds suitable. I do have some Soudal Insulating foam -- I'm just worried about the amount of expansion. If the expansion isn't an issue I'll do that and replace the vent. They are at the very top of the frame and my roof soffit extends 30" out from the window, so we never see rain hitting the top half of the frame to be honest.

 

[SFK]

Regarding expansion - don't put too much in, you can always add more later. :>
Best anyway as you do not want this foam to even drip out of a hole and touch teh outer surface of your UPVC as it is very hard to remove. Put duct tape over inside hole, and masking tape arround outside hole as you fill form outside???

Also, if you need to re-open the vents, I guess you can always pass a drill through the holes in the UPVC and though the foam to the other side (its how one UPVC installer put vent holes in in the first place when one arrived missing the holes!).

 

[cwhaley]

Regarding expansion - don't put too much in, you can always add more later. :>
Best anyway as you do not want this foam to even drip out of a hole and touch teh outer surface of your UPVC as it is very hard to remove. Put duct tape over inside hole, and masking tape arround outside hole as you fill form outside???

Also, if you need to re-open the vents, I guess you can always pass a drill through the holes in the UPVC and though the foam to the other side (its how one UPVC installer put vent holes in in the first place when one arrived missing the holes!).

Makes total sense to me -- thanks. I dry-lined the bay window wall below this window and dripped some foam onto the floor. It was a right b*stard to shift. Luckily it landed on bare wooden floorboards and we were due to have carpet after.

 

[crank39]

The reclaim yard is only round the corner and sells them for 10p a ft. Stores Rd. is a 15 mile 'round trip from mine.

Also that's the first time I've seen "ya sen" used on this site! Cheers duck.

Ark at ya sen

Ay up me duck, ya dunna want os to be nesh or ya could be badly

 

[foxhole]

UPVC trim just glued over slots.

 

[Hastings1066country]

It's a learning curve and having no UPVC trim to hand (and which glue anyway?) I just ripped the 'trickle vents' off as they had 3x internal flimsy toggles each side, which I could not undo.
Thankfully no harm was done to the rest of the frames.
The problem is that such devices are not waterproof in high winds with driving rain.
Anything that lets air/wind through will admit water, as in heavy slanting rain.
I live on the coast and the regulations are clearly written up by people who only understand basic health & safety solutions.
They should broaden their knowledge, or try using that exceedingly rare commodity called 'common sense'.

Foam sounds unpredictable and expensive and messy in the extreme!
I applied white Gorilla tape both sides and that seems to be okay for now.
I hate the thought that these 'trickle vents' are now mandatory and presumably all new PVC double glazing will have them pre-fitted, since summer 2022.

 

[cwhaley]

I had an extension built three years after this thread was created and managed to convince the BCO to let me have windows without them. It depends on the circumstance, so they're not mandatory. They are poor in design but I understand why they were introduced.

As for the existing windows -- expanding foam was fine as long as you don't go wappy with it.