Ogden sits at the north end of the Wasatch Front with the mouths of Ogden and Weber canyons opening right into town, and homes on the east bench and along the older streets near downtown take weather that houses further south simply do not. Wind here does not just push on a wall, it drives rain and snow sideways into every joint, seam, and gap around a window. Water that would run harmlessly down a sheltered wall gets forced into the space between the casing and the siding, behind the drip cap, and into any crack in the paint on a wood sill.
Then the temperature drops overnight and that water freezes. Ice takes up more room than the water it came from, so every freeze pries the joint open a little wider, and every thaw lets more water in. Do that a few thousand times over forty or fifty winters and you get the classic Ogden window: paint peeling in sheets on the exterior, glazing putty cracked and falling out, and a sill that is dark and soft at the corners. The sun does its share too, cooking the south and west exposures between storms and breaking down whatever finish is left.
A window that looks terrible is not automatically a window that needs replacing. Start with a probe. Push an awl or a small screwdriver into the sill at the corners, into the bottom of each jamb, and into the exterior casing and brick mold. Sound wood resists. Rot gives way, and it usually goes soft from the bottom up and from the outside in. If the frame and sill are solid and only the finish and putty have failed, you are looking at repair and repainting. If the probe sinks in at the jamb bottoms, the frame is compromised and an insert would be trapping the problem.
Look past the window while you are there. Cracked stucco above the opening, a missing or reversed drip cap, failed caulk at the head, gutters that overflow onto that wall, and grade that slopes back toward the foundation all send water to the same place. We have seen homeowners replace a window twice on a wall where the actual leak was three feet higher. New units do not fix a water path that starts above them. Have someone trace where the water is coming from before you spend money on the window itself.
On a sheltered elevation, a mediocre installation can go years without showing itself. On a wall that catches wind-driven rain off the canyon, it will show up the first hard storm. The details that matter are unglamorous: a sill pan or sloped flashing under the unit so any water that gets in has somewhere to go, side flashing lapped over the pan and under the housewrap above, a head flashing that sheds water out rather than behind the trim, and sealant applied where it belongs and left out where drainage needs to happen. Sealing all four sides tight is a common and expensive mistake.
The rest of the install is just as ordinary and just as important. The gap between the frame and the rough opening gets insulated so it stops air without distorting the frame. Shims go where the fasteners land so the frame stays square and the sash operates. Exterior trim gets back-sealed and the paint gets maintained, because on this side of the valley the finish is the first line of defense. When we refer an Ogden homeowner to an installer, these habits are what we want to hear about. Call us at 801-644-9000 and tell us what your walls are doing.
It depends on how far it goes. Localized rot in an exterior sill nose or a section of casing can often be cut out and replaced with new wood, or consolidated and filled by someone who does that work. Once the jamb bottoms and the structural sill are punky, repair stops being economical and a full-frame replacement makes more sense. A probe test at several points tells you which situation you have.
Air is being pulled through a gap fast enough to make noise, usually at the meeting rail of a double-hung, along worn weatherstripping, or through the space where the sash sits loose in the frame. Sometimes it is the balance pocket or an uncapped weep hole. Whistling is a symptom of an air leak, and an air leak is often fixable with weatherstripping and adjustment before you commit to replacement.
Not necessarily. Bottom corners are where water collects, so that is where it shows, but the entry point is frequently above: failed caulk at the head, a missing drip cap, cracked stucco, or a roof or gutter issue dumping onto that wall. Have someone hose-test the wall in sections, starting low and working up, to find the actual entry point before replacing anything.
A few quick questions, then we match you with a contractor who works on Utah homes.