Experts Urge People to Check One Thing in Their Windows and Doors Before Summer Begins

Summertime, the brightest season of the year, pours a bounty of light into the belly of the Earth, lighting up patches of soil unobscured by the tree branches towering and forking out into the azure sky. Flowers that went dormant during the winter wake up into vivid aliveness full of color. Kitchen counters and garden tables come alive with the sounds of clinking glass jars bubbling with cool lemonade. As daylight dissolves and nights emerge, the ceilings become inhabited by swarms of mosquitoes that buzz and by the lounges of lizards whose sinister eyes gaze downwards like surveillance cameras. So, to prevent them from creeping inside your room, you approach the doors and windows, intending to tuck them shut.

But suddenly, you realize that the door has become a stubborn beast that refuses to latch itself into the door jamb. The culprit is not the door but rather the humidity and moisture wafting in the summer breeze due to the rising mercury. In an interview with Southern Living magazine, expert Dustin Katje shared tips to prepare the doors and windows before summers arrive. “Keeping cool air in and hot air out starts with well-sealed windows and doors. Run your hand along the edges—if you feel a draft, worn weatherstripping or cracked caulking could be the cause, and a quick fix can improve comfort and reduce energy costs,” explained Katje, who is the Project Manager at Pella Corporation, a window and door manufacturer.

He went on to elaborate on how the summer moisture can influence the state of doors and windows, in what could be called a seasonal affective disorder. “Humidity can highlight seal failures in older windows. If you notice fogging between the glass panes, moisture has seeped in, reducing insulation. Addressing these issues early can help maintain energy efficiency, and upgrading to triple-pane windows designed for Southern heat can enhance long-term performance,” Katje explained.

Humidity, he noted, can cause the materials to expand, making it harder to close and open the doors. The obstruction of movement is most clearly visible in doors crafted in wood. Being a hygroscopic material, wood can expand, warp, erode, or shrink depending on the temperature and weather conditions, as an expert at Woodworks explained in a video. “Wood has the ability to take on moisture, to give off moisture.” He described that as humidity touches the doors and windows, particularly wooden ones, the moisture slowly seeps into the timber fibers, often sneaking its way inside the crevices and gaps between the fibers.

Once the water mass of this wood piece increases, it starts pushing the fibers, leading ultimately to the swelling of the wood. As this wood swells, it becomes harder to tuck the door into the doorpost. One way to deal with these sticking or swelling doors is to regularly monitor the screens of doors and windows. “Torn or worn-out screens won’t do much to keep pests out, and harsh weather can weaken them over time,” Katje said. He also suggested choosing windows and patio doors with retractable or hidden screens, which would reduce the temperature’s influence on these structures.