width of bubble seal relative to window

Question

My 25 year old windows currently have what look exactly like your 58-135 product. It's looking a little deteriorated but generally in ok shape. However, they all have a concerning issue. At each window, the bubble seal does not extend the entire window width. Looking at the window bottom from the outside, the right and left sides have no seal for about an inch. Is there any functional reason this type of seal should not extend the full width of the window? Or has it just shrunk over time and needs to be replaced?

Tom · Accepted Answer

The only reason I can think of for why your bubble seal would be too short on either side is if some piece of hardware installed there when the window was made. That said, I can't really think of what that piece could possibly be. A more likely explanation is that whoever installed this seal in the first place just didn't do a very good job of it. That's more common than you'd think.

Your best bet in my opinion is to just buy replacement seal and ensure that it's cut to cover the full width of the track. In a worst case scenario, if you find that you do need that gap for whatever reason, you can always snip an inch or so off the end. I feel pretty confident that won't ever be necessary, though.