How to close the gaps in your jalousie/jealousy windows (that’s the louvered kind)

Jalousie windows are designed to maximize airflow because they don’t cover any significant portion of the window when completely open, unlike traditional sliding windows which typically cover half the window when fully open.

BUT, jalousie windows are also known for being drafty even when completely closed, because — well — most of them don’t completely close.

Those gaps are roughly 1/4".

This, of course, poses lots of problems: Those gaps bleed out air conditioning like money bleeds out of a pocket with holes; they also let in tons of dust, depending on how windy your area is (it is often very windy where I live); and, finally, bugs can use them to infiltrate your home.

My jalousies leak the cool air from my A.C., but I have solar panels that render my electrical bill pretty much free. And the screen is on the inside of the above-pictured window so it keeps the bugs out, thankfully. But that’s not always the case as you’ll see later in this post. However, nothing can stop the dust that blows in, without me altering the windows somehow.

A canted bird’s eye view of the bottom window sill and aluminum frame. The sill’s not too bad, because I just cleaned it and then painted it a few days ago, but look at all the dust on the aluminum. A sliding window would never!

There are a number of options out there for altering your jalousies to fight back against the problems mentioned above, but they are either expensive and tons of work (changing out the windows entirely) or they render the window un-useable (sealing them with a clear storm barrier).

So, here’s the best solution because it’s the simplest one (IMO) and not very expensive.

You go out and get yourself some clear jalousie and louver slat vinyl. I’ve found a decent price ($39.65, shipped) for a roll of 100' from DK Hardware, and for my 700 sq ft. condo, I needed to buy two rolls.

This is what you need. There’s another product that looks a lot like this, but it won’t do the job. So make sure you get the one that looks like a rectangle attached to a vee.

Now, how do you use it to close those pesky (and potentially costly, for those whose electrical bill isn’t virtually covered by solar panels) gaps?

It’s easy, though a bit tedious.

1. Wash your jalousie slats one at a time. I washed them in my kitchen sink with a soapy grout sponge. I also rested one end of jalousie glass on another grout sponge in the sink so as not to scratch the stainless steel basin. Note: Be careful when removing glass jalousies from the window mechanism — they are known to chip if you don’t handle them right.
2. Place the glass slat on a towel on the counter and use another hand towel to dry it off. Take care when drying the short sides, or unfinished edges, (these are the ones that sit in the mechanism) as they can be razor sharp.
3. Pull a length of vinyl from the roll to match the length of the jalousie. Pull taut, but not so much that you’re stretching the material. If you stretch it, it’ll just shrink when you put it on the window. When it’s taut, feel free to leave an 1/8'’ long on either side. Now, take a sharp pair of scissors and cut.
4. Pull open the rectangle end and slip it onto one long end of the slat. If your slats are frosted/privacy slats, make sure the vee is on whatever side of the glass that faces out when it’s installed in the window.
5. Push/slip the vinyl on the rest of the length of the slat.
6. Reinstall and repeat steps for the next slats until you’re done.

Look at how clean those slats are. *Whistles*

The nice thing about these vinyl pieces is they aren’t an eye sore, either. They blend well with the glass, as if they should have been there from the start (they should have).

Gaps, gone.

Most importantly, the gaps are closed. No more dust for me! Well, not much anyway.

A dust-free sill. Though, it still needs a good sponging.

Almost dust free, anyway. There’s still dust on it coming from the inside of the condo.

And there you have it. I apologize for not getting photos for each step of the process. Last post, I had issues with photos messing up the numbers — step 4 became step 1 if I posted a picture after step 3 — so maybe I subconsciously meant to NOT take pics so as to avoid that issue again. Or maybe I was just lazy. Or both. But I hope this helps you with your jalousies. Let me know in the comments if it did help, or if you have a better solution. I’m always trying to learn new tricks.

Follow me on Twitter at @jasonakinaka for more DIY, musings, and mostly-meh jokes.

Until next time.

P.S. Last week, I wrote a post about filling flooring gaps, but I promise, I don’t have a thing for gaps. The next post won’t be about gaps.

My brain: I now have 129 ideas for gap posts.